SCS STEM MAD 

Project Name: Road Safe Koalas

Students: Alessia, Avery, Archie & Max

STEM MAD NATIONAL COMPETITION 2024

On Tuesday, 19th November, our Road Safe Koalas STEM MAD team—Alessia, Archie, Avery, and Max—travelled to Brisbane to compete in the STEM MAD National Competition, where 110 primary and secondary school entries from across Australia came together.

The day began with an inspirational talk by a guest speaker from Orange Sky, followed by two engaging STEM workshops: one involving a NASA Challenge and another using Virtual Reality goggles. We also had the chance to view some of the incredible projects in Showcase One.

Our team presented during Showcase Two, preparing in just 15 minutes to set up our display board, code our ‘koala’ cutebot and microbits, and arrange our table with koala mascots and brochures. Over the course of an hour, we proudly explained our design pitch and answered questions from judges, students, parents, and other visitors.

The students represented Our Lady of Fatima with pride, clearly and confidently sharing their design process. They went above and beyond by wearing matching hi-vis vests with the slogan "Drive Slow! Koalas on the Go!", along with role description badges, koala props, and ‘Koala Hugger’ pins donated by the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane.

The competition showcased an incredible range of innovative ideas, and our students left feeling inspired by the creativity and dedication of all the teams. 

We wish to extend a heartfelt thank you to all the students who contributed to getting Road Safe Koalas to the big stage. A special thank you goes to the parents for their unwavering support and for making the trip to Brisbane possible.

Looking ahead, we’re excited to aim for bigger and better things in 2025! With our continued dedication and commitment, we are determined to make an even greater difference in the year ahead.

Max & Archie: "It was an amazing experience! By the end of our showcase, we would’ve spoken to hundreds of students, guests and judges about our design! They were really impressed with our prototype." 

Avery & Alessia: "It was a really great experience and I loved working with our team! It was so much fun! I learned so much from seeing all the other projects and am really motivated to make it again next year!" 

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PROJECT:

Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary, Caringbah: The students designed and carefully prototyped a GPS tracking system that will alert drivers when koalas are close to the road, helping to avoid road collisions with these endangered animals.

Watch a snippet of their video here:

Miss Chloe Tozer | Yr 5 Teacher 

STEM Co-ordinator