STEMathon 2024

The 2024 STEMathon is an immersive and interactive STEM event designed to ignite curiosity and foster a passion for STEM among young children across the Peel and Harvey region. Hosted by St Joseph's School Waroona, this event is a pivotal part of National Science Week and aims to celebrate and promote STEM education and innovation.

The STEMathon will feature diverse activities and exhibits that provide hands-on learning experiences. Children can engage with interactive STEM displays, participate in exciting experiments, and explore cutting-edge technologies. These activities are educational and entertaining, ensuring high engagement. Every child participating in this year's STEMathon will receive a native seedling as part of Alcoa's post-mining forest restoration program.

Key highlights of the event include:

• Interactive exhibits showcasing the latest advancements in STEM
• Hands-on STEM activities and experiments that encourage active participation and learning
• Scientific interactive showcase from the local Noongar perspective
• Presentations and demonstrations by STEM professionals and educators provide insights into STEM careers and real-world applications.
• Activities promote the involvement of girls and women in STEM fields, address gender disparities, and encourage diversity in STEM.
• 3D Design, Entrepreneurship and Game Design sessions

General Information:

STEMathon FAQs

STEMathon Schedule 1

STEMathon Schedule 2

STEMathon Code of Conduct 

STEMathon Photo Permission Form 

STEMathon Risk Assessment

Maps:

STEMathon Venue Map

Waroona Memorial Hall Evacuation Diagram & Toilets

Bus Drop Off Map - Parnell Street Entry

Certificate of Insurance & Emergency Management:

Certificate of Currency - Shire of Waroona

Certificate of Currency - St Joseph's School

Emergency and Evacuation Procedures - The Shire of Waroona

KEYNOTE PRESENTATIONS

Design Thinking in 3D

When we hear about the challenges that our world is facing it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. The good news is that we can all work together to help life on Earth thrive in sustainable ways. The United Nations has identified seventeen important goals that countries around the world need to work together to achieve. These goals focus on ending poverty, improving health and education, tackling climate change, and working to preserve our oceans and forests. STEM skills play an important role in helping us find innovative solutions that will help us achieve these goals.

In this session, you will learn all about a STEM superpower that can help you solve problems, help other people, and make the world a better place. This superpower is called design thinking. Design thinking can help you think like a scientist, engineer, designer, inventor, and even an entrepreneur! Your design thinking superpower will help you sniff out problems and find opportunities to make a difference. It’s like being a problem detective.

Design thinking will also help you come up with amazing ideas for solving problems and helping others. You’ll think outside the square and come up with ideas that nobody has ever thought of before. Design Thinking gives you the power to take your good ideas and turn them into innovative solutions for lots of different problems and challenges.

In this session, you will learn how to unlock your design thinking power and find out how 3D tools can help you create solutions to problems that matter. You'll be inspired by the entrepreneurs at Makers Empire and hear about some young entrepreneurs who have found innovative ways to earn money while they are helping others.

The Power Of Young Entrepreneurs

Scott Millar is a business leader, keynote speaker, and generational consultant on a mission to help organisations navigate the ever changing future of work. Launching his business in early high school, Scott has spent the past 10 years working with young professionals and business leaders around the world to explore how technology and innovation are changing the way we live, work, and learn. As one of Australia's top 30 business leaders under 30 years of age, Queensland’s Young Small Business Leader, APAC's Inspiring Youth Leader, and two-time TEDx Speaker, Scott is passionate about inspiring others to seize opportunities in their digital world.

As a Grade 9 student, Scott never thought that a high school business project might one day turn into a leading Australian education company. In this presentation, Scott will share his story from selling keyrings at local markets to travelling around the world working with CEOs and politicians. Scott will be sharing his experience taking an alternative career pathway and sharing some of his top tips for stepping outside of your comfort zones and making the most of our ever-changing future of work.

Unplugged: Game Design

Digital game design is a fun way to develop programming skills. In this session, Phobe and Martin will take you through the steps of game design. At the end of the session, you will have the plan for a game which you can code after the session. Phoebe Watson is a proud Indigenous woman of the Yarrer Gunditj Clan of the Maar Nation. She is a video game designer who will share her experience in game design. Martin Richards is the Content Manager on the DT Hub who has created many lessons that help teachers implement coding with relevant examples created in Scratch.

There will be supporting lessons for teachers to use back at school to build on what is learned in the session.