STEM program

Building Bridges STEM Intensive

By Tim Beare, Head of Technology

The inaugural two-day “Building Bridges” STEM Intensive program ran on Wednesday 30 November and Thursday 1 December with all year 8 students. The activity was an attempt to raise the profile of STEM education at FCC and draw links (“build bridges”) between the STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths); bring together (“build bridges” between!) teachers with different backgrounds, experience and expertise, as well as demonstrate to students the benefits of teamwork, collaboration, communication and contribution while working on a community based project.

The students were given an engineering design challenge to model a pedestrian bridge to span Farnsworth Avenue to connect (“build a bridge” between) the Environmental Science Centre to the main campus. Some STEM lesson material and guidance were presented to the students prior to them breaking into small groups to design and make scaled bridge models using materials like paddle pop sticks, nuts and bolts and wire.

The models were load tested by hanging water buckets from them until they failed (broke). Students had to calculate a Strength Factor based on the results and then deliver a short presentation to their peers about the whole process.

The activity was well received by the students and teachers who were involved. It was a hands-on, fun activity with some rich STEM content embedded in it.

Thankyou to all participating students and teachers for embracing the concept with such vigour and enthusiasm.