Three Year-10 students from Hoppers Crossing Secondary College and their teacher, Alan Harkness, attended our meeting last Tuesday to tell us all about the Science and Engineering Challenge conducted by Deakin University in April. Werribee Rotary sponsored the students by paying for the hire of a bus to the venue in Geelong. Other Rotary clubs sponsored other schools in this program.
A team of about 15 students from the school competed against other students from schools in and around Geelong. They were required to perform a number of experiments. We heard from Jayden who worked with a team to build a catapult which was required to fire a tennis ball towards a target. Justine worked on a water turbine project as well as a stringways experiment. Dhruv also worked on two projects, one was called Clutching at Straws and the other was ElectraCITY. They all enjoyed the experience and agreed that it benefited them because it encouraged creativity, problem solving, teamwork and innovative thinking. It also gave them an insight into some of the possible opportunities in a science or engineering career.
All presenters expressed their gratitude to the club for sponsoring them to be part of the challenge.