Year 6 Wider Curriculum (WB 22nd June) - STEAM week
Date: 21st Jun 2020 @ 10:51pm
Year 6 Wider Curriculum (Week Commencing 22nd June)
This week’s wider curriculum is all about STEAM! The UK’s Science week was back in March but it was just around the time that schools were going to close in England. This meant we didn’t do a full ‘STEAM week’ or group of STEAM challenges. This week you will find a challenge a day to do with the areas of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics). There are also extra experiments and activities that you might like to try as well as the ones listed for each day – these are labelled BONUS.
STEAM develops so many skills not only in the subject area but also in discovery, creativity, problem solving and so much more!
Monday – Science – Paper Helicopters
LO: To plan and conduct a fair test
Think about something that flies. A bird? Plane? What do they have in common? Planes use their engines and propellers to stay up so what about helicopters? The spin of the blades keeps them up! This is similar to sycamore leaves falling from the trees (here is a picture of one) – what happens as they fall?
Today you are going to be experimenting with gyrocopters/paper helicopters to see which design is most effective in it falling slowly to the ground! Use the attached template (Monday – Template) to create your copters, folding the dotty line and cutting the full lines – there are instructions on the first page.
1 – Plan your experiment. You need to choose the variable (thing) that you will change for each time you complete the experiment. Use the planning sheet to do this (Monday – Plan).
2 – Make a variety of paper helicopters to suit your need following the instructions on the template – make at least 5.
3 – Adapt your paper helicopters to match your plan, e.g. adding a paper clip to the bottom of one, cutting the wings at an angle, making the smaller one etc.
4 – Drop your copters from the same height each time, measuring how long it takes to drop to the ground. Record your results in the table.
5 – Conclude your experiment. Which helicopter fell slowest to the ground?
Bonus – If you wanted to, you could also show your data in a different way like a bar chart (as it is discrete data).
Challenge – Make your experiment a fair test – consider how you could do this. What happens if you fold the wings in the opposite direction?
Tuesday – Technology – Stop Motion Animation
LO: To use stop motion animation
Technology is ever changing and technology activities can teach you lots, like programming, coding, design, logic, pattern spotting, giving directions and (importantly for today!) patience.
Have you heard of stop motion animation? One of the most famous examples is Wallace and Gromit who are made from plasticine and each frame is taken separately then put together. It takes a lot of patience! Here is a behind the scenes video with their creative director: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3CEE9xKKZc
Today you are going to try and create your own stop motion animation. To do this, you will need a device with a camera and to download a free stop motion app – we used Stop Motion Studio for ours but there are others out there. If you cannot download an app then you can just use the camera on a device at home and take individual pictures before putting them together in a slideshow.
First, watch a few examples, such as these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DFzjP6PbnU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEglOulvgSY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOP15Ep4gPU
Task 1 - Create a storyboard (just like the creative director of Wallace and Gromit said they do!) for your stop motion film – attached sheet (Tuesday – Storyboard). Don’t be too ambitious – it is more complicated than you first think! Consider your character, setting and what movement you would like to create. You could make it topical about something you have learned about this year or you are passionate about – you choose!
Task 3 – Create your stop motion movie! Open the document Tuesday – Instructions and follow that to guide you.
Wednesday – Engineering – Raft Building
LO: To select materials based on their properties
LO: To construct a floating object
Think back to when you went to Condover and built the raft with your team. How did you make it float? How was everything attached together? Your task for today is to create a boat/raft for a small toy (like a playmobil man) so that they can be placed in the bath or sink and not get wet.
Task 1 – Making predictions and testing materials’ floating properties
Look at the Powerpoint attached (named Wednesday – Floating and Sinking). Think carefully about density. Collect the range of materials from the Powerpoint and also any more you think might be useful for your raft. Use the attached table (Wednesday – Predictions) to predict whether the objects will float or sink and give a reason why. If you need a Scaffold, use the scaffold on the second page of this document to help you. For example, I predict that a marble will not float because it is solid and dense due to the particles being so close together.
Challenge – Ensure you use your SPaG skills of causal conjunctions to ensure cohesion to justify the predictions.
Task 2 - Constructing
Using your knowledge about what will float or sink, build your raft! Here are some images for inspiration! You may use other cheap and recyclable materials like cardboard, sticks, water bottles, elastic bands, string, cotton reels, cling film – anything similar you can find around the house!
Success Criteria:
- You must use at least 3 materials
- The raft must float on water without sinking, capsizing or taking on too much water
Now make a verbal prediction about whether your raft will float and test it out! Feel free to share photos of your creation!
Bonus – Engineering – See the attached marble run document (Bonus – Marble Run) for another construction challenge.
Thursday – Art – Illusion Photographs
LO: To create an illusion photograph
We thought we would get your creative juices flowing with this one and get you to think outside of the box! We would love for you to make your own illusion photo! This is where you are doing something simple, like lying down, but the way you take the photo looks like you are doing something rather adventurous. You could use chalk to create a landscape on the floor (or place lots of objects around) and then take a photo from above. Here are some examples – don’t they look cool!
Challenge - If you wanted an extra challenge, you could always film creating your landscape and make it look like a famous piece of artwork, just like this video from Art Attack! Remember though, whatever you get out to use, you must put away again for your parents or teacher! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzcZVXWRmZE
Friday – Mathematics – Mobius Strips
LO: To investigate a Maths concept
For this lesson you will need: paper, scissors, glue, a pen/pencil
The Möbius strip or Möbius band is a surface with only one side and only one edge - it’s truly mind boggling! Follow these simple instructions to create your own and discover the amazingness! You can just do this to enjoy or take a photo of each step if you want to record it.
- Cut a strip of paper about 1 inch wide and 6 inches long (measuring skills!).
- Colour one side blue and one side red (or use whatever colours you have).
- Twist the strip of paper in the centre once and tape the two ends of the paper together. You should have a figure eight shape (see the photo below).
- Now you have your strip, draw a line to trace the path of the blue side. What has happened?
- If that wasn’t cool enough, try this. Cut the Mobius strip in half lengthways. What happened that time?
- For this one, you will have to make another strip so repeat the first few instructions. Now instead of cutting halfway along the strip, cut one third of the way into it. This will have a different effect – what happened that time?
Here is a video with these experiments illustrated. https://youtu.be/BVsIAa2XNKc
Challenge – This is a really abstract concept and super tricky to understand, never mind explain! Can you try to do some research to understand WHY these things happen? Can you try to explain what has happened with your strip to a parent or sibling using mathematical language or create a poster or video explaining it all?
Bonus – Mathematics artwork
Attached (Friday – Mazes and Friday – Impossible Objects) are some extra Mathematics and Art based activities using rulers, compasses and measuring. They look amazing when they’re done!
Bonus – All STEAM
If you want more activities and experiments to do, I have also attached the British Science Week document for Primary schools (Bonus – British Science Week) which has a range you can choose from.