At Snowy Mountains Christian School there was a week of activities scheduled to celebrate the world of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Visiting preschoolers attended SMCS earlier this month for a morning of LEGO robotics (capably assisted by SMCS secondary students) for the school’s bi-annual event, sponsored by Snowy Hydro.

The activity was a fun and engaging way of inspiring the students’ imaginations and challenging their minds.

LEGO robotics provides a hands-on approach to learning about robotics, coding, and STEM subjects and helps develop valuable cognitive, problem-solving, and creative skills.

SMCS was delighted to have guests from Lambie Street Preschool, Cooma North Preschool and home-schooling families.

The preschool children undertook a variety of activities based on the school’s LEGO robotics program. The main activity was getting the robots, which they built, to kick a ping pong ball as far as possible. They then used them to play a turn-based soccer game.

The participants had a great time, and every team achieved a good degree of success.

SMCS thanked the preschools and families for coming, and look forward to its next event.

A bi-annual STEM fair and open day held at SMCS on Friday, 12 September was a success, promoting the theme ‘Fearfully and wonderfully made’.

The theme encouraged students to explore the complexity and beauty of the world around them.

The fair was a vibrant celebration of student learning and discovery.

Primary students engaged in hands-on investigations. Upper primary explored the hardness of various materials through group experiments, while lower primary examined properties such as softness, flexibility, and weight.

Secondary students proudly presented their long-term STEM projects, showcasing months of research and experimentation. Their displays were both informative and engaging, and the students confidently shared their findings with visiting guests.

The day was a wonderful celebration of curiosity, creativity, and collaboration.

SMCS staff is incredibly proud of all the students for their hard work and enthusiasm, and grateful to the families and community members who joined in to support their learning.

Similarly, the University of NSW (UNSW) solar car workshop and solar car challenge sparked students’ engineering curiosity.

SMCS students had the exciting opportunity to apply their knowledge of energy and electrical circuits during a hands-on solar car workshop led by Olivia and Miriam from UNSW.

The workshop began with a refresher on renewable energy and circuit design, setting the stage for a practical challenge: to design, build, and race a solar-powered car. Working in pairs - and one enthusiastic trio – the students tackled real-world engineering problems, from troubleshooting circuits to optimising solar panel placement for maximum sunlight absorption.

The creativity and innovation on display were impressive. Some teams incorporated up to four solar panels, while others added trailers to their designs.

After several thrilling heats, Blake and Jaime claimed victory with their well-engineered and speedy car, a testament to their teamwork and problem-solving skills.