QUT Metro Regional Conference

Thank you to all of the students who attended the special "Halloween" edition of our Metro Regional Conference on 31 October 2023 at QUT (Queensland University of Technology)!

Students presented the results of their Challenge Tasks and participated in workshops and speed-meet at scientist events.

Congratulations to the winning teams:

Year 7 - Redlands College
Year 8 - A tie! St Mary's College, Ipswich and Stretton State College
Year 9 - Stretton State College

Thank you to the QUT, Griffith University and The University of Queensland students who judged and ran workshops on the day! Our Young Science Ambassadors donned their best spooky hats for the event!

Thank you also to Perry Collier who represented one of our funding partners Rio Tinto on the day.

Wonder of Science in Cairns 2023 - Our biggest Cairns Regional Conference yet!

Last week Wonder of Science held the biggest Cairns Regional Conference ever. With over 200 people attending including 165 students from 13 schools from Cairns, Innisfail, Mourilyan, Mossman, Port Douglas and surrounding areas! Congratulations to all of the students who presented the results of their Challenge Task Projects.

Congratulations to the winning teams:

Year 4 - Mossman State School and Port Douglas State School
Year 5 - Hambledon State School
Year 6 - Mourilyan State School
Year 7 - A tie! St Mary's Catholic College and Innisfail State College
Year 8 - Peace Lutheran College
Year 9 - Redlynch State College

A special congratulations to our Cairns Distance Education Year 6 student who participated virtually in the conference, zooming in all the way from India!

Our Cairns region is supported by Rio Tinto. Thank you to Rio Tinto for their ongoing support of the program!

We are excited to confirm that we will be back in Cairns and Far North Queensland next year!

Thank you to the 16 Young Science Ambassadors from QUT (Queensland University of Technology), Griffith University, The University of Queensland who attended the conference as judges and workshop leaders. Students had the opportunity to meet these scientists and learn about their research in our speed-meet event on the day.

Thank you to James Cook University for hosting us for this event!

Students also participated in ecology and aerodynamics workshops on the day.

Gladstone Regional Confernece

A big congratulations to the WONDER-full teams who participated in our Gladstone Regional Conference. Schools from Gladstone, Rockhampton, Bundaberg and Biloela ventured to CQUniversity Gladstone to present the results of their Challenge Task research project and participate in workshops throughout the day.

Students also met 12 STEM researchers (Young Science Ambassadors) from Griffith University, QUT, University of the Sunshine Coast and The University of Queensland.

An extra congratulations to our winning teams:

Year 5 - Gladstone West State School
Year 6 - Kin Kora State School
Year 7 - Bundaberg State High School
Year 8 - Rockhampton State High School
Year 9 - Bundaberg State High School

Many schools attending this conference are supported by Orica and GroundProbe! Thank you to the Orica representatives who attended this event.

Thank you to CQU Gladstone for hosting us again this year.

We are excited to see a few previous Regional Conference winners amongst this year's winners! We look forward to seeing all of the winning teams at State Conference in Brisbane!

Mount Isa Regional Confernece 2023

Congratulations to the teams from Mount Isa and Cloncurry who participated in our 6th Annual Mount Isa Regional Conference on 10 October 2023.

Thank you to all of the Year 4 - 8 students who participated from across the region. Students presented the results of their Term 3 Challenge Task projects and participated in Cabbage Chemistry and Marine Ecology workshops! Students also participated in a speed-meet session where they got to know all 11 of the scientists from three universities (UQ, QUT and Griffith University) visiting Mount Isa for the conference.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

A special congratulations to the winning teams:

Year 4 - St Keiran's Catholic School, Mount Isa
Year 5 - A tie! Happy Valley State School and St Keiran's Catholic School, Mount Isa
Year 6 - Happy Valley State School
Year 7 - Spinifex State College
Year 8 - Spinifex State College

Thank you to Orica and GroundProbe for sponsoring schools in the Mount Isa region to participate in Wonder of Science.

Thank you also to Spinifex State College who has hosted this event for the past six years!

Something of a WoS Mount Isa tradition, the Wonder of Science team gathered for a photo at Outback Isa at the end of the day to celebrate:

Brightwater Regional Conference

Congratulations to all of the teams who attended our Brightwater Regional Conference on Tuesday!

Thank you to Mount Mee State School, Brightwater State School and Banksia Beach State School for joining us at the conference.

Our winning teams were:

Year 4 - Brightwater State School

Year 5 - Mount Mee State School

Year 6 - A tie! Mount Mee State School and Brightwater State School!

Students also participated in DNA and food web ecology workshops.

Special mention to the wonderful pink seismograph (final photo) from the Year 6 winning Brightwater team!

Thank you to the 14 Young Science Ambassadors from The University of Queensland, QUT (Queensland University of Technology) and Griffith University for joining us on the day.

Over 100,000 people reached since 2012!

