STE for 6th Class

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This course immerses students in the core strands of the Irish primary STE 2026 curriculum through five integrated modules. Pupils investigate living ecosystems and school-ground biodiversity, conduct practical chemistry with mixtures and irreversible changes, explore forces, electricity and energy efficiency, and develop coding skills by building Micro:bit data loggers and MakeCode Arcade games. Throughout, they apply the engineering design process in extended projects including a bird feeder and a final integrated STEM challenge, fostering scientific enquiry, data handling and sustainable thinking.
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Move from the human body and classifying living things outward into ecosystems: microhabitats and adaptation, food chains and webs, what plants need (an observation-over-time fair test) and life cycles, finishing with a four-lesson biodiversity and sustainability action project in the school grounds that connects Living things to the wider field of Biology and to the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. Ecological thinking and a real, child-led action project deepen the strand.

Ecosystems: Habitats, Food Webs, Plants and Life Cycles
Microhabitats and Adaptation Investigation Journal Teacher Resources
Food Chains, Webs and Interdependence Investigation Journal Teacher Resources
What Do Plants Need to Grow? Investigation Journal Teacher Resources
Life Cycles and the Irish Year
Biodiversity and Sustainability Action in Our School Grounds
Audit Our Grounds
Research the Issue: Biodiversity and Biology
Plan and Take an Action
Measure, Present and Reflect

Deepen Materials into change and Chemistry: dissolving and recovering, reversible versus irreversible change, and making new materials, then run a three-lesson open-ended fair-test project on changing, mixing and separating materials, ending in a real-world clean-water application. This module deepens the recording-and-presenting-results skill, because pupils design, run, table, chart and re-test their own investigation.

Mixtures, Change and Chemistry
Mixtures and Solutions: Getting It Back
Heating and Cooling: Reversible or Not?
Irreversible Changes and Chemistry
Mixing and Separating: an Extended Fair Test
Plan and Run the Fair Test
Analyse, Present and Re-test
Clean the Dirty Water: Apply It
Materials in Irish Life and Industry
Materials in Irish Life and Industry

Deepen Energy and forces into the more demanding physics of Stage 4: air resistance, the force of moving water, pulleys and gears, soundproofing, and real circuits, connecting to the wider field of Physics and to energy use as an environmental and societal issue. Open-ended investigations on gravity, moving water and electric circuits land here, as does the topical clean-energy issue.

Forces, Movement and Sound
Gravity, Falling and Air Resistance
The Force of Moving Water
Pulleys and Gears
Sound: Travelling and Blocking Sound
Electricity and Energy Use
Electricity: Building Simple Circuits
Switches, Conductors and a Quiz Buzzer
Energy at Home and School: Using Less, Going Clean

Deepen technology into a real coding build and working with data: a three-lesson MakeCode Arcade game project, then using a micro:bit to collect, log and present data, then organising and presenting a dataset. Stage-4 computational thinking taught with Coding Ireland's classroom-tested lessons. Pupils write, run and debug real programs on devices and meet variables, loops and events through the build.

Coding Build: Make a Makecode Arcade Game
Plan and Start the Build
Build and Debug the Core Features
Finish, Test and Share
Data with a Micro:bit and Presenting Data
Data with a Micro:bit
Logging Data Over Time with a Micro:bit
Working with Data: Tables, Charts and What They Tell Us

Apply the full Stage-4 design process at depth: consider user needs, sketch plans, build and test a prototype, iterate, and present an analysis of the design. Anchored by a four-lesson bird-feeder design-build project, a mechanisms build and Irish-engineering research, and closing on a two-lesson integrated capstone that brings science, technology and engineering together.

Design-build: a Bird Feeder for the School Garden
Ask, Imagine and Plan a Bird Feeder
Build the Prototype
Test, Improve and Re-test
Present the Design Analysis
Mechanisms and Engineering in Ireland
Mechanisms: Making Things Move
Engineering in Ireland
An Integrated STEM Challenge
Design and Build the Solution
Test, Present and Reflect

Move from the human body and classifying living things outward into ecosystems: microhabitats and adaptation, food chains and webs, what plants need (an observation-over-time fair test) and life cycles, finishing with a four-lesson biodiversity and sustainability action project in the school grounds that connects Living things to the wider field of Biology and to the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. Ecological thinking and a real, child-led action project deepen the strand.

Ecosystems: Habitats, Food Webs, Plants and Life Cycles
Microhabitats and Adaptation Investigation Journal Teacher Resources
Food Chains, Webs and Interdependence Investigation Journal Teacher Resources
What Do Plants Need to Grow? Investigation Journal Teacher Resources
Life Cycles and the Irish Year
Biodiversity and Sustainability Action in Our School Grounds
Audit Our Grounds
Research the Issue: Biodiversity and Biology
Plan and Take an Action
Measure, Present and Reflect

Deepen Materials into change and Chemistry: dissolving and recovering, reversible versus irreversible change, and making new materials, then run a three-lesson open-ended fair-test project on changing, mixing and separating materials, ending in a real-world clean-water application. This module deepens the recording-and-presenting-results skill, because pupils design, run, table, chart and re-test their own investigation.

