Years ago I used to run an after school club at the school where I was teaching. It was called Space Club and we conducted projects about astronomy and space. We scratch built rockets and launched them on the school oval. Many a happy afternoon was spent this way. Parents would often turn up early on launch days and film their children’s engineering feats.
We did many interesting projects. We simulated the effects of increased g forces on tomato seeds using a bench centrifuge. This involved calculations about the number of turns per minute we had to give the handle of the centrifuge. We planted the centrifuged seeds and a control group in see trays and were going to examine the fruit for any differences. Sadly, our growth phase, ended abruptly when a cleaner accidentally placed some boxes on the trays on a Friday. By the time we realised the following week, there was no salvaging anything.
We designed and built a wind tunnel to test the aerodynamics of our rockets. A kind parent loaned us an industrial fan for this project. By far our biggest undertaking was the lunar colony we built from cardboard.
This was an enormous project which took the best part of a year to complete. We made a series of geodesic domes from carefully measured cardboard triangles. The domes had a 5m diameter and stood 2.5m high. We joined them together with tunnels and the students role played being scientists and took younger students from our k-12 school on “tours” of our cardboard facility. The final section was a flight simulator and using good old Simulator 98, the students took a simulated flight back to Earth.
This was STEM before STEM was so named. The students were having fun applying and
learning skills without realising it. Some students subsequently found they felt more engaged during their classes in particular subjects, others found it easier to select topics for independent Science projects required by the syllabus.
What I found particularly interesting were the other unexpected benefits which slowly made themselves apparent. It became clear that the Space Club was a vehicle for inclusivity. There were no real distinctions between the more academic students and those who struggled in class. Students with greatly varied academic ability could work side by side on the same project as equals. This is because the STEM projects we were doing did not rely on a student’s reading ability or speed at which they could perform calculations in their head. A student working on a team could be someone who may benefit from learning support in class, but in Space Club they may have been the person who made the most accurate measurements when drawing up the cardboard triangles, or perhaps they demonstrated natural leadership skills when organising the team to assemble the domes.
Any stigmatising which may have originated in a classroom situation was quickly forgotten in the context of the club’s STEM projects. Students were able to demonstrate their own unique gifts and abilities while contributing to the successful execution of the project. This generated respect between the team members for attributes which might not necessarily become apparent in the classroom.
There were unexpected social benefits also. The club consisted of students from years 5-12. This meant that not only did team members have a variety of abilities, they also had a range of ages. Primary school students were working alongside students who maybe in their final year of high school. Natural mentoring relationships formed. One particular example involved a senior student who was a little on the outer socially with his peers in his own year group. He also struggled a bit with some of his academic subjects. During the course of club activities it became apparent that he was a meticulous and brilliant model maker. This of course, earned him a following with some of the like-minded younger students. He assembled a group of them and worked with them on projects assigned to him because of his skill level.
This afforded him a leadership opportunity which he would not have been able to attain
within the parameters of the school leadership program.
At Beyond the Beanstalk, we have incorporated the insights gained so long ago during the Space Club days. Our workshops are designed to be accessible, and aspects can be modified to meet a variety of needs as required. For example, one of our regular clients has a number of students who benefit from assistance with their daily activities. They all want to “have a go”. We send the same staff member each time, so a relationship has been established. Our Chemistry Chaos workshop is a very hands-on safe introduction to chemical reactions with household products. One student required a staff member to physically guide his hand so he could successfully add a spoonful of bicarbonate to a cup of vinegar. With this assistance he was able to do this simultaneously with his classmates and was equally delighted with the fizzy result. He went home having had the same fun learning experience as his peers and his additional needs did not limit the experience for him in any way. He was quite insistent that a component of the take home item from that workshop was a of particular colour, Beyond the Beanstalk easily accommodated this.
Echoing the Space Club, our workshops also enable students of different abilities and different age groups can work collaboratively on a fun STEM learning experience. This is particularly beneficial in OOSH situations. In these situations, children’s natural leadership skills come to the fore. There is always at least one student who wants to be a “helper” and can learn some new skills this way. It often happens that students who may not be confident to speak in group situations can demonstrate their knowledge of a concept that may be a particular area of interest to them. Often students find themselves feeling less exposed in our workshops and will offer suggestions, answers to questions or just general relevant comments. This provides an opportunity for students to not only learn about STEM concepts, but to also learn about different facets of each other.
It is our hope that participation on one or more of our workshops will enable students to
potentially draw upon what they have learned, so that they can contribute with confidence in future learning situations. Thus, they may demonstrate different aspects of themselves which may foster positive interactions with their peers.
Jennie is a highly accomplished educator with over 30 years of experience as a science teacher. Renowned for her innovative teaching methods, she has received national and international recognition, including the prestigious Churchill Fellowship and the Caltex Rotary Award for Innovation in Teaching.
With a Master of Science in Astronomy, Jennie has travelled extensively across the United States and Europe to study best practices in the teaching of science, engineering, and mathematics. Her passion lies in inspiring curiosity and equipping both students and educators to explore the wonders of STEM.
Jennie is the author of The STEAM Book, a guide filled with engaging STEM activities for late primary and early high school students, along with its accompanying teacher resource. She is also the creative mind behind the beloved Growley series, captivating readers with stories that spark imagination and a love for learning.
Comments