Towards the end of Term 2, Year 7 and Year 8 students participated in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) week, a week that brought the hidden geniuses of the students together. There were a multitude of activities that were designed to challenge the mind and work together as a team.
Each day consisted of new challenges, such as competing in paddle boat and catapult making, coming up with futuristic designs using Lego, learning the basics of electric circuits and the renowned bridge building out of spaghetti. To top off the week, Year 7 students were gifted an excursion to Science Works, where we learned about magnets and how Science is used in the real world.
At Science Works, I learnt about electromagnets, where they demonstrated that the magnets did not stick together when there was no electricity running through them. But when they put an electric current through it, the volunteers could not separate the magnets. In addition, I learned that you could generate electricity through wind, demonstrated using a leaf blower to blow a wind turbine. Neurographic Art was a new concept for me, which was an activity that involved the simple act of drawing shapes and lines and colouring them in, with the purpose to calm your mind from the stresses of your life.
The highlights of STEM week were competing in catapult making and the Science Works excursion. I found the catapult activity was fun as our task was to create an effective catapult out of only paddle pop sticks, straws and rubber bands stuck together with just hot glue. It was a fun and competitive environment, working in groups of up to five. Winning the challenge was a nice moment to share with my group, and overall, my class did very well too. I also enjoyed Science Works, as not only did it bring back memories from my past visit when I was in Prep, but we also had the freedom to roam around Science Works to discover Science Works on our own.
Scarlette, Year 7