2014 UQ Science Ambassador ReportQueensland Academy for Science, Mathematics

and TechnologyThis year has a been an amazing and fun year for promoting, exploring and learning science not only at our school, Queensland Academies for Science, Mathematics and Technology (QASMT), but also promoting science to the wider community. QASMT is already attended by a great number of enthusiasts for a broad range of fields of science. However, under the guidance of our coordinator, Mr Bailey, we have continuously sought opportunities to further cultivate this interest in science.

The Launch of the Science NewsletterIn Term 1, we launched the inaugural QASMT Science Newsletter, to increase interest and engagement in science at our school. Published once a term for all QASMT students, our newsletter is aimed to inform students about upcoming science events they can get involved in and what science activities have been happening recently, to share the successes of various students’ science endeavours, and most importantly, give real-world context to all the topics we studied in class. For example, one edition featured an article on the discovery of an asteroid surrounded by rings to interest physics students studying astronomy. The newsletter has featured articles written by us, the Science Ambassadors, and we were proud to see the success of our endeavours to promote science through it:

- Sleek Geeks Eureka Prize - We promoted the Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize Competition through an article, encouraging students to take part in the competition to make an informational video about a scientific phenomenon. This year, a Year 12 QASMT student won the prize for the secondary school category, placing first amongst all entries from around Australia.

- UQ Science and Engineering Challenge - In another event promoted by the Science Ambassadors, 32 Year 10 students took part in the UQ Science and Engineering Challenge, demonstrating teamwork and scientific creativity to place first in the competition.

- QASMT Star Parties – We advertised our ‘star parties’, astronomy viewing nights, held by the school to coincide with significant astronomical events like lunar eclipses. We promoted these events and encouraged more interest to attend and use the school observatory and telescopes brought by the Brisbane Astronomical Society to view the Jupiter, the Great Orion Nebula, the passing of the ISS and more!

We also saw success in other science and technology programs and events we have promoted, such as the Aspiring Women in Science Conference, the QASMT Robotics and Electronics Club Showcase, and the Australian Brain Bee Competition, in which a team of Year 10 QASMT students placed first!

SPARQ-ed LAUNCH

The Science Ambassadors attended the launch of the 2014 Students Performing Advanced Research QLD (SPARQ-Ed) program, an initiative of the UQ Translational Research Institute and Diamantina Institute to engage high school students in biological and biomedical sciences. We attended to demonstrate the various research activities and programs offered for aspiring young scientists, hoping to encourage other keen science students to take such incredible opportunities to immerse themselves in what it’s like to pursue a career in scientific research.

Minister for Education and Minster for Science School TourOn the 27th of February, the Minster for Education and the Minster for Science came to our school and toured several science classrooms. We helped out by talking about the year 10 Biology class, who were doing gel electrophoresis. This was a great event to learn about the grade 10 biology classes but also meet and talk to the ministers and improve my communication skills. 

QASMT Open DayQASMT held a ‘Carnivale’ for the general public and future students, showcasing the various topics and areas being pursued by students at the moment. As Science Ambassadors, we volunteered to spend the day running various interactive displays based on Physics, Chemistry and Biology for all attendees keen on science.

I spent the day in the Biology labs running a practical on the extraction of DNA from a strawberry while explaining basic principles of cell and DNA structure along the way. It was fun to take on the challenge of engaging a wide range of people – from primary school students to adults – in the science behind the process; the best part was definitely witnessing the pride of people pulling out a clump of extracted DNA from their strawberry solution!

- Isabella Juria

On Saturday the 8th of March, I went to school from 9:30am to 1:30pm to help promote both Physics and Astro-physics to the QASMT and UQ Young scholars. In the morning, I helped demonstrate physics concepts through interesting and simple experiments, such as inertia and sound waves. In the afternoon, I was able to learn how to use our school's observatory and explain to visitors some concepts of astro-physics. This was an exciting day for me as I got to explain science concepts to keen visitors as well as help out the school's science department promote science within the community.

