Their story, in their words….
What we did in the project
For our project idea, we as a team decided to plan out a scienced themed activities day in our local primary school. We carried out a variety of activities such as an Egg–Drop challenge, Nature themed scavenger hunt, Balloon Powered Car and Giant Jenga. The first activity to be carried out was the Egg-Drop challenge. The children enjoyed doing this activity as it allowed them to think creatively. We separated the pupils into their groups and then they began to plan and sketch their egg capsules. Once they completed their sketches, we then supplied them with the required materials. Once they finished creating the capsules, we then took all the teams outside and dropped them to see whose egg stayed safe.
The next activity was a nature-themed scavenger hunt. For this activity, we had printed out and laminated pictures of specific plants and insects. While my team member was with the children inside explaining the next task, we went outside to start hiding the pictures. We also gave each team a checklist and a marker for them to tick off all the things they found. Once all the items were collected, we went back inside and counted how many items each team managed to collect.
We then did the balloon-powered car. The children seemed very excited to take part in this activity. The children stayed in their teams, and we then showed them a video of how to create the balloon-powered car. We then put a timer on for 15 minutes to build their cars. Once all the teams finished constructing their cars, we then went back outside to race them. The team whose car went the furthest won the competition.
Next in the afternoon, while the children were at lunch, we created the Jenga tower. Once they came back, we started the activity. We split the pupils into two groups (boys and girls) and then started began to play. The children enjoyed playing Giant Jenga because it was a very exciting and nerve-wracking act.
How the project worked out
The project worked out very well. My team members and I enjoyed ourselves working with the children, and the children on the other hand also enjoyed themselves. They were very astonished by the activities we had organised for them. It was a very nice experience.
On the morning of the project, we were told to wait patiently until the children arrived. They arrived around 9:30 am, we gave them a small introduction of who we were, our project and the activities that we will be carrying out throughout the day.
The first activity we started with was the egg drop challenge, we explained to the children what was expected of them and how to carry this first experiment out. Everyone was placed into groups of 5 and they began drawing and designing the capsule. A few minutes later we had to change rooms as the technicians arrived to fix the projector in the hall. I thought that was very unorganised by the school due to this a few activities were unable to be carried out. We were moved into a music room which was much smaller and had carpet. We were very careful with the equipment we used so we don’t damage or ruin anything. For example, we had to be very careful with the eggs because the student may play with them and accidentally crack them indoors. We also had to be careful with the PVA glue and distribute it in cups to avoid spillage and spilling on carpets.
Due to all that disruption, we thought the morning activities were just a little unorganised. If the children arrived on time and the hall was properly booked, we would have been very organised and all the activities would’ve taken place very smoothly. The activities we managed to carry out with the students were: Egg drop challenge, Scavenger hunt, Balloon powered car, Jenga and Musical chairs.
After the break at 11:00 am, we carried out a scavenger hunt, hiding the laminated pictures and giving each group a checklist to see who finds the most items and checks them off their list. We also took pictures with the winning team. At 12:0ppm it was lunchtime. During that period Irha went to the playground and spoke to some students about their opinion. They replied, “ they are having fun and are looking forward to the other science experiments.” After lunch at 1:00 pm when all the students returned, we gave an introduction of what Jenga is and what it teaches us we played Jenga for about 30 minutes.
Moving on to the next activity was making a Balloon powered car we started around 1:35 and ended at 2:45. Firstly we divided the students into teams of 5, gave some ideas from our PowerPoint presentation and showed them a video. We then went to each group to ask for the equipment they needed and handed it out. They had a go and made some cars and we raced to see who went further. After clearing up we moved on to playing musical chairs until 3:00 pm to end the day. The children enjoyed a lot, they also enjoyed the competition that was taking place and the distribution of prizes, certificates, and party bags and at 3:10 pm they were dismissed.
At the end of the day, the student left with smiles on their faces and want something like this again to take place in the future.
What we got out of the project
As a team, we gained lots of experience doing The Year 4 Fun Day Project. Overall, the year 4 students and we as a team enjoyed ourselves. The purpose of our project was to gain new skills and elaborate and strengthen the skills we already have. Some skills we developed on was confidence and communication. When the students (30) entered through the hall we got the settle, quietened them down, communicated with them by giving them the overall plan of the day also telling them what activities we will be carrying out and doing a small Q&A session to check their understanding and to see if they are clear on everything. As we had 30 students, we had to stand confident, strong, and patient because we haven’t spoken to a large crowd, this got us to step out of our comfort zone and face a challenge.
The skills we learnt through this project was being organised and time – management. Both these skills were very important as we were on a very tight schedule. We had to finalise our plan, once that was done, we had to move on to planning the different activities and if they were appropriate for the students. Two weeks before doing the project we inform the school and had a meeting to finalise the date. Once that was done Mark Evison Foundation had to inform finalise everything to release the funding. The funding was released three days before the project. We had to be organised and buy all the products needed to carry out the science experiments, the prizes for the winning students and some snacks. We also have to be organised when using the giant Jenga blocks as we had to take them one day before the project, as this can cause problems and could delay us on the day.
Another key skill we used was contribution, we all contributed to all the activities and participated with all the students. As a team, we stayed with a plan so lots of students don’t mix and at all times we took COVID safety precautions by getting the students and the team to sanitise our hands. We went around to all the different groups and asked them about their ideas and helped them to add to them if required and when their designs on paper were ready, we asked them for the materials they need. This helped us to improve our communication skills with all the students. We also did this because we wanted everyone to contribute and participate so no one feels left out.
This project was very beneficial because it’s our first time doing something that’s challenging and out of our comfort zones. The project is very much related to our career choices. It will be very beneficial to add to our CV and other educational platforms.
