Keen young scientists of the Snowy Monaro took part in a variety of school-based activities as part of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) recently. The STEM program provided excitement and wonder for children of all ages, from pre-schoolers to secondary students. Saint Patrick's School held a STEM day on Tuesday, 9 September which involved a practical workshop for Years 9 and 10 students, presented by University of NSW students. The uni students are an ambassador group which travels to high schools - mostly around Sydney - but do occasionally provide the outreach to regional high schools. St Patrick's School secondary students formed small groups to design a solar car, which they tested then raced at the end of the workshop. The activity encouraged problem-solving and design ideas, with plenty of fine-tuning of the solar cars during the test runs before the official race. UNSW post-grad student, Kevin Chan, who is researching ways to expand the effective light spectrum for solar cells, was one of the workshop instructors. "Using some rudimentary materials, we are trying to get the students interested in STEM by building a solar car," Kevin said. "We let them go wild - giving them the freedom to design and construct the car from the materials we provide. It's a problem solving exercise, they can do what they like with these materials and see how it goes." The activity was well-received by the students, who worked out ways of improving their solar car after multiple test runs. "The kids learn a bit about mechanics of gears and how to construct a car, and they learn about electronics and circuits," Kevin said. "When outside they learned about the solar panels as something that creates power; how much sun is needed, what effect tilting has." Student, Hannah Hill, said the construction of the car and the workshop in general was valuable insight for her plans of becoming an engineer. "I didn't know there were so many energy and engineer careers you could pursue. "I think I might do something in the engineering field. "This has been a really good opportunity to learn more about STEM," Hannah said. Similarly the workshop proved beneficial to Lirin Nassar, who hopes to become a mechanic. "I'm learning a lot more about cars," she said. "I didn't realise how so much engineering was needed in cars. I might have to learn about engineering as well for me to become a mechanic." The outreach team also visited other schools in Cooma and Jindabyne.
