Today all year 7 students participated in an all day event called “Code, Connect and Create”. The day provided many opportunities for our students to be enriched and engage with the broader STEM network. Working in partnership with UTS, students heard from several guest speakers with IT and engineering experience. Throughout the day students rotated through three workshops facilitated by university students. The workshops encouragde creative thinking, interactivity, problem-solving skills and digital confidence.
Students took risks and discovered the power of coding using Python. They learnt very quickly that Python is a powerful, flexible and fun programming language that can be use in web development to write desktop applications, create games and much more.
Live lights, smooth sound, cool code workshop focused on developing simple code to design a light and sound display using the Powerhouse Museum’s Thinker1 boards. Students learnt about the basics of the Arduino programming language as well as some of the key concepts of circuit building used in electronics and robotics.
The final workshop required students to design and build their own robotic arm and then compete against other teams in a modified game of lawn bowls. This workshop was followed by a creative thinking exercise where students developed a project, based on Rube Goldberg Machines.
The day enabled each student to be challenged and it encouraged them to ‘think outside the box’. Students took risks and were encouraged to make mistakes in order to develop solutions for challenges posed to them.
TAS Department
