STEM challenge to spark curiosity in young minds

18/06/2020
Sparking Curiosity

​​​Sparking Curiosity will challenge students' STEM skills

CALLING all bright young sparks interested in challenging their science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills.

Brisbane Catholic Education has launched a new program aimed at ‘Sparking Curiosity’ in students from Prep to Year 12 to extend their STEM skills and capabilities to help them succeed in a world of technological change.

Twice a year, students will have an opportunity to respond to an exciting new non-competitive challenge through Sparking Curiosity.

Challenges can be completed at school with support from teachers or alternatively, students can choose to complete a Sparking Curiosity challenge independently at home with guidance from parents.

The inaugural challenge, happening now, involves creating a Rube Goldberg Machine- a complex machine designed to perform a simple task.

The challenge asks students to consider ideas of cause and effect, how systems work and design principles.

Once students have finished their machine, they must film it in operation and share the video with the BCE community.

The challenge closes on Friday 26 June.

Sparking Curiosity co-ordinator Charlotte Pezaro said participation in a challenge was sure to extend creative thinking and problem-solving skills in students.

“Learning experiences in STEM provide excellent opportunities for students to develop, practise, and apply their thinking, understanding, and skills in science, technologies, engineering, and mathematics to effectively evaluate information and claims, identify and respond appropriately to problems, design useful solutions, conduct robust investigations, and generate coherent explanations.

“BCE values STEM capabilities as these are essential for everyday citizenship as well as existing and future careers in these fields.

“It’s also about having a whole heap of fun,” she said. 

For more information about Sparking Curiosity click here​.

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