15 Dec What’s happening in Year 6 – Week 7
As part of our STEAM project this week, the Year 6 children were given a brief to design, make and evaluate an alarm system that could be used to warn people of the imminent threat of a Tsunami. In pairs, the children began by researching some of the existing alarm models that we use within our school – the fire alarm, the security alarm, smoke detectors and emergency lighting were some of the models that were explored.
The children then used their knowledge or pre-existing alarms and combined this with their geographical knowledge of Tsunamis to create a design criteria, which they will evaluate their systems against. They decided the following qualities were non-negotiables:
- An aesthetically pleasing design
- A durable and waterproof coating
- Loud and bright
As the children worked through the project they had to apply prior knowledge from their electricity unit in science to create and test circuits that could be used in their alarm systems. They also needed to use their mathematical skills of adding and multiplying to measure their circuit systems to ensure that they would fit within their box design. The children worked incredibly well in partnerships to create a range of fantastic designs. Take a look at some of the outcomes!
