Technology Excursion 

Excursion to Canberra

Selected students in Year 8 and 10 went to Canberra on the 26th & 27th August.

Travelling up we stopped at Yass for lunch and then proceeded to Questacon for a 2-hour session. Students were able to do a range of different activities over the time. We then travelled to the accommodation at Eaglehawk and then off to dinner.

At 7pm we were at Mt Stromlo Observatory. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do star gazing due to the cloud cover, but we were given a walking tour and history of the observatory which really stretched the minds of the students. Harley, in Year 10, came up with some brilliant questions to ask our tour guides of which both are working at the observatory and doing their qualifications through ANU (Australian National University). 

Due to the fires that came through in 2006, the telescopes were not replaced as Canberra is now too bright to see the dark sky accurately. The new telescopes have been placed at Siding Springs near Coonabarabran.

We then travelled back to the accommodation for the evening and had to get up early for the Big Day In at the ANU. 

The Big Day In at the ANU is an event to highlight the use of technology in different careers. We heard from the Australian Signals Directorate, IBM, Australian Space Agency, Westpac, ADF, AIE, Wisetech Global and Microsoft. This event had been at 12 other Universities around Australia. Students were given the opportunity to ask questions of the presenters as well as at the displays and were given a ticket for prizes available on the day. Several of the students were lucky enough to win! Students had pizza for lunch provided by the event.

We then travelled to Gundagai to have dinner and were able to be home by about 7pm, a bit earlier than expected.

Plans are now in place for another excursion later in the year, hopefully to the AIE (Academy of Interactive Entertainment) to do some coding work.

Ms Cathie Webber

STEM Teacher