Mixtures, Change and Chemistry
Mixtures and Solutions: Getting It Back
Heating and Cooling: Reversible or Not?
Irreversible Changes and Chemistry
Mixing and Separating: an Extended Fair Test
Plan and Run the Fair Test
Analyse, Present and Re-test
Clean the Dirty Water: Apply It
Materials in Irish Life and Industry
Materials in Irish Life and Industry

Deepen Energy and forces into the more demanding physics of Stage 4: air resistance, the force of moving water, pulleys and gears, soundproofing, and real circuits, connecting to the wider field of Physics and to energy use as an environmental and societal issue. Open-ended investigations on gravity, moving water and electric circuits land here, as does the topical clean-energy issue.

Forces, Movement and Sound
Gravity, Falling and Air Resistance
The Force of Moving Water
Pulleys and Gears
Sound: Travelling and Blocking Sound
Electricity and Energy Use
Electricity: Building Simple Circuits
Switches, Conductors and a Quiz Buzzer
Energy at Home and School: Using Less, Going Clean

Deepen technology into a real coding build and working with data: a three-lesson MakeCode Arcade game project, then using a micro:bit to collect, log and present data, then organising and presenting a dataset. Stage-4 computational thinking taught with Coding Ireland's classroom-tested lessons. Pupils write, run and debug real programs on devices and meet variables, loops and events through the build.

Coding Build: Make a Makecode Arcade Game
Plan and Start the Build
Build and Debug the Core Features
Finish, Test and Share
Data with a Micro:bit and Presenting Data
Data with a Micro:bit
Logging Data Over Time with a Micro:bit
Working with Data: Tables, Charts and What They Tell Us

Apply the full Stage-4 design process at depth: consider user needs, sketch plans, build and test a prototype, iterate, and present an analysis of the design. Anchored by a four-lesson bird-feeder design-build project, a mechanisms build and Irish-engineering research, and closing on a two-lesson integrated capstone that brings science, technology and engineering together.

Design-build: a Bird Feeder for the School Garden
Ask, Imagine and Plan a Bird Feeder
Build the Prototype
Test, Improve and Re-test
Present the Design Analysis
Mechanisms and Engineering in Ireland
Mechanisms: Making Things Move
Engineering in Ireland
An Integrated STEM Challenge
Design and Build the Solution
Test, Present and Reflect

Curriculum Mapping

See exactly how this course maps to official curriculum specifications

NCCA STE Education Specification (2025)
Curriculum Area
Outcomes
Nature of STEM
S1.4.1
Living things
S2.4.1 S2.4.2 S2.4.3
Materials
S3.4.1 S3.4.2 S3.4.3
Energy and forces
S4.4.1 S4.4.2 S4.4.3
Technology
S5.4.1 S5.4.2 S5.4.3
Engineering
S6.4.1

The curriculum does not include official reference codes for individual learning outcomes, so we have assigned a code scheme to make it easier to identify and track coverage.

What Students Will Learn

Learning Goals

  1. Investigate ecosystems, food webs and life cycles through fieldwork, fair tests and seasonal observations of Irish plants and animals
  2. Develop understanding of material properties, reversible and irreversible changes, and separation techniques through practical chemistry and extended fair testing
  3. Explore forces, energy transfer, electricity and sound by building and testing models such as spinners, water wheels, circuits and soundproofing materials
  4. Apply coding and data skills to create arcade games, program micro:bit sensors, log readings and present findings in tables and charts
  5. Use the engineering design process to plan, build, test and communicate solutions for real needs including bird feeders, mechanisms and an integrated STEM capstone project

Learning Outcomes

  1. Survey minibeasts in different school-ground microhabitats, record findings, and explain how body features help them survive there.
  2. Construct and interpret Irish food chains and food webs, then predict the impact on wildlife when one species is removed.
  3. Plan and carry out a fair test to investigate whether light or water affects cress seed growth, recording results accurately.
  4. Conduct a biodiversity audit of the school grounds using quadrats, analyse the data, research a local biodiversity issue, and implement and monitor a chosen improvement action.
  5. Separate mixtures using sieving, filtering, and evaporation; then design, build, and fair-test a water filter to clean muddy water most effectively.
  6. Build and test paper spinners to measure how wing size affects fall time, and construct a working water wheel to investigate factors that increase its speed.
  7. Construct simple electrical circuits with batteries, bulbs, and switches; test materials as conductors or insulators; and design a working quiz buzzer or steady-hand game.
  8. Plan, code, debug, and test a complete MakeCode Arcade game that matches their original design criteria for goal, sprite, and scoring.
  9. Program a micro:bit to collect and log sensor data over time, then organise the results into tables and charts to identify patterns.
  10. Follow the design process to create, test, and improve a bird feeder prototype that meets criteria for holding seed, staying dry, and providing a stable perch.

What You'll Need

Required Equipment

Equipment used in some of the lessons in this course. Items can be shared among students.

IWB/Projector/Large Screen
IWB/Projector/Large Screen

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