Our annual hosting of The Science Experience event for students in Years 9 and 10 was held in July this year with a wonderful group of students from near and far. Our 3-day science camp, with the majority of students staying at Austin Page College, was an amazing few days of shared science experiences, forming new friendships, enjoying a chilly Armidale winter and meeting many of our UNE academics.  Our students attended from Armidale, Ashford, Bangalow, Bathurst, Bingara, Black Hill, Boambee, Brisbane, Byron Bay, Coffs Harbour, Inverell, Lismore, Narooma and Tamworth.

Each day was full to the brim of wonder and curiosity. Students learned physics with Dr Steve and Dr Sonam – making electronic freezer alarms and checking out the gravity-defying spinning bicycle wheel; Chemistry and forensics with Dr Adam, looking at how science can solve crimes and working out a few chemistry challenges; learning with our other Dr Adam all about neuroscience and how absolutely amazing our brain really is; we checked out the UNE SMART Farm and said g’day to the farm sheep and learnt how to check whether they have worms (loved that one, right?); Dr Tim took students through a palaeontology activity where they looked at functional morphology measuring the jaws of mammal skulls to work out what they ate; we learned from Dr Ketheesan all about our body’s defence mechanisms to fight infections; students had to think outside the box with Dr Will and the IT activity; we looked at mealworm and stick insect behaviour with Dr Geoff, and learnt about dairy products with Dr Emma turning cream into butter which made it onto some yummy pancakes!

In addition to all our learning, the students enjoyed some down time with a BBQ dinner out at our local Dumaresq Dam Reserve with a bit of spotlighting on the walking track. They had a ‘night in’ for pizza and movies and our last day included a career panel discussion with four invited guests who spoke about their studies in science, and how their careers have developed.  It was wonderful to have four quite different career experiences discussed and what they loved about their chosen fields.

We held a BBQ on the last day with parents, guests and academic staff before saying farewell to our group of students. Thank you to all the students who joined us for this year’s “The Science Experience”.  We thoroughly enjoyed your enthusiasm and positivity!