STEM News
Victorian Space Science Education Centre excursion
On Thursday 15 May a group of 48 students travelled to the Victorian Space Science Education Centre in Strathmore. Students participated in one of two workshops: Mission to Mars and Problem Red Planet.
In the Mission to Mars workshop students worked as a team to use their problem-solving skills to successfully complete a geological survey of the Mars surface. Students wore specially designed spacesuits and acted as astronauts, mission controllers and research scientists.
Mission Control officers communicated via radio to the astronauts on the surface and were responsible for their safety and the success of the scientific mission.
In the Problem Red Planet workshop students collaborated with a Martian Astronaut in Australia’s first long-term research base on Mars.
They worked collaboratively to develop numeracy skills in computational- and critical-thinking to support a successful mission. Students took on the role of a Mission Controller, and a Tech Support officer to support their astronauts and prove, mathematically, that an evolving mission could be successful. They were presented with problems related to food security, power requirements, and the required oxygen and fuel to support their astronauts.
Student feedback from the two workshops included:
It was a great experience to learn new things and make new friends!
The Victorian Space Science Education Centre excursion was super fun and was an interesting and social activity. They made algebra the most fun it could have been and would definitely recommend.
The excursion helped me learn a lot more about the surface on Mars, and how it felt like to be a mission controller! It was definitely a fulfilling experience.
I enjoyed my time at the workshop. I feel like I learnt a lot and was able to further strengthen my relationships with people at the school, more specifically in year 7, and get to know the teachers involved in the workshop.
This excursion was a really fun experience, we were astronauts, mission control, and then scientists. 10/10 I would do again.
We would like to acknowledge Rotary Manningham City for their generosity and continued support of our STEM programs.
Sally Polidano
Leading Teacher Science/STEM
Growing Beyond Earth Research Project
EDSC was recently invited to take part in the Growing Beyond Earth project, a collaborative science program between NASA, the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens and schools around the world, designed to investigate the growth of plants in space for future research.
This project will span over three terms, where we explore the growth of different cultivars of plants in a controlled growth chamber in Term 2. Our role includes watering appropriately, thinning excess seedlings and making observations about growth size and health.
In Term 3, we will have the opportunity to visit LaTrobe University where Plants for Space research is taking place in Australia. We will also repeat the experiment after changing a variable of our choosing.
After conducting both experiments, we will attend a symposium with other schools from around Victoria in Term 4 to present and share our findings with NASA representatives.
This is the first time EDSC is partaking in this project since its establishment in 2015, and it surely won’t be the last as we are determined to make the most of it!
Chloe -10J, Shirley - 9A, Nathan - 9C, Niyati - 10L, Amy-10L, Shi-Han - 9C