Science and STEM education seem to be currently, like most of our Australian Curriculum, seeking to adapt to a socially, politically and climatically dynamic future. As an ex-Architect, now STEM teacher, the challenges and complexity of trying to satisfy a brief in such a state of flux, is not to be underestimated. It requires thinking that, as we used to say in the world of design, is ‘brave, crazy and out of the box’, yet founded in the rigours of research and evidence-based practice. Thankfully, such ideas were in abundance at the ‘2025 Igniting Scientific Skills K-10 Conference’. A name which would be much loved by many of my Stage 3 STEM students, who think our classes should involve igniting and blowing up as many materials as possible.
Professor Nathan Hart, Deputy Dean of Research and Innovation at Macquarie University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering introduced us to the app Aparte.ai. Developed by the Macquarie University cybersecurity team, it creatively solves a problem of modern times, phone scammers. Like her Greek namesake, the app deceives scammers by engaging them in long discussions with AI voice clones, tying up their phone lines and saving real potential victims from fraud.
Dr Phoebe Meagher, a highly acclaimed and published research scientist working in the area of forensic conservation at Taronga Zoo, described how her curiosity and lateral thinking led to the development of a breakthrough test which allows scientists to identify whether an animal has grown up in the wild or in captivity, using trace elements found in its keratin (such as spines or fur). Her ability to think outside of the box inspired the application of her test to a diverse range of applications, including reducing the number of wild animals illegally exported out of Australia and working with Australia Post to identify animals contained in parcels, using tweaks to their existing scanning software.
There were fantastic round table hands-on demonstrations in the Primary Zone, including Annie Martin from PLC Sydney, who showed us how to use coir-peat bricks and sand as a growing medium for plants in classrooms, rather than potting mix, to reduce the risk of the bacteria Legionella longbeachae, which can cause Legionnaires’ disease, and other potential pathogens.
Ian Fairhurst from Knox demonstrated the huge potential of Microbits as a tool for students to monitor external environments (such as rainfall, sunlight and just about everything else). He explained that by starting early with kindergarten, students reached very high levels of competence applying technology to a range of tasks, even by Year Three.
Fiona Grant, from Central Coast Grammar School, showed us the power of storytelling to engage students in celestial phenomena. She walked us through a fun and thoughtfully curated unit of work about the planets and stars, starting with the winsome ‘Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me’ by Eric Carle. This was followed by writing activities, animating the movement of the planets using Scratch Junior and a human sun dial, drawing outlines of a standing student on the concrete at hourly intervals, cleverly demonstrating the movement of the sun throughout the day.
Dr Kira Westaway from Macquarie University introduced us to the Merge cube, which can be made by printing a mapped image onto a piece of paper and then folding it into a 3D cube. The mapped surfaces of the cube interact with the ‘Merge Explorer’ app on Android and Apple devices to allow students to rotate and zoom in on 3D views of a range of subjects, including the human body, a dissected frog, Earth and the solar system. A great alternative to ‘blowing things up’ in the classroom, without having to fill out an Occupational Health and Safety form.
As humans, we know intuitively that we do our best work when we share our ideas, successes and failures with others. The stories of our science past are filled with challenged assumptions, coincidence, wild creativity, risk taking and going places with new knowledge that were at times wildly unexpected. I have been learning from my students that if we can go into Science and STEM with open mindedness, compassion and a willingness to listen to each other, we can make incredible progress. Perhaps we will even satisfy this ever evolving and challenging brief that we call the future.
I am very grateful to STANSW and Rosemary Hafner for the opportunity to spend the day being so inspired, and to my colleagues at St Peters Anglican College in Broulee, your compassion, encouragement and strength give me the wings to be brave.
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