What’s New in ATD?

Dr Sarah Bond

Head of Academic Talent Development

The Academic Talent Development program has had a busy year in 2021. Boys have explored the City of the Future, designed race cars, worked to solve world problems, tackled ethical issues and much more!

The World Science Festival (WSF) held in Brisbane, is a celebration and exploration of science, which brings together great minds to present the wonders of science and the drama of scientific discovery to a broad audience. The first event at WSF 2021 was the Science of Life, Change and Explosions, which included: live experiments onstage, myriad solutions changing colours; the chemistry of pyrotechnics, a demonstration of how nylon is created, and finally, an elephant’s toothpaste demonstration. Next, students watched baby turtles hatch and learned about the ocean environment and the impact of plastic on natural resources and wildlife. Students then explored the QLD Museum, prior to ending the day with the City of the Future program, where they explored concepts such as urban gardens and drone and robot delivery dogs. Finally, students created their own vision for their ideal City of the Future.

The Future Problem Solving program is an international educational program for students of all ages, focusing on the development of critical, creative and futuristic thinking skills. Teams completed projects around the topics of Youth in Competitive Sports and Wearable Technologies. The middle years team (Years 8 and 9) had an outstanding result for Practice Problem One, with a near-perfect score for their booklet. The Year 7 Accelerated English class also participated in the program, completing a booklet about space colonisation on Mars. In Term Three, students will travel to Brisbane Girl’s Grammar School for a study day, which provides the opportunity for these students to share ideas and knowledge with other high-performing students throughout Queensland.

The DaVinci Decathlon is an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students. Students compete in teams of eight across 10 disciplines: engineering, mathematics and chess, code breaking, art and poetry, science, English, ideation, creative producers, cartography and legacy. TSS has two teams for 2021, with students competing at Nudgee College in both the Junior (Years 7 to 8) and Senior (Years 9 to 10) divisions.

The Formula One STEM team, led by Captain Ryan Hebdon is creating a car design which will fly past the competition. Additionally, the team is in the process of creating a marketing portfolio with a team name, logo, team uniform and a trade booth. F1 STEM develops skills in problem solving, project management, communication, presentation, teamwork, innovation, self-promotion, collaboration, marketing and entrepreneurialism.

The Ethics Olympiad allows students an opportunity to explore ethical dilemmas using both logic and compassion. The competition places an emphasis on reasoning and explaining how the team arrived at their ethical conclusion. It is a unique opportunity for schools to engage their students in interesting ethical discussions with other students who come from different parts of the country and the world. Two teams, including last year’s Bronze Medal winning middle years team, participated in their first Senior Olympiad in May, with the veteran team placing in the top 50% of the competition.

The ATD Centre has been a hive of activity in 2021, with students using the space to study, explore research, play games and prepare for competitions. We look forward to Tournament of Minds, Middle Years Ethics Olympiad and further competitions in Terms Three and Four.