Year 5's Keeping Us Safe

This week the Exploration Station welcomed two of our year five classrooms.  Our first session for each class focused on staying safe and strong online.  As this was their first trip to the Exploration Station we went over our procedures in the space which seem to be working really well.

Exploration Station Procedures

Once we had the procedures sorted, we looked at what we need to know and understand to get our SHINE online Level 3 Safe and Strong badge.

SHINE Online - Safe and Strong Level 3

We worked on an activity where we wrote down two things about ourselves and then decided if they were okay to post online or if they weren't okay to post online.

We debated what happens when something we trust asks for things like our birthday, is it okay to post it then?  We also looked at combinations of personal information and how it can be hard to figure out if we should post our favourite fruit if we're also posting our first name and lots of other scenarios.

Some of the things we think are okay to post online if they're the only thing we're posting.

It can be tricky to work out what we should and shouldn't post online.  The best thing to do if we're not sure is to ask a trusted adult like our teachers, Mum, Dad and adult caregivers.  They can help us to figure out what we're posting and if it's safe for us to do so.  Even adults can have a hard time deciding what to post though so NetSafe is a great place for them to go if they're unsure.

We also had a look at the Be Internet Awesome game - Tower of Treasure that tests our knowledge of safe passwords and what should and shouldn't be posted online.  A few of the students managed to get all the way to the end.  Have you tried this game?  Give it a go by clicking here.  Remember to claim your certificate once you finish the game so you can proudly say you know how to keep your treasures are safe online.

Once we had a bit more knowledge about staying safe and strong online we started planning our artefact that will help us to get our Safe and Strong digital badge.  We can't wait to see the finished products, so many great ideas in these two classrooms!

Getting into Creating

The Exploration Station welcomed back some of our Year 6 learners again today.  Their aim was to start and continue the creations they planned for yesterday.  We had a big variety of creations happen to help show and teach others about being Safe and Strong online.  

We had a rap, posters, video, scratch games, models, even a cardboard safe.

Here are a few shots of the students in action during the day...

Astronauts and Test Pilots are Go!

Today the Exploration Station welcomed the very first classes of astronauts and test pilots.  As this is the first round for classes to visit the station everyone is testing out how the space works and we'll be making tweaks along the way to ensure our orbit remains smooth in the future.  

Today our astronauts and test pilots hailed from Room 1 and 2 and are in Year 6.  It was super exciting to finally have some students filling up the station and coming up with ideas about SHINE Online and Computational Thinking. 

We started off thinking about the Exploration Station Procedures and why we needed to learn about them.  We're currently using these words to help us remember the procedures while we're exploring the station...

• Ask if we're unsure
• Walk in the station to keep safe
• Think Green - Be sustainable with resources
• Share resources 
• If it's a tiny piece that no one can use it goes in the right bin
• Click means listen up we have a message from ground control

In the Exploration Station we have a What? Why? How? board this is where we put our learning for the day.  Basically we think about what we're learning, why we would be learning it and how we're going to learn it (essentially the resources we will use.

Here's the brainstorming each class added to our What, Why How board today.. 

Students then went on to 'Get Thinking and Explore' both SHINE online and our Computational Thinking challenge resources.  These are linked off our Exploration Station website.  When they were happy they had enough information they started planning a creation that showed what they had learnt about computational thinking or SHINE online - Safe and Strong.  

A few students managed to finish their plan and have started prototyping their creations.  They're all looking forward to sharing more about their creations tomorrow.