Properly Packaged

There are many aspects to the Dairy Industry. For dairy product to arrive on our tables, involves a lengthy process, starting with life on a dairy farm. The milk that a cow has produced must be carefully stored so that its quality is maintained and contaminant-free.

This week the students have been set a STEM-ed challenge of creating a package that can hold 500 ml of  milk. They are to think as an engineer would to solve the problem of creating a waterproof container that can transport milk. The closest design to the 500 ml capacity will gain extra points. The students only have the following items to use for the challenge. 

The students have had to draw their ideas first before constructing their designs, discussing the different options, as part of the challenge is that they will not receive any replacements if the items fail in some way. They will need to modify their design. Often projects in life will mean working with the resources that we have, rather than an unlimited budget. 

The students will complete their designs and then will reflect on them as a group. They need to be able to explain how their design achieves the brief. The design that achieves the highest score will receive a prize. 

It will be interesting to see the designs that the students come up with and to see how they go about solving the challenge. Stay tuned!

Cuboid Challenge

Mathematics can be something of a challenge! We are focusing on the problem of Volume and Capacity. Volume is the amount of space that an object takes up. This is generally measured in cubic centimetres or metres. The capacity of an object, is the amount it can hold. This is is usually measured in grams and kilograms.

The challenge that Year 6 were given was the Cuboid Challenge, which come from a website called Nrich. The challenge was this:

It was first given to a group of students who had finished another Mathematics activity. They had the task of working out the problem and finding out what they needed to to. These students then had the task of teaching the other students what to do. 

The first task was to create a 20cm square out of a piece of paper. Then squares were cut out of the corners. Each student had to estimate the volume of their cube. We also had to estimate if the volume of the cubes would be the same regardless of the size of the squares that were cut out of the corners. We also needed to use the formula of length x width x height = Volume.

Our results were as follows:

We discovered there was a pattern with the numbers... Can you see what the pattern is?