Science and Design is taught to every student across F-6 at Footscray Primary School for one hour a week. It takes place in our beautifully renovated heritage Bluestone building across three spaces with a brand new laboratory and purposely designed play-space and a central hub. The lab is a wet space that enables experimentation and scientific fun and mess making! The Hub contains scientific provocations, rich texts, space for documenting our learning and launching our lessons. The play-space is a room that has a purpose built STEM maker wall and engages the students using tools like marble runs, gears, LEGO, magnetic tiles, blocks as well as spaces for sensory play, design, dramatic play and nature engagement with plants and our popular stick insects. Most of the units of inquiry in Science and Design embed elements of planning, designing, creating and implementing and evaluating creative designs from the Victorian Curriculum design and technologies strands.

Term One - Chemical Sciences - Materials and Matter

In our chemical sciences unit, students learn in ‘the lab’ and engage in experiments such as colour mixing with pipettes, melting chocolate, creating oobleck.

Term Two - Physical Sciences - Forces and Energy

In our physical sciences unit, the students experiment with cars and ramps, energy sticks, and simple machines.

Term Three - Biological Sciences - Living Things

In our biological sciences unit, the students engage with living things like our class stick insects, planting seeds and creating their own organisms.

Term Four - Earth and Space Sciences

In our earth and space sciences unit, the students learn through games, observations and creations, exploring and studying the weather, Earth and its resources, and space. 

We teach these subjects using a hands-on, play-based approach, with some examples pictured here.