A group of four- and five-year-olds are huddled on the floor around a pile of sticks, blue tack and a roll of string. While one holds the sticks upright, another places a blob of blue tack onto the structure to secure it. After several failed attempts to create a house of sticks from The Three Little Pigs, the budding engineers discuss how to make their structure stand tall and strong, enough to withstand a gentle ‘huff and puff’ from their giggling friend, the ‘big bad wolf’.
This activity is taking place at St Thomas More Catholic Primary School in Essex, where Reception class teacher Jordy Vinter says the current cohort of children ‘particularly enjoy’ the science and engineering strand of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths).
‘We've been exploring the properties of materials, looking at concepts like balance, stability and strength. Using a classic story as the starting point, we extended their learning by giving them the opportunity to investigate hands-on how a miniature house might withstand a gust of wind. They worked together as a team, communicating and problem-solving along the way,’ she says.
STEM learning opportunities are embedded into ‘every corner of the classroom’ at Thomas More, Vinter says. ‘A fully integrated STEM learning environment is vital for getting the children interested in this area of learning. Not only does it foster curiosity but it also allows children to question the world, experiment through trial and error and become hands-on with their investigations.
‘It builds a love of learning, which helps boost confidence and develop thinking and communication skills, which in turn benefits all areas of the curriculum.’
CURRICULUM GUIDANCE
STEM is included throughout the Early Learning Goals and educators have free rein when it comes to implementing the learning. But Vinter says a lack of understanding of what STEM looks like in the EYFS ‘can be a barrier’ to successful implementation.
‘We don't specifically teach science, technology and engineering as singular subjects,’ she explains. ‘Each is woven through our specific areas of learning – literacy, maths, understanding the world and expressive arts and design. Sometimes, seeing the heading of STEM broken down into the singular subjects can seem daunting, but we deliver these aspects daily.’
Some people refer to it STEAM, to emphasise the importance of the arts in creative thinking and problem-solving.
CONTINUOUS PROVISION
Resources for each area of the curriculum are displayed on open shelves that are easily accessible. Maths resources contain Numicon, different counting objects, number rods, shapes and sand timers. In the construction area, there are building bricks, Lego, kinetic cause-and-effect toys, stickle bricks, logs and wooden discs. The investigation area contains magnets, with new resources added weekly for children to explore. Children have access to technology including Bee-Bots, telephones, cameras, keyboards and CD players. And there is a large collection of junk-modelling materials for budding engineers.
In the water area, children explore floating and sinking and how water moves. ‘We have plenty of different sized and shaped containers for them to explore mathematical concepts, such as capacity, volume and measurement. We also have a set of outdoor weighing scales, which the children have daily access to as they are hung on our wall,’ Vinter says.
Outdoors there is a vast selection of natural and synthetic loose parts that children can move around, adapt, control, change and manipulate within their play. They range from stones, twigs, shells gravel, flowers, sand or leaves to manmade materials such as fabric, pallets, balls, buckets, guttering pipes, crates, boxes, rope or tyres.
EVERYDAY MATERIALS
Following on from children's interest in exploring properties and materials, Thomas More invited BBC STEM freelancer and author of 50 Fantastic Ideas for STEM Activities, Sandra Beale, to the school to run some after-school sessions (see box, page 37).
Vinter says, ‘She showed us how exciting and informative STEM can be and demonstrated that you don't need elaborate resources to teach STEM, just everyday, easily accessible resources. She showed us that a plastic bottle, vinegar and bicarbonate of soda can inflate a balloon and how playdough can recreate the layers of the earth. The children came away in awe.’
50 fantastic ideas for STEM activities
Sandra Beale runs sessions and workshops for early years educators in nurseries, schools, Children's Centres, toddler groups and for home learners. Her new book, 50 Fantastic Ideas for STEM Activities (Bloomsbury), aimed at EYFS and Key Stage 1, is launching in June. She says, ‘The main purpose of the book is to make STEM or STEAM fun and exciting for both the children and adults involved… We are surrounded by science; it is all around us and we must never be afraid of it.’
Here, we give a sneak preview of one her popular experiments:
Self-Inflating Balloons
Using soda bicarbonate and vinegar to inflate a balloon.
What you need: 1.5-litre plastic bottles; balloon; bicarbonate; vinegar; teaspoon; funnel. Top tip: add food colouring to the bottle before vinegar to create an interesting visual effect.
What to do:
- Ask the children to sit around a table.
- Give each one of them a bottle with a balloon. (Or share and take turns).
- Pour vinegar (less than half) into the bottle/bottles.
- Explain what you are doing, ask them to smell the liquid and guess what it might be – give them a clue if they can't guess: ‘What do you put on your fish and chips?’
- Ask the children to squeeze two drops of food colouring into the bottle/bottles.
- Using the funnel, spoon two teaspoons of bicarb into the balloon.
- Put the balloon over the mouth of the bottle and then gently tap it.
- Ask the children to watch the balloon.
- Ask the children what they think might be happening.
- Explain (once they have responded) that a gas, carbon dioxide, is created when bicarb and vinegar come together, and it is this invisible gas that causes the balloon to inflate.
Taking it forward:
- 11. Experiment with different amounts of bicarbonate and vinegar in different bottle sizes.
- 12. This experiment can be done both inside and outside.
CASE STUDY: Holmgate Primary School, Derbyshire
Time and budget constraints often make it challenging for schools to integrate technology effectively into daily activities. However, with creativity and resourcefulness, schools can provide meaningful tech experiences that support children's learning and development across the curriculum.
Ffion Thornton, head teacher at Holmgate Primary School, has enlisted the help of TTS editor and former primary school teacher Michelle Reid to jointly deliver STEM storytelling sessions to a lunchtime club of Key Stage 2 children interested in film and media. Equipped with Rugged Robot, TTS's programmable robot designed for outdoor use, the children are creating a mini film through the eyes of the robot. With a camera attached to it, the children can control it remotely and via Bluetooth through the app and TTS's TacTile Reader.
Reid says, ‘They can set the movement to three different settings [for] different terrains – through trees, puddles and paint – to tell his story.
‘The children use STEM knowledge to program 90-degree turns, sparking discussions about angles. They explore distance, friction, forces and movement hands-on by observing his motion across various surfaces.
‘One little boy eagerly asks questions and tests ideas. We're storyboarding Rugged's journey, using film-making to inspire storytelling through technology, engaging children who might not connect with traditional storytelling.’
Thornton says the children love working with Rugged. ‘It's amazing how quickly they pick up the skills to control his movements. The equipment is simple to use, which allows children of all ages and abilities to engage with it.’
Robotics can be used with children to deliver coding as part of a multi-sensory approach from EYFS onwards.
