In the hall of Building B at YCIS Shanghai Puxi Hongqiao Campus, Primary STEAM Coordinator Mr Jake Jones was demonstrating to Y4 students how to spark electricity. The students sat on the floor with wide eyes, and at the moment the light lit up, they could not resist the excitement and shared glances of joy with their peers in front and behind them. 

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This scene took place during STEAM Week at YCIS Shanghai Puxi, where our students explored and were encouraged to think about how science, technology, math, art, and engineering can be used and practised in everyday life.  

The children at the ECE campus spent the week exploring electrical circuits, volcanic eruptions, how different colours change when mixed, slopes, hydrogen balloons, and more. Amazement and shock were the main sentiments in each classroom as the early childhood learners witnessed extraordinary sights they have yet to see. 

At the Primary campus, the students mainly explored the topics of light and electricity. The students had already realised the importance of electricity in their daily lives from class lessons. Our STEAM Week experiments allowed them to build on their in-class knowledge as they discovered different ways of generating electricity. 

At the Primary campus, the students mainly explored the topics of light and electricity. The students had already realised the importance of electricity in their daily lives from class lessons. Our STEAM Week experiments allowed them to build on their in-class knowledge as they discovered different ways of generating electricity. 

Not only did we focus on each year level, but there was also room for cross-year level sharing. For example, Primary students moved to the ECE campus to help reinforce the early learners' concept of numbers while Secondary students met in the Primary campus to work with their younger peers on circuits, offering them guidance and encouragement along the way. 

Mr Ben Wright, Head of Creative Technologies and International Award Coordinator, indicated that although the senior students had fun instructing their younger peers, they reinforced their knowledge by adapting in-class learning for the younger year levels to understand.  

One key element of the STEAM curriculum is the integration of topics across specialisations. This type of interdisciplinary learning is project and inquiry-based and builds on children's learning experiences in and out of school. We hope to develop students' ability to apply their knowledge across disciplines to investigate and solve problems and ignite their interest in science in the process of teaching and learning for fun.