This year, the theme for British Science Week 2023 is ‘Connections’ and WJS has embraced this in our own wonderful way! We started by thinking about how our world is full of connections – connections in our bodies, with other people and with other countries. Also, connections can be made between all STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths). That’s what makes it such a fantastic topic for this special themed week! With all of this in mind, Miss Porter and I planned some extended curriculum learning about an inspirational Victorian engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel who was famous for his pioneering work designing Britain’s railways, bridges, tunnels, viaducts and passenger ships. Year 3 and 4 used Chatterpix and Year 5 and 6 used Adobe Spark to present their research about Brunel.
Brunel also inspired our next activity to work in groups to design the strongest paper bridge. Working collaboratively in groups, the children had fun investigating which design was most effective.; no less than three bridges in 3DT held 8kg—budding engineers for sure!
We also played a game of ‘Broken Phone’ to investigate sending a message around the school. We explored all of the different ways we can connect with others e.g. Morse code, Scratch program, letter, message in a bottle and remote-controlled cars.
Finally, we went outdoors to select a tree on our school grounds to collect data about. The children had the opportunity to classify the type of tree, identify the number of insects using the tree as a habitat, measure the trunk and even use a stethoscope to listen to the tree!
We managed to pack so much scientific learning into this week and we sincerely hope the children were inspired to think about the range of connections within our wonderful world.
Mrs Courtney, Science Co-ordinator
