STEM MAD is Back!

On Tuesday 4 April we had our STEM MAD 2023 launch with 27 Year 7 and 8 students. There was much excitement as students faced up the engineering challenge of building a bridge that could withstand different types of forces acting upon them.

From here, students will be designing their own projects to make a difference that we hope to submit in the state competition. We can’t wait to see what great creations they come up with!

Year 7

During our first term in Kilbreda we covered many aspects in DTE. Our main focus was Photoshop, which is the app on our computers. We learnt a range of different things in our first few weeks. We started with studying the tools and brushes that the app had to offer. Then nearing the end of the term, we escalated to learning about greenscreens. We got to work on small projects every few lessons, the most memorable one for me being the ‘Honey I Shrunk the Kids!’ where we got to use the greenscreen in the STEM Room and import ourselves onto a garden background with friends. Overall, I’ve enjoyed our first term in DTE, and I’m looking forward to the lessons to come.

Namie Padasas
Year 7

In DTE this term, we have had a lot of fun exploring the depths of Photoshop.  We have had the opportunity to take photos with the green screen and Photoshop them to create a scene. We have had heaps of exciting times and we all can’t wait to continue making creations next term!!!

Maddy Donaldson
Year 8

Year 8

Year 8 students have been finely tuning their programming skills this semester, taking it in turns to complete projects with ‘Hour of Code’, Scratch game creation and even designing and building virtual pets (like the old Tamagotchis)! Our first class of virtual pets are in (and looking very good). Can’t wait to see what the other classes can come up with!

Read about some of the experiences of our students below:

For my Micro Bit project, I made my favourite Pokémon, Snorlax. I liked figuring out the code and what I should make my design do. I ended up designing it like he was dreaming, and the buttons you pressed changed his dream. 

The best way to learn in my opinion is to learn from the tutorials given, they are very informative and the activities the tutorials teach are fun. I’d like to do something with Micro Bits again.

Samaira Saigal
Year 8

Year 10 DTE

We started the year in Year 10 PGW learning about website design, HTML and CSS. Students then took this knowledge and created their own original website, from scratch and coded with HTML and CSS. We had a wide variety of topics from musical instruments to favourite TV shows, K-pop bands, animals and cartoons.

EARTH Hour

How do you run a computer class unplugged for Earth Hour?! Our 10 PGW accepted this challenge enthusiastically on 24 March. Students were challenged to design and engineer (in one lesson) a shelter that could be flat packed and dropped into areas needing temporary or emergency housing. They could only use one sheet of cardboard, the Makedo tools and a couple of Sharpies for their creations but they came up with some very sturdy (and aesthetically pleasing) designs. We discovered engineering and computing have a lot in common- they’re all about troubleshooting and best done in a team!

VCE Applied Computing

Year 11 Applied Computing and Data Analytics have been learning all about the wonderful world of data analysis, cleansing, scrubbing, manipulating, functions, graphing, and infographics. For the past two weeks they have been working on their Data Analysis SAC and doing a magnificent job of infographic creation. Here are some Year 11 highlights.

Lego Masters Workshop

Exciting news! Ryan Evans, from Lego Masters’ fame (Season 3 and the upcoming GrandMasters season) is coming to Kilbreda to run a Lego and robotics workshop for Year 7 and 8 students. Places are strictly limited and filling fast, so get in quick! Please click on the link below or follow the QR code to fill in the application form.

Next term, when the new season of LegoMasters starts, we will be showing the series at lunchtimes in the STEM room. We might even get the Lego out if you fancy a build! All welcome- watch the daily notices on SIMON for further details.

Adrienne Donoghue
Learning Leader: Digital Technologies