Wonder of Science is excited to announce that we have reached over 100,000 people across Queensland since we began in 2012!

Thank you to the staff, teachers, students, partners, universities, Young Science Ambassadors and Flying Scientists who have made this possible. We look forward to continuing to foster a STEM culture in Queensland schools in the years to come.

Here are just some of our favourite photos from recent years.

Wonder of Science in Miles 2023 supported by Arrow Energy

A big congratulations to the Years 4 - 7 teams who participated in the Miles Regional Conference at Miles State High School this year. Thank you also to the 10 Young Science Ambassadors (PhD students) who travelled to Miles to participate in conference! Students also participated in two workshops looking at DNA extraction and using vegetables (cabbage) to determine pH.

We were also excited to be interviewed by 4WK Radio on the day!

Congratulations to the winning teams:

Year 4 – A tie between two teams from Taroom State School

Year 5 – St Josephs Catholic College and Taroom State School

Year 6 – Meandarra State School

Year 7 – Miles State High School

Wonder of Science is the Darling Downs is supported by our partners at. Arrow Energy. Thank you Arrow Energy for your ongoing support!

Orica and GroundProbe supporting WoS in Regional Queensland

What a WONDERfully HUGE October we have had here at WOS!

We have had not one... not two... but THREE amazing regional conferences in Mt Isa, Gladstone and Emerald. These three conferences were made possible by our partners Orica and GroundProbe!

Thank you to the wonderful representatives Suzie Lane and Selena Anderson (ORICA) and Lisa Cronqvist (GroundProbe) for attending and helping present awards at the Gladstone and Emerald Conferences.

Congratulations to the winning teams from Mt Isa Regional Conference:
-Year 4: St Kieran's Catholic School
-Year 5: Happy Valley State School
-Year 6: Happy Valley State School
-Year 7: Spinifex State College
-Year 8: Spinifex State College
-Year 9: Spinifex State College

Congratulations to the winning teams from Gladstone Regional Conference:
-Year 5: Gladstone West State School
-Year 6: Gladstone West State School
-Year 7: Bundaberg State High School and Rockhampton State High School
-Year 8: Bundaberg State High School
-Year 9: Bundaberg State High School and Biloela State High School

Congratulations to the winning teams from Emerald Regional Conference:
-Year 4: Denison State School
-Year 5: Blackwater North State School
-Year 6: Blackwater North State School
-Year 8: Dysart State High School

Congratulations to all schools who participated at these conferences!

FNQ Regional Conference supported by Rio Tinto

Last week 113 students from 9 schools across Far North Queensland travelled to JCU for our annual FNQ Regional Conference.   
Wonder of Science in FNQ is made possible again for the third year running by our partner RioTinto!  
  
Congratulations to the winning teams from FNQ Regional Conference:  
-Year 4: Mossman State School  
-Year 5: Hambledon State School  
-Year 6: Edge Hill State School  
-Year 7: Peace Lutheran College  
-Year 8: Redlynch State College  
-Year 9: St Marys Catholic College and Peace Lutheran College  
  
Congratulations to all schools who participated at the FNQ Regional Conference!

2022 Miles Reigonal Conference supported by Arrow Energy

In July 2022, 94 students from across the Darling Downs Region traveled to Miles State High School for our annual Surat Basin Wonder of Science Regional Conference.

Student teams presented their response to the challenge tasks vying to be named the Regional Champions for their year level. The students also participated in fun workshops and Q and A sessions with the Young Science Ambassadors.

A very big thank you to Arrow Energy for supporting this program enabling students across the Surat Basin to participate in Wonder of Science free-of-charge for the past nine years. Thank you to Arrow representative Brock Jephcote for joining us on the day!

Congratulations to all the students who participated in Wonder of Science again this year, and to our Regional Champion teams (listed below) - we look forward to seeing you at State Conference in Brisbane on 25 November!

Congratulations to the winning teams:

- Year 4: Taroom State School
- Year 5: Dhrillham State School
- Year 6: A tie! Dhrillham State School and Dalby South State School
- Year 7: Miles State High School
- Year 8: Miles State High School
- Year 9: Tara Shire State Colleg

Wonder of Science Surat Basin 2021 Wrap-up!

Just over 500 students from 11 Darling Downs South West schools participated in Wonder of Science this year, thanks to generous funding support from Arrow Energy.

A total of 37 classes across Years 5 - 9 completed Wonder of Science challenge tasks in term 2 receiving ‘in-person’ visits from the Young Science Ambassadors. Teachers told us they were delighted to welcome the Ambassadors back into their classrooms following ‘virtual-only’ participation in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Around 160 students were selected to represent their school at one of the regional student showcase conferences, held at Dalby South State School and Miles State High School.

Student teams presented their response to the challenge tasks vying to be named the Regional Champions for their year level. The students also participated in fun workshops and Q and A sessions with the Young Science Ambassadors.

