*Deputy of Middle School Simon Messer congratulates the winning team*

Year 8 students recently completed their STEM project themed ‘The Big Question!’ during Week 4 at the College.

Students were tasked to work in groups of three or four in their Maths, Science and Technology classes to research a big question relating to sustainability:

Does your food travel too far?
Can Electric Vehicles replace petrol/diesel vehicles in the Australian environment?
Are fish farms the answer to saving for oceans?
How can we achieve Net-zero emissions in Australia?

The students collected data and presented their findings through the use of a two-minute stop motion animation, with impressive results.

The winners were announced this Wednesday at assembly, with the top three groups collecting a ticket to Scitech next Friday, along with the year 7 STEM winners and the Maths Club members.

1st Place: Natalie Carles, Josephine McNamara, Rosie Pryer (video below)

2nd Place: Bella Nicholls, Dayna Yiu, Seb Morales

3rd Place: Dylan Romero, Zachary Wong, Benedict Jomy

The week is a fantastic initiative that allows students learning opportunities which are harder to achieve in our day to day learning environment.

They were able to work on something that is cross-curriculum, providing an opportunity to deepen (or introduce) a desire for STEM initiatives.

Being introduced to project-based learning with task delegation and soft milestones to meet ensured working together effectively, with an aim to also improve their research and data collection, critical thinking and data representation skills.

Students have really enjoyed this experience, with many commenting that they not only enjoyed the project, but the opportunity to work with others they didn’t necessarily know very well beforehand.

A massive thank you to all year 8 STEM teachers, and an even bigger thank you to Heads of Departments Daisy Coma, Claire Hall and Chris Brehaut who did some long hours preparing for this week.

Year 8 STEM Week