In STEAM we learnt about the topic of bionic hands for the people who were born without one of theirs. We saw how they were developed from being wooden and clunky to becoming colourful and having very similar functions as our own hands! After learning about the theory, we had a go at making our own bionic hands:

What was needed:

A ruler, strips of foam, paper or plastic, a piece of cardboard, a couple of straws and string.

For this activity, Candice and I worked together. We worked quickly at the beginning of the lesson so we had quite a lot of time to then experiment with our initial designs. Our first experiment was to see if the hand could pick up a piece of crumpled up paper and place it into a box. Unfortunately, our design did not work on our first try so we knew we needed to make some amendments.

After a bit of thinking and discussion time (and a little help from Mrs Anstee) we knew what to do! We had to move the fingers further down the carboard so that the strings could pull better. On the second trial we were so pleased that the hand worked. We even managed to pick up a cup with our hand and drink from it.

Our STEAM lessons always challenge our thinking. Often our designs might not work first time so we have to look for ways to improve and adjust them! We love the challenge!

By Serene and Candice (Year 6)