Science and Mathematics

Suzanne Matejin

Learning Leader

Science and Mathematics

Curious Minds STEM Camp – Australian National University, Canberra

The Curious Minds STEM Camp aims to inspire girls to follow a career in STEM and to show them the varied careers in STEM that they may never have come across before. Sixty-three female students from regional towns to cities across Australia have been matched with female scientists, engineers and mathematicians highlighting the importance of women in these professions. To be selected for this program, the students needed to show a keen interest and passion in STEM. The Curious Minds program is the only national program that gives girls a one on one mentoring experience for six months.

From December 8th to 13th 2019, Aishwarya Lakshmi (Year 11) and I went to Canberra for the Curious Minds Program. The program consists of STEM-related sessions, and a coaching program. The aim of the program is to target girls who are high achievers in STEM learning areas. The experience was inspiring and it made me more interested in engineering than ever before. I got to see how light diffracts with diffraction glasses, trying to solve a real-world problem involving water filters, and even got to see a Ruben’s Tube – this tube is a physics experiment showing how sound waves control fire. We also made some ice cream with liquid nitrogen! Our coaches are female STEM professionals, and we all get to choose a project to work on, whether it is research about plants, or making chat bots. Overall, it really was an enjoyable experience, and we will be continuing with the camp this July.

Krishna Aguinaldo (Year 11)

Pic 1: Testing for bacterial levels in filtered water

Pic 2:  Coding Arduino

The beginning of this journey started off with an email from Ms Matejin, asking if I was interested in attending a Science camp that was on during the summer holidays, due to my results in the Big Science Competiton. The answer from me was a certain yes. It was a 5 day Science program for STEM Yr 9/10 female students from all over Australia. I was very excited about attending this camp, being an avid Science enthusiast. Forms filled out, air tickets and stay at the university campus organised, I started packing my bag, as soon as I found out that I was selected for the program. The day we landed in Canberra, I was so excited I didn’t sleep all night.

The first day of the 5 day program was a fun introductory period where we got to interact with the other girls from all over Australia. It started off with games, and then went into the lab experiences of the large Australian National University. The days passed as we listened to highly successful female PHD scholars, played with ozobots, made turbidity meters, programmed Arduino boards and got insights into the main STEM subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Earth and Environmental Science, IT, Engineering and Mathematics. On the fourth day, we met our mentors and finalised the projects we would be working on through the six-month program. We concluded with a party with our many new friends.  The program was so interesting that I wished it could continue on. I am looking forward to going back in July, to continue my STEM journey into the future. I would like to thank Ms Matejin for having given me this amazing opportunity to participate in this program and would encourage everyone to participate in it.

Aishwarya Lakshmi (Year 11)

Pic 1: Aishwarya working with Arduinos                                            

Pic 2: The Curious Mind cohort 2020