Scitech

Last week, we hosted 20 Year 10 students from Governor Stirling High School as part of The Smith Family Work Inspiration Program, giving students a behind-the-scenes look at what a career in STEM could be like. The day commenced with a tour of the Discovery Centre, including the Scitech workshop, facilitated by Chris Wyper, Manager, Maintenance, Engineering and Construction, followed by presentations from some Scitech staff. 🔹Claire Garcia-Webb, Project Manager and Exhibition Designer, shared her journey in engineering, discussing her diverse roles and the exciting projects she’s working on at Scitech. Students even got sneak peeks of prototypes for future exhibits! 🔹Eleanor Cork, one of our talented Science Communicators, gave an inspiring talk about her path to Scitech and how she was once told that STEM wasn’t for her—proving that STEM truly is for everyone. 🔹Michael Gatt, Manager Digital Content, gave students a look at what it’s like to be a digital content creator at Scitech, highlighting the critical skills for the role and how digital content allows us to make science accessible to all. The day wrapped-up with a hands-on engineering design challenge, where the students learned the importance of rapid prototyping and refining their designs. We hope these students left excited about the possibilities ahead 🙌 A big thank you to The Smith Family for letting us be part of this fantastic program!

We are thrilled to announce the addition of Ganymede, the latest member of Scitech’s fleet, named after Jupiter’s icy moon. Ganymede joins our tradition of trucks with 'G' names, alongside Greta, Goose, Gertrude, Galileo, and Galaxy. But the most exciting part? Over the next three years, Ganymede will help us visit every regional and remote school in WA, ensuring that students from all corners of our vast state can access hands-on, engaging STEM experiences. Last financial year, we travelled 46,000km on 19 regional tours to visit 120 schools across WA. Right now, Ganymede is on its first tour with Science Communicators, Ryan and Frankie (pictured), bringing our Primary Science shows and workshops to Beverley, Northam, Wandering, Wundowie, and York. 🚚

Mission accomplished: Challenge Days 2024 🚀 Last week, upper primary students from across WA gathered at Scitech for our annual Challenge Days, where they tackled space-themed challenges designed to spark creativity and develop real-world STEM skills. From calculating routes for the Curiosity Rover to balancing space shuttle cargo and analysing space rock samples, these challenges pushed students to think critically, collaborate effectively, and apply their problem-solving abilities. A huge shoutout to our winning teams: 🏆 Monday 14th October: John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School 🏆 Wednesday 16th October: St John Bosco College 🏆 Thursday 17th October: Peter Carnley Anglican Community School (PCACS) 🏆 Friday 18th October: South West PEAC Well done to all the students and teachers who took part and Scitech staff involved in organising Challenge Days!

We are excited to release the Scitech Impact Report for the 2023-24 financial year! As a charity, we are hugely proud of the impact our exhibitions, shows and programs have in giving our community access to be engaged and inspired by science. The report details the amazing work of our teams and exciting developments across the last financial year, from improving our accessibility and inclusion to launching our Philanthropy program. From being invited to be part of local and international events and conferences to beginning work on the redevelopment of our permanent gallery in the Scitech Discovery Centre with new exhibits to be released next year. All of this is done with the aim of inspiring people to find their love of science. Because we know that engaging our community in science is vital to empowering our community to make informed decisions, expand our future workforce, and develop the skills we need to solve the challenges we face now and in the future. Thank you to the generosity of our government partners at the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation, our corporate partners Alcoa, Chevron Australia, Woodside Energy, Rio Tinto and Mitsui & Co., Ltd., community partners and wonderful donors for their continued support in sharing our purpose. Visit the interactive page on the Scitech website to read and download the Impact Report 2023-24: https://bit.ly/4hk7slF

Recently we were excited to collaborate with WA Foundation for Deaf Children for Auslan Day at the Scitech Discovery Centre to celebrate National Week of Deaf People. We welcomed d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing children and their families to the Centre for a specially facilitated day. Auslan (Australian Sign Language) interpreters joined our Science Communicators for our Chevron Science Theatre, planetarium and puppet shows, and a recorded video featured Senior Science Communicator Charlie Morton welcoming our visitors using Auslan. Deaf mentors from the WA Foundation of Deaf Children also joined us for the day, providing our d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors with Deaf role models and enhanced communication when enjoying our exhibits. “One of the Deaf mentors said she had been to the planetarium as a child with her school, and thought it was a cool room but hadn’t really understood what it was about. With the interpreter available to access the live presentation and the movie, she was absolutely blown away by the experience of learning about space, and was thrilled the kids were getting access that she had never had,” Charlie said. “Another amazing moment was with our exhibit “Fling the Ring” which uses electromagnets to propel a metal ring across a PVC track. Lots of children have difficulty understanding this concept and expect that it is air, or another mechanism that moves the ring. However, our visitor understood it straight away by relating it to her cochlear implant which is magnetic. “It was a great day seeing the kids interact in shows, and in the gallery space where having access to sign language made the information easy and accessible and led to natural and spontaneous interactions. I loved seeing signing all around the centre, kids asking questions, and interacting with the exhibits, Deaf mentors and shows, having a heap of fun and learning at the same time, and hearing laughter and seeing delighted smiles. It just shows how important sign language access is to learning that is easy and fluid and I am proud of Scitech for providing access in Auslan.”