- Anna TruffetLife as a Science Student TalkGiven how many QASMT students aim to pursue science or engineering at university, we organised for several QASMT graduates who are now studying science or engineering at UQ to visit during a lunchtime and give a presentation to current students about their personal experiences so far. We promoted this talk on school assemblies and mass emails, and it was very successful. A lot of us gained valuable insight to the rewards and challenges of studying science and engineering at uni from awesome lectures and research opportunities to struggling with deadlines.

Youth Stem Conference at UQWe attended the Youth STEM Conference, held at the UQ St Lucia in July for keen science students in Years 5 to 9, to assist in the logistics and organisation of the event. As part of the conference’s focus on sustainability, we ran a workshop throughout the day called “Water filtration systems around the world”. We assigned groups of students to a country, and tasked them with building the most effective filter to clean a sample of dirty pond water. However, we gave them a twist: to ‘buy’ materials from us, each group had to use a budget representative of their country’s GDP, and the instructions they received had varying amounts of ‘foreign language’ (Windings!), according to their country’s literacy rate. It was an interesting activity to run, because not only did we succeed in encouraging students to think about the science of particle size and filtration but also encouraged students to think about the importance of international-mindedness. It was rewarding to see groups from ‘countries’ like the USA donate their excess ‘funds’ to groups representing Ethiopia so that in the end, all groups had an effective filter. Students at the conference were then assigned to conduct a research investigation on a topic of their choice. They presented their findings at a Science Fair held at our school in September, which we attended to support their efforts and celebrate their success. We also helped conduct parent surveys to help event organisers assess the success of the program.

Catapult and Trebuchets ProgramThroughout Term 3, the Year 10 and 11 Science Ambassadors ran a weekly physics course called ‘Catapults and Trebuchets’ for science-enthusiastic Year 3 to 5 students from various Brisbane Inner Western State Schools. The whole course was planned and taught by us, aimed to teach the participants how to build the best catapult possible using physics. We began by teaching the students basic physics concepts, like forces, potential and kinetic energy, optimal angles of trajectory. Then the fun part started, with us being able to teach them how to construct their own trebuchet using household materials. The succeeding lessons then allowed them to use their gained physics knowledge to tweak or alter their designs, in order to launch their projectile as far as possible. Finally, we held a competition to see which team could launch their projectile the furthest – with a winning distance of 8.41m. Overall, the program was a success; I found it very rewarding to have this opportunity to excite these students about science. I was a host of the final ceremony culminating the program, attended by students and their parents, where they received certificates for the participation and shared what they learned.

National Science WeekNational Science Week was certainly the most eventful week of 2014 for Science Ambassadors and QASMT students. Our promotion of National Science Week activities, through the science newsletter, posters around the school and presentations on assembly, resulted in an incredible number of students expressing interest in participating in various events!

- QASMT Water Filtration Systems Around the World ActivityTo help promote science within the school, for science week we created a Water filtration system building activity that was held at lunch time in the courtyard. Our activity involved us giving groups of students a set of instructions and different budgets, depending what country they were representing. This was a really fun event as we got to teach our fellow peers about science and its relations and importance in the real world.

- Young Innovators Talks - The Young Innovators presentations were a part of National Science Week events and were held at the Queensland Museum. Four QASMT students presented about some areas of science that interested us to the general public and some primary school students. We also were given the opportunity to speak on 4ZZZ community radio about our presentations. The event was a great opportunity to hear about various fields of scientific research and it was a fantastic way to gain public speaking experience.

- The Bazinga moment

Four students were selected to speak at the Queensland museum during science week to challenge three of the resident scientist at the Museum to determine which will be the most import science discipline in the future. This event was open to the public with two schools also being present.

- Cafe ScientifiqueOn the 19th of August from 3pm to 8pm, a group of us went to QUT to help host the Cafe Scientifique. We also had the opportunity to present in front of a group of influential scientists that were leading in their field. This was an amazing opportunity as we got to hear a lot about research being done by fellow students that had impact on the real world.

- EkkaAnother thing that we did for Science week was help out at the Ekka for half a day. During the morning session of the ekka, a group of QASMT science students went to the Ekka and helped do mini experiments in front of many school children to inspire them and teach them science. 

