2014 UQ Science Ambassador Report
Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology
This year has a been an amazing and fun year for promoting, exploring and learning science
not only at our school, Queensland Academies for Science, Mathematics and Technology
(QASMT), but also promoting science to the wider community. QASMT is already attended by
a great number of enthusiasts for a broad range of fields of science. However, under the
guidance of our coordinator, Mr Bailey, we have continuously sought opportunities to further
cultivate this interest in science.
The Launch of the Science Newsletter
In Term 1, we launched the inaugural QASMT Science Newsletter, to
increase interest and engagement in science at our school. Published
once a term for all QASMT students, our newsletter is aimed to inform
students about upcoming science events they can get involved in and
what science activities have been happening recently, to share the
successes of various students’ science endeavours, and most importantly,
give real-world context to all the topics we studied in class. For example,
one edition featured an article on the discovery of an asteroid
surrounded by rings to interest physics students studying astronomy. The
newsletter has featured articles written by us, the Science Ambassadors,
and we were proud to see the success of our endeavours to promote science through it:
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Sleek Geeks Eureka Prize - We promoted the Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize
Competition through an article, encouraging students to take part in the competition
to make an informational video about a scientific phenomenon. This year, a Year 12
QASMT student won the prize for the secondary school category, placing first
amongst all entries from around Australia.
UQ Science and Engineering Challenge - In another event promoted by the Science
Ambassadors, 32 Year 10 students took part in the UQ Science and Engineering
Challenge, demonstrating teamwork and scientific creativity to place first in the
competition.
QASMT Star Parties – We advertised our ‘star parties’,
astronomy viewing nights, held by the school to coincide with
significant astronomical events like lunar eclipses. We
promoted these events and encouraged more interest to
attend and use the school observatory and telescopes
brought by the Brisbane Astronomical Society to view the
Jupiter, the Great Orion Nebula, the passing of the ISS and more!
We also saw success in other science and technology programs and events we have
promoted, such as the Aspiring Women in Science Conference, the QASMT Robotics and
Electronics Club Showcase, and the Australian Brain Bee Competition, in which a team of Year
10 QASMT students placed first!
SPARQ-ed LAUNCH
The Science Ambassadors attended the launch of the 2014
Students Performing Advanced Research QLD (SPARQ-Ed)
program, an initiative of the UQ Translational Research
Institute and Diamantina Institute to engage high school
students in biological and biomedical sciences. We attended to
demonstrate the various research activities and programs offered for aspiring young
scientists, hoping to encourage other keen science students to take such incredible
opportunities to immerse themselves in what it’s like to pursue a career in scientific research.
Minister for Education and Minster for Science School Tour
On the 27th of February, the Minster for Education and the Minster for
Science came to our school and toured several science classrooms. We
helped out by talking about the year 10 Biology class, who were doing gel
electrophoresis. This was a great event to learn about the grade 10
biology classes but also meet and talk to the ministers and improve my
communication skills.
QASMT Open Day
QASMT held a ‘Carnivale’ for the general public and future students, showcasing the various
topics and areas being pursued by students at the moment. As Science Ambassadors, we
volunteered to spend the day running various interactive displays based on Physics,
Chemistry and Biology for all attendees keen on science.
I spent the day in the Biology labs running a practical on the
extraction of DNA from a strawberry while explaining basic
principles of cell and DNA structure along the way. It was fun
to take on the challenge of engaging a wide range of people –
from primary school students to adults – in the science behind
the process; the best part was definitely witnessing the pride
of people pulling out a clump of extracted DNA from their
strawberry solution!
- Isabella Juria
On Saturday the 8th of March, I went to school from 9:30am
to 1:30pm to help promote both Physics and Astro-physics to
the QASMT and UQ Young scholars. In the morning, I
helped demonstrate physics concepts through interesting and
simple experiments, such as inertia and sound waves. In the
afternoon, I was able to learn how to use our school's
observatory and explain to visitors some concepts of astrophysics.
This was an exciting day for me as I got to explain science concepts to keen visitors as well as
help out the school's science department promote science within the community.