Congratulations to teachers in Byford and Mundijong primary schools who have just completed the Alcoa Real World Digital Technologies program! Facilitated by Scitech, this one-term professional learning program that aims to increase teacher confidence and capability in incorporating digital technology into daily teaching. West Byford Primary School Technology Specialist Teacher and program participant Bhawna Nayyar said it was it was important to raise awareness about digital literacy with students. “We give children iPads from a young age, but we rarely teach them how the technology behind it actually works. By engaging students in digital technologies in this way, we can open up a bigger conversation with them and their families around digital footprints, online safety and digital technologies skills that they will use in their everyday lives.” Learn more: https://bit.ly/3BrMiS1

It's International Podcast Day! 🎧 Did you know at Scitech we produce our own podcasts? Whether you're stargazing or pondering life's big questions, we've got you covered. Audio Guide to the Galaxy is a monthly update guiding you through the celestial events to look out for in the WA night sky. https://bit.ly/3x5A1ke 🌟 Wonder Kids is the perfect fit for children’s natural curiosity, answering their questions with fun, bite-sized episodes: https://bit.ly/4dqxVKU 🤔 Particle is Scitech’s independent media hub that connects young adults to science stories from Western Australia and beyond. Particle's Please Look Up podcast is an extension to Audio Guide to the Galaxy that goes further into the science of the night sky and the latest space news. Elements is a multi-part mini-series exploring Western Australia through the lens of the natural elements. From Perth’s drinking water to Kimberley fire hawks, discover new things about our amazing state. https://bit.ly/3ZELWS4 🔥 Podcasts are a great medium for making science engagement accessible, offering audiences interesting and fun science information that they can access anywhere at any time.

Our Statewide team recently headed to the Wheatbelt to bring our fun and interactive science experiences to primary school students. Supported by Collgar Renewables, the tour visited nine schools across the region from Cunderdin to Merredin to Southern Cross. Pre-primary to Year 2 students took part in the Hands On! show and workshop which saw them exploring how animals and insects interact with the world using their science tools - their senses. Year 3 - 6 students discovered some of the mysteries of science with the Mystery Hunters show and workshop, building electromagnets to learn how electricity is generated and used. “We had an amazing experience at a school with 11 students in total, which really highlighted how through Statewide we get the chance to reach these small communities,” Senior Science Communicator Colin Malcolm said. “Seeing a lot of the younger kids get really involved and enjoying science in Hands On! was lovely, especially learning about their favourite animals.” Scitech’s Statewide team visits every primary school in regional and remote Western Australia every three years. Our Statewide tours ensure students across the state have access to hands-on and engaging experiences of science, allowing them to see how relevant science is to them and their everyday life.

Our brand new science show It’s Elementary explores how even the basic building blocks of everything in the universe can react in ways that still surprise us. The show focuses on a few of the elements on the periodic table and reveals some of the fascinating and spectacular reactions that happen when you mix them with fire, water, air and each other. Programs Coordinator Evan Thyer said audiences can expect to see some unique and different experiments in the show. “So often the elements that make up everything around us are invisible to us. We don’t think about the chemistry of a cup of tea, or the components of salt, or the physics of the colour of a flame. What’s so fascinating is most of these reactions occur just by exposing these elements to things we interact with every day like oxygen and water,” Evan said. “The show also looks at where these elements and reactions occur in the world, whether part of animal biology or helping us create cool effects for films. By understanding that we are all made from the same elements, just combined in unique and different ways, we can learn how to look after ourselves and the world around us.” You can see It’s Elementary in the Chevron Science Theatre during the September school holidays and on the Amhurst Stage at the Perth Royal Show from Saturday, 21 September.

Recently our Learning Futures team headed up to Karratha to facilitate Catch a Hacker community events at primary schools taking part in the Integrated Digital Technologies program. One of the participating schools is Tambrey Primary School, and their Catch a Hacker event saw parents and carers and their children work together on problem solving challenges to find out the identity of the hacker. “The event at Tambrey Primary School was one of the biggest Catch a Hacker's we've held, and it was so great to see the school community getting involved and discovering the fun and satisfaction of using their problem-solving skills to solve the puzzles,” Scitech Professional Learning Consultant Emily Grainger said. “We had some really great feedback from parents who attended, who loved being able to see what their kids were learning used in a hands-on situation outside of the classroom.” Integrated Digital Technologies supports primary school teachers in Karratha to develop their skills and confidence to introduce digital technologies learning across all subject areas, leading to enhanced student understanding and engagement. The Catch a Hacker events are an important part of the program, giving parents and carers the opportunity to see their children’s digital technologies knowledge and skills in action and sees them be active participants in their children’s learning. The program is provided free to select schools in Karratha thanks to the support of Woodside Energy.