PR-6171IRE Science A STEM Approach - 1st Class

Materials
IT’S A STRETCH
STEM Project
STEM Project:
Teacher Notes
Pupils design and create a chair made only from newspaper. Pupils must bend, twist, fold,
scrunch, weave or change the newspaper in some way to make the chair.
Estimated duration: 2–4 weeks
1. Introduce the project
• Read the book A Chair for Baby Bear by Kaye Umansky, or watch a reading of it on YouTube at
or .
• Display page 126 to read to the class and introduce the problem and task.
• Clarify any details pupils do not understand.
2. Investigate
• Watch the PBS Kids video at . It is about how paper can be used
to make structures. It goes through ways to fold the paper into an accordion shape, a triangular
prism and a cylinder. This video is flash based so can only be viewed on a computer, not an
iPad ® .
• In small groups, pupils search for images on the Internet using the keywords ‘chair designs’.
Demonstrate how this is done to the class first.
• Pupils can then experiment with newspaper and explore how to manipulate it.
3. Design, plan and manage
• Pupils draw a design of a chair.
• Pupils plan how they will manipulate the newspaper and where it will be used on the chair; for
example, roll the newspaper into a cylinder for the legs. They should write how they are going
to change the newspaper on to their design of a chair.
4. Make
• Pupils construct the elements of the chair, using some form of manipulation or physical change
to the newspaper.
• Pupils piece the chair together using sticky tape.
5. Evaluate and refine
• Pupils check that their chair has used at least five different methods to change the newspaper
in some way, and that no newspaper is used as is. If needed, they make appropriate changes.
• Pupils check if the chair can hold the weight of the toy bear and change as needed.
6. Communicate
• Pupils record a video explaining their chair design and the ways they used the newspaper to
create the chair.
• Play the video to the class for all to see the different designs and point out any unique ways the
newspaper was manipulated or any unique shapes that the newspaper was changed into.
Viewing sample
Prim-Ed Publishing – www.prim-ed.com 978-1-912760-15-2 1st Science: 125
CLASS
A STEM APPROACH