- Anna Truffet
Life as a Science Student Talk
Given how many QASMT students aim to pursue science or engineering at university, we
organised for several QASMT graduates who are now studying science or engineering at UQ
to visit during a lunchtime and give a presentation to current students about their personal
experiences so far. We promoted this talk on school assemblies and mass emails, and it was
very successful. A lot of us gained valuable insight to the rewards and challenges of studying
science and engineering at uni from awesome lectures and research opportunities to
struggling with deadlines.
Youth Stem Conference at UQ
We attended the Youth STEM Conference, held at the UQ St Lucia
in July for keen science students in Years 5 to 9, to assist in the
logistics and organisation of the event. As part of the conference’s
focus on sustainability, we ran a workshop throughout the day
called “Water filtration systems around the world”. We assigned
groups of students to a country, and tasked them with building
the most effective filter to clean a sample of dirty pond water. However, we gave them a
twist: to ‘buy’ materials from us, each group had to use a budget representative of their
country’s GDP, and the instructions they received had varying amounts of ‘foreign language’
(Windings!), according to their country’s literacy rate. It was an interesting activity to run,
because not only did we succeed in encouraging students to think about the science of
particle size and filtration but also encouraged students to think about the importance of
international-mindedness. It was rewarding to see groups from ‘countries’ like the USA
donate their excess ‘funds’ to groups representing Ethiopia so that in the end, all groups had
an effective filter. Students at the conference were then assigned to conduct a research
investigation on a topic of their choice. They presented their findings at a Science Fair held at
our school in September, which we attended to support their efforts and celebrate their
success. We also helped conduct parent surveys to help event organisers assess the success
of the program.
Catapult and Trebuchets Program
Throughout Term 3, the Year 10 and 11 Science
Ambassadors ran a weekly physics course called
‘Catapults and Trebuchets’ for science-enthusiastic
Year 3 to 5 students from various Brisbane Inner
Western State Schools. The whole course was planned
and taught by us, aimed to teach the participants how
to build the best catapult possible using physics. We
began by teaching the students basic physics concepts,
like forces, potential and kinetic energy, optimal angles of trajectory. Then the fun part
started, with us being able to teach them how to construct their own trebuchet using
household materials. The succeeding lessons then allowed them to use their gained physics
knowledge to tweak or alter their designs, in order to launch their projectile as far as possible.
Finally, we held a competition to see which team could launch their projectile the furthest –
with a winning distance of 8.41m. Overall, the program was a success; I found it very
rewarding to have this opportunity to excite these students about science. I was a host of the
final ceremony culminating the program, attended by students and their parents, where they
received certificates for the participation and shared what they learned.
National Science Week
National Science Week was certainly the most eventful week of 2014 for Science
Ambassadors and QASMT students. Our promotion of National Science Week activities,
through the science newsletter, posters around the school and presentations on assembly,
resulted in an incredible number of students expressing interest in participating in various
events!
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QASMT Water Filtration Systems Around the World Activity
To help promote science within the school, for science week we created a Water
filtration system building activity that was held at lunch time in the courtyard. Our
activity involved us giving groups of students a set of instructions and different
budgets, depending what country they were representing. This was a really fun event
as we got to teach our fellow peers about science and its relations and importance in
the real world.
Young Innovators Talks - The Young Innovators presentations were a part of National
Science Week events and were held at the Queensland Museum. Four QASMT
students presented about some areas of science that interested us to the general
public and some primary school students. We also were given the opportunity to
speak on 4ZZZ community radio about our presentations. The event was a great
opportunity to hear about various fields of scientific research and it was a fantastic
way to gain public speaking experience.
The Bazinga moment
Four students were selected to speak at the Queensland museum during science
week to challenge three of the resident scientist at the Museum to determine which
will be the most import science discipline in the future. This event was open to the
public with two schools also being present.
Cafe Scientifique
On the 19th of August from 3pm to 8pm, a group of us went to QUT to help host the
Cafe Scientifique. We also had the opportunity to present in front of a group of
influential scientists that were leading in their field. This was an amazing opportunity
as we got to hear a lot about research being done by fellow students that had impact
on the real world.
Ekka
Another thing that we did for Science week was help out at
the Ekka for half a day. During the morning session of the ekka,
a group of QASMT science students went to the Ekka and
helped do mini experiments in front of many school children
to inspire them and teach them science.