Congratulations to all the students who participated in Wonder of Science again this year, and to our Regional Champion teams (listed below) - we look forward to seeing you at State Conference in Brisbane in late November!

A very big thank you to Arrow Energy for supporting this program enabling students across the Surat Basin to participate in Wonder of Science free-of-charge for the past eight years.

Dalby Conference Champion Teams

- Year 5 - Dalby South State School
- Year 6 - Dalby Christian College

Miles Conference Champion Teams

- Year 5 - Roma State College
- Year 6 - Meandarra State School
- Year 7 - Miles State High School
- Year 8 - Miles State High School
- Year 9 - Miles State High School

Wonder of Science Regional Conferences go Virtual!

Darling Downs South West schools (32 classes) from Year 5 - 9 participated in Wonder of Science thanks to generous funding from Arrow Energy! Based on continuing uncertainties related to COVID-19 all Wonder of Science school programs moved online for 2020 - meaning Young Science Ambassador visits will occurred via video lessons or video conferencing sessions. The 2020 Wonder of Science Darling Downs South West Regional Conferences also looked a little different running ONLINE via Zoom where representative teams from each school presented the results of their WoS challenge tasks for the term.

Congratulations to all of the winning teams and to all of the students who participated! The winning teams were:

• Dalby South State School (Year 5)

• Meandarra State School (Year 6)

• Taroom State School (Year 7 and 8)

• Roma State College (Year 9)

Our winning Meandarra team included students that were Year 5 winners in 2019 - making them two-time champions!

All participating students were mailed a certificate for participation and the winning teams received a trophy and medals which schools presented to their students at school parades.

Watch this space for the next round of winning teams from the Term 3 Virtual Regional Student Conferences!

Wonder of Science returns to Cairns!

In 2019, Wonder of Science returned to Cairns for the first time since 2017. Over 275 Year 7 - 9 students from two schools (Smithfield State High School and Innisfail State College) participated in term long STEM inquiry tasks ranging from taxonomic identification of bugs to understanding chemical energy transfer. Recently 40 students were selected to represent their schools the 2019 Wonder of Science Regional Conference at Jame Cook University in Cairns. This conference was the last of eleven regional conference held by Wonder of Science this year.

At the conference, teams of students presented the results of their research projects. We saw amazing presentations from our Year 7 - 9 teams with some students launching makeshift rockets, calling members of the audience to participate in live demonstrations of chemistry experiments and even presenting their work entirely without notes or palm cards with confidence rivalling that of University students.

Students also participated in Chemistry Workshops run by YSA Joshua Davis and a Q and A session run by our Young Science Ambassadors Soi Law, Felix Egger and Sachini Fonseka. JCU Young Science Ambassador Maria Rivera Araya also assisted with judging on the day.

Congratulations to the winning teams:

Year 7 - Innisfail State College

Year 8 - Innisfail State College

Year 9 - Smithfield State High School

The quality of presentations on the day was astounding from all teams. Congratulations to everyone who participated in the day.

We look forward to welcoming the Cairns winning teams to State Conference in Brisbane on November 29 at QUT!

Wonder of Science Returns to Darling Downs South West

This year 1083 students from 17 Darling Downs South West schools (62 classes) from Year 5 - 9 participated in Wonder of Science thanks to generous funding from Arrow Energy! Thirty-six Young Science Ambassadors visited schools throughout the term assisting students with their Wonder of Science Challenge Tasks. Over 240 students were selected to represent their schools at Regional Conferences at either Dalby South State School in June or Miles State High School in July.

Representative teams from each school presented the results of their WoS challenge tasks for the term and participated in a "physics meets art", “science communication” and "cornflour slime" workshops throughout the conferences. The students also participated in Q and A sessions with our Young Science Ambassadors. At Dalby, the WoS Trophies were presented by Arrow Energy Operations Manager for the Surat - Maxwell Murray. Congratulations to all of the winning teams and to all of the students who participated!

The Winning Teams

Dalby:

- Year 5 - Drillham State School
- Year 6 - Dalby South State School
- Year 7 - Dalby State High School
- Year 8 - Bell State School
- Year 9 - Bell State School

Miles:

- Year 5 - Meandarra State School
- Year 6 - Moonie State School
- Year 7 - Roma State College
- Year 8 - Taroom State School
- Year 9 - Tara Shire State School

Wonder of Science was also privileged to have WIN News Toowoomba, Chinchilla News and ABC Radio report on the conferences. Thank you again to Arrow Energy for their continued support of Wonder of Science in Darling Downs South West.

Regional Student Conference: Roma

Students from Roma and surrounding schools participated in a one-day student conference.

 Students presented their response to a challenge task aligned to the Australian Curriculum: Science. The regional student conferences provide the opportunity for students to participate in scientific inquiry which builds higher order thinking skills and develops scientific understanding.