STEAM News

Space Camp

 

On the last week of term and the first week of the school holidays, 20 students and 3 members of staff attended NASA’s Space Camp facility in Huntsville, Alabama. For 1 week, student participated in a structured camp based on Science and Engineering where they worked on :

  • Flying and Landing the space shuttle, completing experiments and flying to Mars and back
  • Experience zero weight in the diving pool by scuba diving to 10 meters and completing tasks
  • Spin around inside the Multi-Axis Trainer which simulates the disorientation one would feel in a tumble spin during reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere
  • Experience moon gravity by walking while attached to the 1/6th gravity chair
  • Various other experiments such as rocket testing, robot building and learning about NASA’s past and where the future is taking space exploration

After Space Camp, students spent a week in Orlando participating in :

  • Indoor skydiving where students experienced freefall and forces as they learnt about acceleration and gravity
  • Visit to Kennedy Space Centre where students had lunch with an astronaut, had a chance to get close to the Space Shuttle Atlantis and to examine Kennedy Launch Control restricted site to see Pad 39A, where the Apollo and Space Shuttle Missions launched from
  • Visit to Epcot and Disney
  • A visit to Boggy Creek allowed students to take a trip on an airboat through the Everglades, students saw wildlife and a few alligators! Also, they had the chance to speak to an American Indian

 

It was an amazing camp and it was such a success that planning has started on the 2019 Space Camp, so watch this space!

 

Lego Competition

Two teams from MGC have begun coding and building their robots; to assist them and future robot construction, the College has purchased a STEM table that conforms to the competition specifications and will allow the students to understand how their robots will perform under competition conditions.

 

 

The Victorian heats for the First Lego League will be on the 19 November 2017 at the Swinburne University of Technology

NAO Dance Competition

Once again, MGC has entered into the Everyone Dance Nao competition. Mr Pretlove is taking the led one more time. Using PAO, our humanoid robot, students will learn to code dance routines to music and will compete against other schools. During the lead up, 10 teams are invited to the Dance Off which will be held at Scienceworks on the 12th of November.

 

Monday Lunchtimes in the STEAM Room

While the STEAM room is open each lunchtime for Lego and other activities, on a Monday students enjoy access to all the technologies available and Virtual Reality continues to be a big hit with students engaging in various games and learning tasks.

 

Useful MGC Links

Compass - https://mgc.vic.jdlf.com.au

MGC eMail - https://exchange.mgc.vic.edu.au

Moodle - http://moodle.mgc.vic.edu.au

Home Access Plus - https://hap.mgc.vic.edu.au

MGC’s Public Site - http://www.mgc.vic.edu.au

Parents’ Association - https://goo.gl/aeIBn3

Alumni Association - https://goo.gl/fjYAek