Domain - STEM

National Science Week was held across Australia on 15-23 August. It looked a little different this year with remote learning, however, the STEM leaders and Science team put on a great event throughout the week. The theme for this year was 'Deep Blue: Innovation for the future of our oceans' which is an extremely important topic to be thinking about. In the Laudato Si encyclical, Pope Francis writes "Oceans not only contain the bulk of our planet’s water supply, but also most of the immense variety of living creatures, many of them still unbeknown to us and threatened for various reasons." At Mater Christi College, it was important that we focussed on this aspect of National Science week, as well as having fun with other various activities.

The Year 10 and 11 Biology/Chemistry students had a unique opportunity to meet with biomedical scientists from the University of Melbourne. They learnt about the latest research and innovations that are currently being investigated and developed and had a chance to ask these professors about what pathways led them to their chosen careers. The theme for Science Week this year was "Deep Blue: Innovation for the future of our oceans" and Year 7 and 8 students engaged with an online virtual performance from the Marine Team. The team taught them about the issues that surround our oceans currently, with reference to ocean sustainability, how oceans impact our planet and what we can all do to help our oceans.

The 2020 STEM Cup was incorporated into Science Week with a range of activities organised such as a daily quiz, STEM HUB challenges, community time experiments, a science Kahoot and more. Our students were also entered into the Education Perfect Global Science competition and placed 7th in Victoria overall. A huge commitment to learning was shown by Sarah MacDonald, Varina Rami Meina, Charithi Fernando for earning over 5000 points on the Education Perfect Global Science competition, achieving the Emerald award. Other notable achievements go to -

Bel King in Year 7 who participated in all of the five STEM Hub Challenges.

Kahoot winners - Bronya Robinson 1st, Charlotte Scobie 2nd and Maddi Zapanta 3rd.

Kyra Ghalay and Abby Pires for their submission into the MCC Science Week Performance Competition.

There was terrific enthusiasm for all the activities throughout Science week and the overall House winners were Gibbons!

Laura Overdyk Science Domain Leader and STEAM Coordinator