Last Friday, 16 CPS students from years 3-6 joined Mt Claremont, Rosalie, Floreat Park, Sorrento and Wembley Primary Schools to compete in the annual Churchlands Network Keen2STEAM Challenge.
This year the challenge was held at Churchlands Senior High School and hosted by CPS teachers Ms Goodwin, Mr Johnson, Mrs Morgan and Mrs Reid. The event was aimed at promoting and engaging students in STEM subjects and exposing them to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and real-world issues.
Dr Bruce Webber from the CSIRO STEM Professionals in Schools Program kicked off the day by sparking students’ curiosity in an engaging presentation on the links between climate change and fire and flood in Australia before the students embarked on four STEM based challenges. Each challenge posed a real-world problem relating to fire and flood in Australia.
Science – students conducted an investigation to find out the affect ash has on the permeability of soil in the aftermath of a bushfire.
Technology – Students used flow charts and their coding skills to program robots to rescue a herd of livestock from a paddock surrounded by fire.
Engineering – After exploring the impact of rising sea levels, students projected themselves into the future and were tasked with creating a high-density, high-rise structure.
Mathematics – Teams calculated the area of a burnt section of land, number of plants required, labor costs and time required to revegetate after a bushfire.
For each of the challenges, students worked in teams of 4 to design and create solutions. Problem solving, collaboration and thinking critically and creatively were the clear keys to team success.
Throughout the day, students also engaged with STEM high school students, exploring some of the projects they have worked on including virtual reality and 3D printing products. The clear favourite was the incredible Lego ball contraption created by yr 12 student Jude.
The day concluded with a nail-biting awards presentation in which CPS teams excelled!
Year 3/4 Runner Up team – CPS Team 1 – Isaac, Sean, Kingsley & Eve
Year 3/4 Champion team – CPS Team 2 – Emilia, Damon, Tenshok & Thomas
Year 5/6 Runner Up team – Floreat Park Primary School Team 1
Year 5/6 Champion Team – CPS Team 1 -Kelly, Tallulah, Justin & Xavier
Overall Champion School – Churchlands Primary School
A huge congratulations to all the CPS students that participated, their Respect, Resilience and Engagement ensured that they Excelled! Another big thank you goes out to Mr Johnson, Mrs Morgan and Mrs Reid for incredible dedication and attention to detail in designing and delivering the challenges.
Libby Goodwin
STEAM Coordinator 
