STEM Learning Across the Entire School
Every March there is a STEM learning take-over at Fyling Hall School as we celebrate British Science Week. We celebrate not just in science but across the entire curriculum. As Geonuk in year 8 explained “Every single lesson we did something about science”.
And as “the days that make us happy make us wise.” we like to enjoy ourselves as we learn new things. Izzy commented “This week has been very fun and eventful, and I can’t wait till next year.”
We recap some of the activities and ask our students what they thought about it all. The 2024 British Science Week Theme was TIME. Planning started early for an action-packed week of STEM learning in school and several school trips and visiting speakers.
You may not automatically put STEM learning together with German, English as an Additional Language or Music, but it was interesting to delve into this area and “switch lessons up a bit.” as stated by a year 9 group! In many subjects teachers started with a key person from across time and linked to British Science Week and the theme of time from this point.
Read more about what we did across the school below…
Science Week – STEM Learning Across School
Some of the key people and developments we looked at, based around the science week theme – time, included;
Sciences
Aside from in lesson topics – such as learning more about Henrietta Lacks, investigating the half life of radioactive atoms and considering biomagnification in food chains, there were some fantastic class trips and visiting speakers.
Computer Science
Students enjoyed a tutorial about reading a binary clock and discussed the Victorian, George Bool and how he is related to binary and modern computing.
Maths
Pi Day on the 14th of March was a big hit with all involved. The group explores the relationship between the circumference of a circle and its diameter through the medium of (apple) pies. They figured out how to make pi using pies. John Venn (1834-1923) was a key person to consider – he popularised the Venn diagram, used now across science and maths.
Music
Emile Berliner is a German-American inventor best known for his invention of the Gramaphone record. Students looked into this development and its impact on and legacy in the music industry
ESL
During the English as An Additional Language lessons students read extracts from The Time Machine but HG Wells. They discussed the genre of science-fiction, their response to the book, wrote letters to Mr Wells and even had a go at some time machine designs.
History
How we measure time is something we think a lot about in history, the chronology of events and their significance whether over a longer or shorter period of time is very important. Students examined key questions such as “Why was Restoration England a time of important new scientific discoveries and what was the Royal Observatory Greenwich?.” They created timelines looking at key technological advancements alongside social and political chances. On the broader theme of time Year 8 studied the events of the Great Fire of London, through the diary of Samuel Pepys. Asking; When did the fire start? How long did it last? What damage did it do? How did it result in the rebuilding of London much as we know it today?
Geography
In Geography pupils focused on Alfred Wegener who came up with the theory of plate tectonic movement. They studied a time-line of key periods in the earth’s history and finished up by creating a jigsaw puzzle of Pangaea. Other classes looked at time-zones across the world.
German
During German lessons students looked into key German inventors, exploring their inventions through playing a matching game and class discussions.
Art
Cyantype Photography was the STEM learning angle for some of our art lessons and Nicéphore Niépce, the inventor of the first camera.
Drama
The theme of time is important in drama – and timing. Drama students delved into the work of Konstantin Stanislavski and particularly the idea of timing and pacing in drama.
Tutor Time
During tutor time everyone got involved in a science quiz – testing their knowledge of important scientists and science developments across time.
“The week was British Science week and we have done many great things” – Pollyanna
STEM Learning Trips and Visitors
Year 10 headed to the Railway museum in York – learning about combustion engines through the years. “I really enjoyed the tour we had…”. The visit to Wonderlab was popular with the thermal detector and demonstration being particularly well received.
“The best part was Wonderlab, looking at the engines through the years and the demonstration” – year 10 student
“For science week we did many things but I enjoyed when we went to the train musuem in York, and it was nice to learn how time connected to different trains. We also got to go in the wonderlab where I learnt if you put a balloon in liquid nitrogen it shrivels up but when you take it out it expands.” – Charlotte
Year 8 went on a trip to Whitby Museum, looking at natural history and history in the local areas working as groups to discover information as they went around the museum, and “it was very interesting!” said Finley.
Year 7 attended a talk by Anglo-American (mine) and had a Fylingdale Moors Education Centre talk – focusing on the local area and habitats animal adaptations. As one of our visiting exchange students from Spain described “we did a game of trying to get chocolates with beak of an eagle, falcon and pigeon. She also let us touch a snakeskin and also a skull.”
Overall British Science Week brought stem learning to life and was a great experience for all involved. We’re looking forward to next year’s science week!
Please get in touch if you would like to know more.
