CHILDREN had a chance to release their inner Edison at a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) day at Aberdeen Public School on Tuesday, as they were encouraged to learn and invent devices.
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They were taught about elasticity and to make objects capable of floating and steering with no more than household appliances such as bottles, tape, lackey bands and plastic cutlery.
The initiative has also been adopted by other schools in the area, such as Scone High School, Scone Public School (SPS), Belltrees Public School and Ellerston Public School.
Scone and Aberdeen are working together tightly in a coordinated effort to help educate their students.
Stage 2 teacher Stephanie Edwards said they were pleased with how the event went – and keen to do it again after a successful debut.
“This is our first one where SPS has come in here and next term we go to Scone,” she explained.
“We’re hoping that it’s going to be something that will continue on at stage 4 level over the next couple of years.”
While the pupils were given direction, the rest was up to them and they even had the chance to test their inventions outside in a pool before receiving feedback from teachers and STEM representatives.
“They go into a design process where they’ve got to think of the science behind it,” Ms Edwards said.
“Then they are given some idea about what it might look like.
“But, it’s up to them to make their own design of a boat that can power through the water outside.”
She also noted that while it’s early days, they would love to eventually have students sent to the state STEM competitions to demonstrate the skills they’ve learnt at local events.
Their sights are already set on bigger and better things, and Ms Edwards said they’re aiming to add new aspects in the near future.
“Our hope is to also incorporate technology into this, especially when we go to Scone High because they’ve got the facilities to incorporate some ICT (information and communication technology) in it as well, so we’re really looking forward to that,” she said.