Systems Engineering / Science Week

Systems Engineering

Sir, I ate my assessment!

One of the key topics in VCE Interactive Digital Media is a module called ‘critical thinking’. The module is designed to help students think laterally or ‘outside the square’. Creative thinking involves looking at things differently, musing, testing, experimenting and challenging existing thought patterns. Interactive Digital Media students are encouraged to exercise creative thinking everywhere – at home, at work, lying in bed at night, in the shower, or on the bus. They are taught that it can be applied to any type of issue or situation. When used effectively it can assist with the improvement of existing, or the development of entirely new or innovative services, products or processes. Students discover that creative thinking may pay off in a seemingly unconnected way at a future time and in an apparently unrelated context. And so it was that the final challenge for Interactive Digital Media students this year consisted of building a bridge between two classroom desks to hold a container with 250ml of water using only marshmallows and uncooked spaghetti. Students soon realised that while the marshmallows made connecting the spaghetti very easy the result had very little tensile strength. While working in pairs, the other aspect they encountered was that if they ate the marshmallows there was even less chance of completing the challenge! At the end of the lesson the winners, Year 11 students Liam Ryan and Adrien Stefanoski, solved the challenge with a brute force effort of sticking the marshmallows to the desk and laminating the spaghetti to form a crude X between the desks. It easily held the weight of the water container. It was an enjoyable and challenging experience for the class which provided an opportunity to think outside the square and have the unique experience of eating their own assessment. Mr Paul Maxted ICT Coordinator

Science Week

During Science Week 2014, I participated in numerous activities that required deftness and teamwork. I accepted the challenge of creating the most aerodynamic paper aeroplane I could to land in a bucket. Unfortunately ailerons and a fancy empennage will not always help you, but seeing the grin on the faces of Mrs Webster, Mr Evans, Mr Fleming and Mr Murrell overcome with acute nostalgia of their youth was priceless. Shortly afterwards, I participated in a building competition hosted by Mr Church, that required you to create a structure made from four potato shards and ten spaghetti sticks that could support fifty grams or more of steel discs. My friend Zac Cobucci and I discussed how we could strengthen the frame’s structural integrity. We underestimated the spaghetti’s frequent ability to snap in crucial moments, so we got frustrated and moved on, even though we had a lot of fun.