Keep this light and curious. Take two or three guesses about the first chair, then say nobody knows the exact person, but somebody, long ago, had to figure it out. Don't explain STEM yet — that comes next.

This is the heart of the lesson — teach each part of STEM, don't just name them. Reveal the table one row at a time so the IWB only ever shows one row at a time and pupils take in one part before the next appears. (Cover the lower rows with a blank card or your hand, or reveal them line by line on the board.) Read the Science row, point at a real object (a poster or a question already on the wall), ask can you point to something in this room that is science?, then uncover the Technology row and hold up a real torch, then uncover the Engineering row and the actual school walls. Don't let all three rows land on the board at once — to an 8-9 year old that reads as a wall of text. Let each part land before revealing the next.

About the M: if a pupil asks, the M is Maths, and we use it inside all the others (counting, measuring, comparing). We'll meet it more as the year goes on.

About yeast: if pupils don't know the word, say it is the same yeast used to make bread rise in baking — tiny living helpers too small to see.

Common misconception: children often think STEM means only computers or only difficult things. Stress that a spoon, a chair and a question about why leaves fall are all STEM.

Before the lesson: gather a clipboard and a few collecting sheets per group; decide your walking route (classroom and one corridor; if time and weather allow, add a quick look out at a safe corner of the yard).

Suggested timing: 3 min set the route and the rules; 12 min walking and collecting; settle back at 15 min. Keep the route short so groups are not rushed — classroom and corridor alone give plenty of finds.

Model one find first: point at a window and say someone had to figure out how to make see-through glass and build a frame to hold it. Keep groups together and stay with the class if you step outdoors. Prompt with what did you find? who do you think had to work that out?

Differentiation: pair a confident writer with a confident drawer in each group; sketches count just as much as words.

Pupils complete their three-column sorting sheet (Science / Technology / Engineering columns) — this is their paper record for the lesson, the Investigation Journal page for today.

Suggested timing: 3 min model one sort together on the board; 8 min group sorting; 2 min quick share.

Model first: a torch is a tool that does a job, so Technology; the drainpipe was designed and built to carry rainwater, so Engineering; a question about why the yard puddle dries up is Science. Show pupils that a find can go in two columns at once (a tap is technology, and it was engineered into the wall). Stress there is no single right answer for the tricky ones — the talking is the science. Move between groups asking why did you put it there?

Differentiation: give struggling groups three or four pre-spotted items to sort first before adding their own.

This is a display-only class discussion. Draw out the story-of-STEM thread.

Useful anchors for an Irish class: before electric bulbs, homes used candles, rushlights and oil lamps; before bicycles and cars, people walked or used horses; before fridges, food was kept in a cool larder, a stream, or salted. Let pupils suggest more.

Finish by asking each group for one thing they wonder about something they found — pin these wonder questions to the wall or noticeboard to start the year's I wonder board. Tell pupils we will come back to these questions all year.

Keep this brief and forward-looking. Point at the I wonder board the class just started. Ask one or two pupils to finish the sentence I never knew that someone had to figure out… out loud. No writing in this step — the talking and the wonder board are the close.