Secondary School - STEAM and The Global Campus Challenges

STEAM and The Global Campus Challenges in Secondary School

The objective of today’s e-Newsletter is to ensure all our students and parents start the new (and last!) term with energy and awareness of the wonderful initiatives that some of our students have been/are involved in. Thank you to Ms Lucy for writing this article in conjunction with her STEAM-ICT ECA students.

The STEAM-ICT Club members of Secondary School are a very enthusiastic lot! They are ready to participate and contribute towards anything positive in their school. Here is a write-up of some of the activities that have kept them busy thus far this year and what they intend being busy within Term 3.

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Some of the NAISAK-UN-Global Goals Challenge Team members… conducting an Awareness Assembly on the UN Global Goals.

The STEAM-ICT Club students (of Years 7 and 8) are currently enjoying their STEAM hands-on project of designing their very own motor and steam engines out of recycled materials. They are using their mathematical skills in measurements of the different components of their engine, strengthening their architectural skills in drawing out their designs, trying their products out and redesigning again, exploring their scientific skills in making them work the way they want them to, and finally using their engineering skills to put it all together and make it into a scientifically viable, working model of an actual engine. Kudos to the students who are working on this project consistently!! Of course, besides developing a wide variety of skills, students are also learning the safe use of instruments like sharp scissors, cardboard/foam cutters, hot glue guns and drills.

Earlier in the year, the STEAM-ICT Club students of Y7 and 8 learned about logo programming and coding in MIT’s Scratch Coding Competition. Some students also took part in the Global Campus – Hack the Tube Contest and in the QNSCC Scratch Coding Contest for which they made games/storyboard about the UN Global Goals. The entries of some of these contestants have been among the best ones and won them accolades. Two of them reached the top 10 of all entries from across the globe! Students are also looking forward to their Earth Day Special Assembly presentation and skit as part of the Global Goals Challenge towards a cleaner and greener Earth. Some of them have also volunteered to help Mrs Singh with organising some Earth Day activities for Years 7 and 8.

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The STEAM-ICT Club members (of Years 9 and 10)actively believe they can make a difference in the world. They got involved in similar events to their Y7 and 8 counterparts, such as the MIT’s Scratch Coding Competition, the QNSCC Scratch Coding Contest and the Global Campus – Hack the Tube Contest. For the latter, they were tasked with making something useful and scientific/artistic from recycled tissue roll tubes. Two of the students had their projects selected and showcased on the Global Campus as being amongst the top 30 entries from over 1000 entries from students across all the Nord Anglia. After that, these students became actively involved in the Global Campus Global Goals Challenge. For this, they have chalked out an action plan of a series of events designed to help others around them and make a difference in their community. Out of all these students, three of them have been selected to represent NAISAK at the NAE-UNICEF Global Goals Summit in New York in July. They will be showcasing a video presentation of all the good work that our very enthusiastic NAISAK UN-Global Challenge Team have been doing throughout the year.

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In a nutshell, some of the past, present and forthcoming initiatives of this ‘STEAM-ICT Club members turned NAISAK UN-Global Challenge Team’ include:

Global Goals Awareness assemblies
Each One Teach One (Maths/Science/Reading- student-teaching-student initiative)
Enhancing computer skills of their own and those of others by learning logo programming/scratch coding/presentation skills/computer ethics
Taking part in Global Campus - Hack the Tube Challenge and the QNSCC / MIT Scratch Coding Contest
Making motor and steam engines out of recycled material
Earth Day activities (Years 7 & 8), including a special assembly
World Environment Week, culminating in the World Environment Day Special Assembly (presentation, skit, song)
Posters on Global Goals and Anti-Food wastage + Signature Pledge
Actively participating in the ‘Best Out of Waste’ Contest and extending it to the NAISAK Community(Please look out for posts on the school FB page on this!)
Actively participating in the ‘Go Green-Grow your own plant’ Bottle Gardening Contest, and extending it to the NAISAK Community (Please look out for posts on the school FB page on this!!)
Actively participating in collection / donation drives of old (but in good usable condition) books/clothes/stationery items that will be given away to children at our mission schools in Tanzania when students go there to volunteer their help every year, and extending this to the NAISAK Community(Please look out for posts on the school FB page on this!!)