Things have been getting a little messy in Year 2 Red as our young engineers have been exploring the fascinating world of Chemical Science. This term, we’ve been investigating the properties of materials and discovering just how much we can bend, stretch, squish, and mould the world around us!
Our first big adventure involved one of our favourite materials: playdough! We explored all the ways we could manipulate it to change its shape and purpose. The classroom was filled with tiny sculptors as we pushed, rolled, pinched, twisted, and squashed the dough into wild new creations. The highlight? Building our very own marble mazes! With careful planning (and a few giggles along the way), students engineered winding tracks and tunnels that sent marbles whizzing around in spectacular fashion.
But the real challenge came next…
Enter the Spaghetti Tower Challenge! Armed with nothing but uncooked spaghetti and blobs of playdough, our budding engineers set out to create a tower strong enough to hold wooden blocks. It was a test of patience, teamwork, and problem-solving, and a whole lot of trial and error! Towers wobbled, spaghetti snapped, and there were plenty of “Oh no!” moments as structures tumbled.
Still, the Year 2 Reds were undeterred. They laughed, rebuilt, and experimented their way to success, discovering that engineering is all about testing ideas, learning from mistakes, and never giving up. By the end of the challenge, the room was filled with proud smiles (and maybe a few stray spaghetti pieces on the floor!).
Through these creative experiments, our students didn’t just learn about materials, they also learned something deeper about how God designed us to live and work together. Just as one strand of spaghetti is weak on its own but becomes stronger when joined with others, we are stronger when we work in community. In class, students encouraged each other, shared ideas, and celebrated one another’s efforts. A beautiful reflection of how we are called to build one another up in love (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
It’s been a joy to see our young learners engineering not only towers and mazes, but also a sense of community, perseverance, and gratitude, using the gifts God has given them to create, collaborate, and care.
Who knew science could be so much fun, and such a wonderful reminder of how God made us to work together?
