STEAM Week Roundup

Berkhamsted Prep and Pre-Prep celebrated British Science Week with a whole week of exciting STEAM activities to inspire them across science, technology, engineering, art and maths.

At Berkhamsted Prep, we were fortunate to be visited by Professor Bubbleworks who ran a fascinating workshop filled with bubbles, balloons, colour wheels and more. Pupils were wowed by wacky experiments and mind-bending illusions, and enjoyed investigating the science behind it all.

Our School Nutritionist ran a workshop on the history of school meals, getting into the science behind nutrition and reminding pupils how lucky they are to be getting a delicious, balanced meal each day. From spam to instant mash potato and jam roly-poly, pupils got to try some of the school meals of the past. They noticed a distinct lack of vegetables in school dinners of the 1980s and 1990s – and were very happy to hear it would be sausages for lunch that day!

Moving from school dinners to space dinners, we ran an astronaut food workshop for pupils to explore the science behind instant food. Pupils enjoyed making instant noodles, angel delight and pouch drinks. They also got the chance to try some intermediate moisture food and discovered that that astronaut food can be tastier than expected!

We were delighted to welcome Mrs Gauri Talathi-Lamb to talk about her career as a construction engineer. She spoke to pupils about all the different types of engineers that are needed to make the world go round, such as mechanical, civil, chemical and aerospace engineers. She explained that during her career as a construction engineer (and now CEO), she has worked on a huge variety of buildings. From Buckingham Palace and The Shard to Lego stores, schools and a lost property warehouse, engineers are essential to the creation of any building.

Other activities across the week included a heart dissection, where pupils could see the different components of this important organ and get a real understanding for how it works. We also invited caterpillars into our classrooms to inspire some wonderful butterfly art.

Over at Pre-Prep, pupils were putting their STEAM skills to good use by designing a run for our adorable baby ducklings.

Pupils investigated which materials would make the comfiest beds for the ducklings. Experimenting with shredded paper, straw, cotton wool, polystyrene and egg cartons, they created their own model beds to test out the materials. Some of their innovative designs included layers of material for extra comfort and separate zones for the ducklings to enjoy different textures.

Every duckling needs to stay warm, so pupils worked on creating a model heat lamp for the runs. Year 2 learnt about electricity and put together circuits to light up a lamp. Finally, a small group of pupils presented their findings to Mr Barling, our caretaker. After careful consideration of all their experiments, the pupils helped design a run for the ducklings to play in.

After a week of engineering and experimenting, pupils could see their hard work pay off and watch the ducklings enjoy their new run. This was a great opportunity to put STEAM skills into practice (and meet some very cute baby ducks).

As STEAM week draws to an end, we have enjoyed exploring science and technology, and learning about the exciting opportunities they can bring.