Bega High School were awarded the Science and Engineering Challenge champions on Friday, March 16.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Year nine and ten students from seven schools of the region competed in the Science and Engineering Challenge at the Sapphire Coast Turf Club in Kalaru.
The challenge ventures across 53 regions of the country. Schools who receive a high enough score will progress to compete at a state level in August followed by the chance reach the national level in October.
Activities included building a catapult, a bridge, wiring a virtual city, constructing a bionic hand and more.
“We are hoping to inspire them into pursue science and engineering careers in their future,” Team assistant Shelley Wilson of Newcastle University said.
Students got their brains ticking over as they completed the activities within the time frame. Every challenge focussed on teamwork, collaboration and creativity.
“The program is a good fun day which gets kids involved in STEM subjects, some who have doubted themselves will think – hey i can do this, without the pressure of studying extension maths or science subjects,” Team leader Terry Burns of Newcastle University said.
Bega High School teacher Hannah Shaw said after last year’s challenge, the team has now increased three times in size.
“The kids who are not that engaged in maths and science at school have put their hands up to come along – which had surprised me.
“We supported them to come along, I didn’t expect that they would be the ones to put in the most effort,” Ms Shaw said.
All students received a certificate of participation. The team who climbed the ranks and finished on top of the scoreboard was Bega High School with a total of 1068 points.
Sapphire Coast Anglican College finished in second place with a score of 1021, followed by the combined team of Bombala High School and St Patricks College in third place scoring 972 points.
Monaro High School received a score of 929, Lumen Christi Catholic College scored 806 and Eden Marine High 616.
“It was a nine and a half out of ten day, real nice volunteers and a nice location, was a good result and very tense towards the end. The student’s sportsmanship was fantastic,” Mr Burns said.
The day was supported by Bega Cheese, Bendigo Bank, NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer, Bega Rotary, GHD, University of Wollongong and the Bega Valley Shire Council.