STEM

Term 2 : Focus on Electricity and Circuits

Week 7: How can we make two different light bulbs go with only one battery?

This week we tried to make two light bulbs go in the same circuit. We discovered that only one would go! Did you know that this is because the first light bulb uses up all of the electricity so then there is none left for the second light bulb? In our groups, we started exploring different ways we could arrange the circuits to see if we could make both of them go...and guess what! Some of us figured out ways to make this work! Keep an eye out for next week's learning, where we will learn about the difference between SERIES and PARALLEL circuits.

Week 6: How does a light turn on and off?

This week we learnt about SWITCHES and how they make a light bulb turn on and off. We learnt that switches act like a gate - when the switch is on, the gate is open and the electricity can flow to the light bulb. When the switch is off, the gate is closed and the electricity cannot flow through.

Week 4: How does electricity make things turn on?

This week we learnt all about ELECTRIC CIRCUITS and how they make things turn on. We created our own circuit with our bodies and then were introduced to Snap Circuits to see if we could make our own light bulb go. Have a look at our learning stories for this week. I wonder what we will discover next!

Week 3: Our Introduction to Electricity

We started our focus on Electricity this afternoon. 

First we begun by having the children tell us what prior knowledge they had and sort everyday items into two groups: Uses Electricity and Doesn't use Electricity.

Afterwards, we watched the video above. 

Kid Challenge.

Can you find things around your house or in your neighbour that uses Electricity?

Take a photo or draw a picture and bring it in to put on our STEM wall.

Children can click on the pink plus sign to add their thinking to the padlet.

Here are our learning stories from this week. Keep an eye out on the blog to see where our learning journey heads next week!

Term 1 : Focus on Magnets

Week 7 - All about how magnets repel and attract!

Last week Issy asked a question...why does the purple side of the magnet only stick to the yellow side of another magnet and not the purple side? This week we decided to investigate her question. On Monday we learnt that same sides REPEL and opposite sides ATTRACT. We put magnets into little cars and tried to make the car move by using the magnetic force instead of our hands. We had so much fun and even went outside to race our cars!

On Friday we made a magnetic fishing rod and went fishing! We had to put a paperclip on our fish so that the magnet would attract it. We discovered that the magnet will always attract metal no matter what side it is. The sides only make a difference when it is one magnet trying to connect to another magnet.

How Do Magnets Repel and Attract?

This week Pono Pod has been learning about how magnets interact with each other. We discovered that they only ATTRACT and join together on opposite sides (yellow side attracts purple side). If we tried to join the same sides together (yellow side to yellow side) they would move apart and REPEL!

We began using our hands to explain this - a clap for attract, and moving our hands apart for repel....but Hazel had a very good point! If our hands were magnets, a clap would actually repel because they are the same sides (palm to palm)! So we need to turn one hand so that our palm claps the top of our other hand to show ATTRACT.

Check out this video of Hazel explaining her discovery!

Week 6: How Strong is a Magnet?

Last week Pono Pod investigated into how strong some of our magnets are. 

On Monday we tinkered with two different magnets (a small magnet wand and a large magnet horseshoe), paper clips, and materials such as cardboard, plastic, and water. We wanted to see which magnet was stronger and if the force was strong enough to go through these materials. 

On Friday we used our learning to create our own maze and guide a paper clip through it with the magnet! This was challenging but we collaborated in our groups and problem-solved together to create our own maze. 

So what have we discovered so far? 

* Magnets attract metal and their force can go through other materials. 

* The stronger the magnet is, the thicker the material can be and still let the force go through it. 

I wonder what we will discover next week...

Week 5: What is a Magnet?

For the rest of the term, Pono Pod will be exploring and learning about magnets through STEM. We began our learning journey last week, and have already discovered some new words and facts about magnets! Our biggest discovery was that anything with metal in it is magnetic, which means it will stick to a magnet. On Friday we then used this idea to collaboratively create our own magnetic box. Have a look at our learning stories and photos from last week :)