Series lesson Plan Inquiry- stem challenges Aqueducts/catapults
Topic: Inquiry/ Social Studies
Achievement objective:
- Level 2
Understand how time and change affect
people’s lives.
- Level 3
Understand how groups make and implement
rules and laws.
SNS Inquiry objectives:
Explorations of the past can be used to make
connections to present day
Lines of Inquiry:
 Developing a sense of time through world
events and eras
 Ancient Civilisations
 How inventions reflect the needs of people
 The influence of the past on life today
Social Studies
 Continuity and Change
 Identity, Culture, and Organisation
 Technology
Learning objectives:
- Students are to create an aqueduct
in small groups using the materials
provided.
- Students are to create a catapult in
small groups using the materials
provided.
- Students are to track progress in a
digital journal.
Cross curricular links:
Links to the technology program
- Technological Practice- level 1
- Planning for practice
Outline a general plan to support the
development of an outcome,
identifying appropriate steps and
resources.
- Nature of Technology- level 1
- Characteristics of technological
outcomes
- Understand that technological
outcomes are products or systems
developed by people and have a
physical nature and a functional
nature
Introduction to the lesson:
Week 8 and week 9 we are focusing on our stem challenges. In small groups we are going
to be making catapults and aqueducts using our knowledge of ancient Rome. Look back at
our Aqueduct information reports.
Level: 2/3 Date:
Full Class activity
Resources and equipment/ Prep:
- Materials
- plastic cups, construction paper,
straws, duct tape, popsicle sticks,
google doc on what does working
collaboratively mean/ require.
- Challenge document
- Prep
- purchasing by SS of materials,
reading over challenge, making
google doc on what does working
collaboratively mean/ require.
Learning intentions:
- WALT- work collaboratively to
produce an aqueduct.
- WALT- work collaboratively to
produce a catapult.
- WALT- trial and modify our
aqueducts.
- WALT- make changes to our
aqueducts.
- WALT- reflect on the inquiry
process.
Success Criteria:
- have worked collaboratively with
my group
- - I have completed 3 trials for my
aqueduct
- - I have considered challenges and
adapted
- - I have completed making an
aqueduct
- - I have used my prior knowledge
of aqueducts to construct it.
- Have completed at least one
catapult
- Have tested how far it can launch
an item
Lesson Plan
Learning experiences Assessment:

Learning experience 1: Planning

Will introduce the first STEM challenge
which is aqueducts. Go over expectations
of collaboration and introduce the project.
- What is collaboration?
- How do you think we should work
collaboratively
- Get students ideas- put into google
doc.
- Discuss what we expect of them.-
showing respect for others, kindness
etc.
Students will form themselves into groups
of 4 or 5 and start planning on a google
doc.
- What is our prediction?
- Brainstorm ideas?
- What do we already know about
aqueducts?
- How might we construct an
aqueduct with the materials
provided.
- What do we think might be any
obstacles?
During this process bring students down to
the mat to report back their predictions.
CONTENT
After students have finished forming groups
to start the planning send groups who
might need some more support a template
and exemplar doc that they can begin to fill
in. By giving them a template and exemplar,
I am able to present the information in a
visual way as well as an auditory way. For
my ESOL students this will increase their
access to the content as they can have the
instructions in front of them while they
work.
The google doc that they produce will be
used a summative assessment of what
they have learnt from the process. Will
show whether students were able to
engage with their prior knowledge of
aqueducts to create on with a slope, three
main outputs etc.
- Self- reflection on how they went,
group reflection- how did they work
together as a team, what could they
work on text time, did they make
good choices about who they are in
a group with.
Assessment
- Students can take their google
document and present in whichever
way they prefer in their groups
- Must contain reflection, what went
well, successes and failures.
- Presented as a google slides, movie,
skit, oral presentation, book etc.
Teacher observation of how groups work
together- are they able to work
collaboratively in a group, contribute/
participate in a group setting- KC needed
for reports.
Were they successful in creating an
aqueduct and/ or catapult

Learning experience 2: Maths

Before we can start our project, we need to
split the equipment/ materials between our
7 groups. A quick full class maths session
on long division.
Have students come and sit down on the
mat and as a class work out how many
straws, popsicle sticks and cups each group
gets using long division. Teacher to write
on the board as we go.
1200 popsicle sticks
500 straws
40 cups
60m tinfoil
4 rolls of duct tape
- Ask can we easily split duct tape –
no
- Agree to share around

Once all of the materials have been

distributed we are ready to start making
our aqueducts.
At this time, we will separate materials into
packs for the groups.
- Remind students they will be
ultimately responsible for their
packs

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Separate the students into mixed ability
groups and have them spread out around
the classroom before posing the questions.
Have the students work out the problems in
these groups working collaboratively. From
this students’ who need support can learn
from the students who understand. For the
ESOL students this gives them an
opportunity to work with a range of other
students’.

Learning experience 3: Creating

P
Students will have roughly 4 afternoons to
work on creating their aqueduct.
T to move around the class monitoring and
helping students, asking questions.
- Are they documenting as they go?
- Asking prompting or leading
questions
- Noise level
- getting them to talk about their
knowledge of what an aqueduct
needs to do- assessment
opportunity.

Encourage talk and discussion in groups.

As they go they should test their aqueducts
outside and make modifications to make
the most effective one.
- Focus on collaboration, working
together
- Link to key competencies

Encourage going around and discussing

ideas with other groups as well
- Viewing period
- Get all groups to stand up leave
their aqueduct and go and look at
the others around the classroom.

Remind them to clean up mess as they go

PRODUCT
For some ESOL students such as student A
working in group of this size and on a
project like this can be difficult for him.
Instead he could work in a pair with a
classmate to complete the project focusing
on just physically making the aqueduct
rather than following the inquiry process
filling out the book. I believe in this case it is
most important to have student A
contributing and collaborating at some level
with the other students in the class rather
than doing a different activity. Photos can
be taken by the teacher instead to be used
in his writing later.

Learning experience 4: making Catapults

Continuing on with our STEM challenges we

will be making a catapult.
Start by discussing with the class what they
know about catapults, who used them,
what they were used for.
- Gage students current level of
understanding.
- If needed show a short clip about
the use of catapults in ancient
civilisations.

Explain what we will be doing

- Students to get into groups of two
or three.
- Make another shared google doc as
they did with aqueducts
- Predictions, challenges, successes.
- Send off and give 10mins to write
the predictions.
Tell class you are going to show two videos
on how to construct a catapult but that you
will only show them once, so they need to
try and remember anything they want to try
and reuse. After that they can go off and
start creating. They have until the end of
the day to finish.
- Hand out materials
- Monitor as they create
- If struggling, get them to consider
how they can problem solve.

Competition
-outside with 15mins until the end of a day
have a competition to see who can launch
their projectile the furthest.

PROCESS
For Student A he will need more support in
the catapult building as he has no English
and is unable to understand instructions, so
we need to vary the amount of time he is
given with resources. We have noticed he is
quite visual and likes making things with his
hands. To aid in the creation of his catapult
he can have continued use of the video
throughout the process not just being able
to watch it once. Through the process of
being able to watch the video multiple
times he should be successful and be able
to participate in a full class activity.

-
After teaching:
- have students complete the worksheet on the skip counting in 5’s.
Assessment, Reflection and Evaluation of Lesson:
- To be completed after the lesson
-What went well/not so well?
- Did I achieve what I wanted/what students were supposed to achieve? o What can I do
next time? Where to next?