Check out this quick-start guide to Careers with STEM for Australian primary school teachers.
This magazine can be used across Science, Technologies, Mathematics and other curriculum areas in Years 3–6.
Teachers can:
- Use articles as reading rotations, lesson hooks or STEM exploration prompts
- Select activities as stand alone STEM lessons, warm ups or early finisher challenges
- Adapt tasks for whole class, small group or independent work
Health heroes
Curriculum connections
- Science Understanding: Biological sciences
- Science Inquiry skills
- Health and Physical Education
Learning outcomes
- Understand how nutrition, exercise and sleep keep the human body healthy.
- Explore how health professionals support people’s physical and mental wellbeing.
- Investigate how everyday choices can improve personal health.
Discussion questions
- Why do you think eating a variety of vegetables is important?
- What can you do to keep your heart and muscles strong?
- What can we learn from the Health Heroes that turned their challenges into strengths?
Scaling and adapting activities
Pulse power: Collect heart-rate data from the whole class before and after physical activity, then create tables or graphs and discuss the observable patterns and changes.
Amazing animals
Curriculum connections
- Science Understanding: Biological sciences
- Science Inquiry skills
- Humanities and Social Sciences: Geography
- Cross-curricular Priority: Sustainability
Learning outcomes
- Discover that animals have a range of physical and behavioural adaptations that help them survive.
- Explore why conservation is important for protecting endangered animals and habitats.
- Understand how scientists use animal research to solve problems and develop future careers.
Discussion questions
- How do these adaptations help animals survive in their environments?
- What skills or subjects at school might help you prepare for a career in natural sciences?
Scaling and adapting activities
Animal superpowers: Choose an animal, research an adaptation that gives this animal its superpower, and share how it helps the animal survive.
Earth explorers
Curriculum connections
- Science Understanding: Earth and space sciences
- Science Inquiry skills
- HASS: Geography
Learning outcomes
- Investigate how scientists use observations and technologies to study Earth and other planets.
- Explain how Earth and space scientists can use their knowledge and skills to help communities.
Discussion questions
- How does learning about rocks, water and minerals on Earth help us understand space and look after our own planet?
- If you were a scientist, what would you like to explore about planets or Earth?
Scaling and adapting activities
Build an alien planet: Link this to Biological sciences and design an animal that has specially adapted, physically and behaviourally, to survive in this alien environment.
Code cracking
Curriculum connections
- Knowledge and Understanding: Technologies and Society
- Processes and production skills: Investigating and defining; Generating and designing; Evaluating
- Mathematics: Number & Algebra
- Mathematics: Statistics & Probability
- General Capabilities: Critical & Creative Thinking
Learning outcomes
- Understand how information can be represented using codes and patterns.
- Apply logical thinking and problem-solving strategies to puzzles.
- Recognise how coding skills are used in a range of careers.
Discussion questions
- Why do you think computers use codes instead of regular letters to send and store information?
- Which puzzles do you find the trickiest, and what helped you solve them?
Scaling and adapting activities
Binary puzzles: Using binary coding, create your own puzzle and share it with your class.
Gadgets and gizmos
Curriculum connections
- Knowledge and Understanding: Technologies and Society
- Processes and production skills: Investigating and defining; Generating and designing
- English: Literacy
- Cross-curriculum Priority: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
- General Capabilities: Critical & Creative Thinking
Learning outcomes
- Recognise how inventions are designed to solve problems and help communities.
- Understand inventing involves testing ideas, and learning from failure.
- Explain how creativity and perseverance support innovation.
Discussion question
- First Nations peoples were Australia’s first inventors and scientists. How did observation and experimentation help create inventions like bush soap and petroglyphs?
Scaling and adapting activities
Be an inventor: Identify a problem at your school. Then follow in the steps of the inventors from the article and design a solution to the problem.
– Written by David Gullan
