This week, 12th – 18th of August, we have been celebrating National Science Week. This week is all about promoting the areas of science and technology to inspire young people to pursue careers in STEM. We participated in lots of different activities throughout the week. These activities required us to use critical thinking and the design thinking process to solve a variety of challenges. 

On Tuesday, we attended a workshop about freshwater turtles where we learnt about the declining numbers of turtles in our river as well as how we can help our local environment. We also attempted the egg drop challenge. We needed to design a contraption to protect an egg from a 3-metre fall. We used ideas like parachutes and padding to protect our eggs. We had mixed results with some groups being successful, while others had their eggs cracked.  

On Wednesday we had 25 minutes to build the tallest tower using only marshmallows and toothpicks. This was really challenging because we had to use our knowledge of shapes to create a stable structure. We used trial and error to find the most effective solution. In the afternoon, we invited the school to watch us launch the bottle rockets that we had created. Using water and compressed air, we were able to launch our rockets high into the sky. All of our rockets were successful in lifting off and it was great to see the whole school enjoy our learning. 

Please enjoy our short video that showcases our learning.