Learning goes beyond the classroom

Inspired by one of her favourite novels, Percy Jackson, Mika Cheah and her teammates decided to incorporate their favourite characters to create a toy as part of their Science project.

The project is part of “I-Drive”, also known as “I Do Real Innovations Everywhere”, where Primary Five students at CHIJ Our Lady Queen of Peace infuse Science concepts into their everyday life. This year’s theme, “Toys”, have  created much interest among the students, who had fun creating and designing their favourite toys using recycled items and concepts they have learnt in Science lessons.

“I-Drive” is one of the initiatives under the school’s Applied Learning Programme in Environmental Science. Students are grouped into trios, and are given about two months to complete the project.

“We learnt about magnets in Science lesson, so we were excited to apply everything we know about magnets in the toy. Our team also explored other Science concepts, such as potential and kinetic energy, for us to complete the project successfully,” shared Mika.

Students also had to present their projects to their classmates, teachers and parents, and this helped to build their confidence in public speaking as well.

“It was fun because we get to work with our friends but it was also difficult because some parts of the project were challenging. We had to experiment with a variety of items as the weight of the material is crucial,” shared Kristianne Martinez, whose team created a small toy plane.

As part of the school’s efforts to get more students exposed to Environmental Science, there are different project types introduced to students at all levels to help to reinforce concepts and link the ALP to real-life experiences.

At the Lower Primary level, students get to explore and experience Science in its natural form. They would visit parks, learn about animal homes, and one example of a project derived from the excursion was for them to collect materials to build nests.

“With the Applied Learning Programme, students gain more interest in not only Science, but also other subjects as we incorporate Mathematics, English, even Physical Education, to the projects. Parents are also keen to participate and be involved in their child’s learning journey,” said Mrs Clare Lewis, the Head-of-Department for Science.

By allowing students to draw links between Science and the other subjects, it helps to spark their interest and be able to apply what they have learnt in class to real world situations.

“Science is everywhere and we want our students to be able to explore the world beyond the textbooks and classrooms,” shared Ms Kelly Ng, Science teacher.