Y7 Project Based Learning

The year 7 students have been working with their ENSS teachers on a unit about sustainability.  The brief that these students have been given was to design something that would attract birdlife back into our urban environment.  Some of the students created bird feeders, planter boxes and perches. The girls had access to the 3D printers in the Centre for Innovation as well as materials they acquired from home.

 Below are a range of images from the "share" session where students presented what they had achieved and what they had learnt from the design process that 
they followed. The students followed the "Pecha Kucha" style of presentation where each group prepared only one slide and had only 2 minutes to showcase their project.  Using this style we got to enjoy the work of 15 different groups in one lesson.

What does 3D printing look like?

 Printing a Nut and Bolt

4.30 Show Filming

Last week we had the 4.30 crew here filming our school in action.  We were excited to invite Adam and Eve, hosts of the show, to see what was happening in the Centre for Innovation.  

Filming the 3D printer in action

Mia, Holly, Annabelle and Caitlin explaining what they do in the Robotics Club

Two of our Year 9 girls - Holly and Emma, discussed the range of clubs that they have been involved in this year.  Holly and Emma are currently active in Robotics, The Internet of Things, and Gadget Girls.  More information about these clubs can be found under each of the tabs above.  The show is expected to air on 18 September.

St Margaret's College Preschool

It has been delightful working with the children from the Preschool.  The Gadget Girls group have identified that they would like to design and create some useful toys for the preschoolers at St Margaret's College.  We have visited the children and discussed with the them what they would like.

We have also had the preschool children visit us in the Centre for Innovation.

Testing out the fencing that is being designed.  Next step is to create the animals.

 Watching the 3D printer in action

We are loving our weekly visits from the PreSchool children.  This week there was time to introduce everyone to our Beebots.  We hope that in future weeks the children will be able to have more involvement in using the Beebots as part of their learning programme. 

Medbury School

Throughout Term Three and Four the Year 6 boys from Medbury School will be visiting the Centre for Innovation.  These two classes will be involved in a design technology unit where the boys are researching and creating a medal from WWII.  This practical component is linked to an existing unit of work that the boys are studying with their teachers. The medal designs will link to a specific battle or honour from the war and we aim to 3D print these using the expertise and facilities at St Margaret's College.

Beebots

I have experimented with the use of Beebots with our Year 1 and 2 students and discovered that the Beebot App is much more advanced in thinking than I expected.  The activities that I have set up with the Beebot robots on the clear mats seem much more appropriate and will enable the girls to develop confidence in directional movement.

An issue we ran into early was differentiating which way was 'left' and which way was 'right'.  So a solution that we are trying is using 3D printed Beebots with L and R to help students work out which way to turn when they are using the Beebot App.  On the robots I have blue tacked on L and R to help the children determine which direction to move on the mats.

Left: Using the Beebot App with the 3D printed Bees
Right: A possible solution to help students learn which way to turn

Spatial orientation is challenging at this age, especially when trying to programme the bot to move in a specific sequence.

The clear mats are versatile and can be adapted to a number of learning environments.  We are currently using colour, and numbers as target spots for our Beebots to pause on.  The year 2 students have also started to record their movements by using the whiteboard to write down their moves. They are being introduced to basic 'coding'.  Working in pairs and small groups has given the girls an opportunity to work collaboratively and to problem solve a range of challenges.

Year 9 Science

As part of Year 9 Science, Sarah Smallman’s class embarked on a conductivity theme using MakeyMakey Kits.  They had been learning about electricity, conductors and insulators, and they teamed up with Linda Chong in the Centre for Innovation to put their skills into practice.  The students used the MakeyMakey kits and their laptops to create directional movements in a computer game by dancing on conductor pads they had made and to programme the lolly buttons for a computer game to make a crazy taxi jump, move in various directions and travel through a maze.  They also created music by using pink and white marshmallows as the keys of a piano.

Using MakeyMakey attached to lollies to play a computer game

Organising the marshmellows to form the piano keyboard

Created a dance platform to use your feet to control the direction in the SuperTux game

There was huge student engagement while discovery, collaboration and creativity reinforced the principles learned in their Science class. They videoed their explanation of understanding as evidence of their learning. 

Jennie Nairn

Deputy Principal Teaching and Learning