If you’ve never eaten liquid nitrogen ice cream, had a peek of Virtual Reality or printed something in 3D, this Saturday (1 September) might just be your day.
Dozens of fun activities will be on offer when The Armidale School launches the TAS STEM Academy, an initiative to bring together learning connected to Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, across subject areas.
The public open day, like the STEM Academy itself, is particularly focused on boys and girls aged 4-14 and aligns with TAS Junior and Middle Schools, which offer the International Baccalaureate Primary Years and Middle Years programmes.
Things kick off at 12.30pm when students will be issued with a free STEM passport which will gain entry to more than 20 activities including drone racing, Oculus Go Virtual Reality, engineering and coding tasks, catapult egg throwing, getting into a Non-Neutonian fluid paddling pool and forensic crime solving. There will be a free barbecue – and of course, the opportunity to sample liquid nitrogen ice cream.
“Even if you are like me and don’t know what some of those things are, trying them out is an exciting prospect and is certain to be fun,” Headmaster Murray Guest said.
“The many recent discussions about STEM in the media and broader community consistently refer to the preparation of students for the future and reinforce our understanding that having a solid background in STEM subjects will enable greater opportunities for life after school,” he said.
The Academy is a natural extension to current programs which include, in Junior School, Engineering and Coding clubs; Year 9 and 10 elective courses such as Aviation: City In The Sky, Cryptography, Future Tech, Engineered Futures, Design & Make, and Computer Game Development, and extra HSC subjects for 2019 including Extension Science (in addition to existing Biology, Chemistry and Physics) and Engineering Studies. The importance of STEM as it relates to agriculture and primary resources will also be put in focus.
Entry to the event is via Chapel St.
Austin Pease and Paige Sutton get a taster of the virtual reality experience one of many activities on offer at the TAS STEM Academy launch on 1 September