Kids STEM Science FairOn the 18th of September, we helped out with the running of the UQ Stem Youth Science Fair. This event was where the students, who previously participated in the Youth Stem Conference (see above), show cased what they learnt at the conference by making presentations, carrying out experiments and exploring concepts. I helped out at this after school event by conducting parent surveys and the logistics of the event. 

ICAS science competition All QASMT students participated in the University of New South Wales’ ICAS science competition. The competition included questions about the species of plants and animals, chemical reactions, and electrical currents.

Biology CampThis year in term 1 our grade went to the Stradbroke Island for 3 days, this was an amazing experience as we got to formulate our own research question with the help of UQ research scientist and carry out the experiment. This was a great camp as not only did we get to learn new things, but also learn the things that we wanted to learn about ecology. 

Physics Dreamworld Excursion On 17 September, the QASMT physics students went on an excursion to Dreamworld where we examined the physics of the Buzzsaw, Giant Drop and Pandemonium rides. Students who rode these rides took measurements for velocity and acceleration using their phones or specialised measuring devices. The excursion was a really good example of physics in real-life and how many calculations must be performed when designing a ride.

UQ Experience Science The year 10 QASMT students travelled to the University of Queensland for the UQ Experience Science Day. The day began with a presentation about climatology. We were then divided into groups for activities. The UQ Experience Science day was a fantastic showcase of the different scientific fields of study, and the science opportunities at the University of Queensland.

UQ AIBN Research PlacementDuring the September school holidays, I was extremely fortunate to have been selected, along with three other QASMT students from quite a competitive pool of applicants to complete a four-day research placement work experience program at the UQ Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. We had the opportunity to experience first-hand what it is like to be a research scientist, and were able to work alongside a mentor researcher from the AIBN. I was able to study the synthesis of nanomaterials and other students investigated electron microscopy and the neuroscience of strokes. It was an incredibly rewarding experience which really deepened my appreciation for the importance of science to various applications. Thus, I made sure to promote my experience of this opportunity in an article for the school newsletter, to ensure other students would also hear of the chance to be part in such an amazing program and hopefully also pursue their aspirations for a scientific career.

- Isabella Juria

University of Queensland Science and Engineering Challenge 32 of the year 10 QASMT physics students, including myself, participated in the University of Queensland Science and Engineering Challenge, where we worked in teams of 4 on one or two activities. My group participated in two activities: a string maze and a water dripping system. The combined QASMT team won the event by 2 points.

The event was extremely enjoyable and made us use a wide variety of strategies. The activities were based on teamwork and out-of-the-box thinking. They were great opportunities to get to build teamwork as we needed to cooperate in order to connect the maze and correctly set-up the syringes. Each activity made us think in different ways to solve the problem efficiently.

- Harrison Price

Unmanned Ariel Vehicle Club (UAV Club)

From the beginning of the year to the end of semester 1, a group of 5 students built and programmed a UAV from scratch. This was an amazing experience as we were a self-directed club were we learnt everything about UAVs and a lot about aerodynamics and electronics. We were aiming to participate in the UAV Outback Joe challenge, however did not manage to make the cut offs. However, this did not put us off continuing to build the UAV. This was an amazing challenge were I learnt a lot about many different fields of science. 

RoboticsEvery Friday from 3pm to 5pm, I go to robotics club with friends. Each term we have a new project. For example this term we are building a miniature car using lego mindstorms, with the front wheels controlling steering and the back wheels controlling speed. This project is especially fun as it is challenging as I have to learn many new skills and areas of knowledge, for example, complex programming using Brick CC and the basic mechanics behind a car.

Another thing that I did in robotics club that was an amazing opportunity was helping the grade 10s with First Lego League. This was an amazing opportunity as I got to make many new friends and learn many new skills.

- Anna Truffett

UQ Science Ambassadors SocialsThroughout the year, Anna Truffett organised the UQ Science Ambassador Socials. So far we had 3 socials and 1 online google hangout. This was an amazing experience as we got to meet a lot of other like-minded students from other schools that have a passion for Science.