Kids STEM Science Fair
On the 18th of September, we helped out with the running of the UQ Stem Youth Science
Fair. This event was where the students, who previously participated in the Youth Stem
Conference (see above), show cased what they learnt at the conference by making
presentations, carrying out experiments and exploring concepts. I helped out at this after
school event by conducting parent surveys and the logistics of the event.
ICAS science competition All QASMT students participated in the University of New South
Wales’ ICAS science competition. The competition included questions about the species of
plants and animals, chemical reactions, and electrical currents.
Biology Camp
This year in term 1 our grade went to the Stradbroke Island for 3 days, this was an amazing
experience as we got to formulate our own research question with the help of UQ research
scientist and carry out the experiment. This was a great camp as not only did we get to learn
new things, but also learn the things that we wanted to learn about ecology.
Physics Dreamworld Excursion
On 17 September, the QASMT physics students went on an excursion to Dreamworld where
we examined the physics of the Buzzsaw, Giant Drop and Pandemonium rides. Students who
rode these rides took measurements for velocity and acceleration using their phones or
specialised measuring devices. The excursion was a really good example of physics in real-life
and how many calculations must be performed when designing a ride.
UQ Experience Science
The year 10 QASMT students travelled to the University of Queensland for the UQ Experience
Science Day. The day began with a presentation about climatology. We were then divided
into groups for activities. The UQ Experience Science day was a fantastic showcase of the
different scientific fields of study, and the science opportunities at the University of
Queensland.
UQ AIBN Research Placement
During the September school holidays, I was extremely fortunate to have been selected,
along with three other QASMT students from quite a competitive pool of applicants to
complete a four-day research placement work experience program at the UQ Australian
Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. We had the opportunity to experience firsthand what it is like to be a research scientist, and were able to work alongside a mentor
researcher from the AIBN. I was able to study the
synthesis of nanomaterials and other students
investigated electron microscopy and the
neuroscience of strokes. It was an incredibly
rewarding experience which really deepened my
appreciation for the importance of science to various
applications. Thus, I made sure to promote my
experience of this opportunity in an article for the
school newsletter, to ensure other students would
also hear of the chance to be part in such an amazing program and hopefully also pursue
their aspirations for a scientific career.
- Isabella Juria
University of Queensland Science and Engineering Challenge
32 of the year 10 QASMT physics students, including myself, participated in the University of
Queensland Science and Engineering Challenge, where we worked in teams of 4 on one or
two activities. My group participated in two activities: a string maze and a water dripping
system. The combined QASMT team won the event by 2 points.
The event was extremely enjoyable and made us use a wide variety of strategies. The
activities were based on teamwork and out-of-the-box thinking. They were great
opportunities to get to build teamwork as we needed to cooperate in order to connect the
maze and correctly set-up the syringes. Each activity made us think in different ways to solve
the problem efficiently.
- Harrison Price
Unmanned Ariel Vehicle Club (UAV Club)
From the beginning of the year to the end of semester 1, a
group of 5 students built and programmed a UAV from
scratch. This was an amazing experience as we were a selfdirected club were we learnt everything about UAVs and a
lot about aerodynamics and electronics. We were aiming to
participate in the UAV Outback Joe challenge, however did
not manage to make the cut offs. However, this did not put us off continuing to build the
UAV. This was an amazing challenge were I learnt a lot about many different fields of
science.
Robotics
Every Friday from 3pm to 5pm, I go to robotics club with friends. Each term we have a new
project. For example this term we are building a miniature car using lego mindstorms, with
the front wheels controlling steering and the back wheels controlling speed. This project is
especially fun as it is challenging as I have to learn many new skills and areas of knowledge,
for example, complex programming using Brick CC and the basic mechanics behind a car.
Another thing that I did in robotics club that was an amazing opportunity was helping the
grade 10s with First Lego League. This was an amazing opportunity as I got to make many
new friends and learn many new skills.
- Anna Truffett
UQ Science Ambassadors Socials
Throughout the year, Anna Truffett organised the UQ Science
Ambassador Socials. So far we had 3 socials and 1 online
google hangout. This was an amazing experience as we got to
meet a lot of other like-minded students from other schools
that have a passion for Science.