As part of our STEM week primary 1/2, 2/3 and 3/4 have been learning about parachutes. We discussed what parachutes are and how they work, then the children worked in pairs to make their own plastic bag parachutes for small toy people. The children worked really well together and enjoyed testing their parachutes in the gym hall and outside.

Today P6 and P7 went to Biggar Primary School for a Bridges to School activity. They were working as civil engineers and were assigned job roles: cable workers, panel workers, deckers and pinners. High vis vests and hard hats were worn for safety. They got to create a real bridge which they were able to walk across. Communication and team work were essential skills as children were working at different ends of the bridge to meet in the middle.

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So far this week the children in P4/5 have been working together on a real-life Maths problem.  The children are expected to put a range of inventions into date order.  They will practise ordering numbers of 1000 +.  The children will also use their knowledge of number bonds to 20 to solve problems with larger numbers.  Working co-operatively is also a skill the children are learning to develop as they work together to solve the problems they are set.

‘Ellie and I found the game really hard because there was so many dates to remember and put in order.  It did get a bit easier the more we played it.’ Rosa

‘It was challenging to remember all the dates.’ Billie

‘I found putting the dates in order challenging because there was a lot to figure out.’ Kayla

‘My team helped me when we played the game and it was much better rather than on my own.’ Holly

‘I liked working in a team because trying to remember everything myself was a struggle.’ Ryan

The children today have been inventing their own games.  Together they decided which resources to use; how many players can play; the rules of the game and how to play; and explain how to win.  They tried and tested their own game a few times and updated their game amending where required.  They then played each others games, using the rules provided and gave constructive feedback.

Quotes from the children:

‘It was quite challenging to think of an actual game to invent as there’s already loads of games in the world.’ Ruaridh

‘I thought it was fun figuring out how to create a game.  The next time I think we would find it easier to do.’ Kloe

‘I thought it was challenging playing the other group’s memory game because you had to focus on where each of the cards were.’ Julia

‘I found it quite hard because we had lots of ideas but it was hard to decide which idea to use.’ Eve

‘I liked to make our game because it was fun to ask people to act out our game.’ Sarah