International Students Science Fair 2023

Excursion 1

Zero Positive

Zero Positive is a world-first, not-for-profit emissions reduction program, supported by the United Nations, and developed specifically to empower Australian schools and their communities with the right tools, education, and support to become climate positive.

During this excursion, students will be immersed in an interactive learning experience, gaining valuable insights into climate science and the importance of sustainable practices. Discovering the role of behaviour change in accomplishing our climate targets by 2030. Embracing a personal challenge, they’ll be empowered to take action towards building a sustainable future.

Excursion 2

Toohey Environmental Centre

Toohey Forest Environmental Centre is a part of the Griffith University EcoCentre, surrounded by the natural backdrop of Toohey Forrest – home to koalas and a wide variety of reptiles and birds.

During this excursion, students will be taken on a bushwalk to view a variety of native Australian plants and animals in their natural environment. (Koalas resting in the gum trees are a regular sight on these walks.) Back at the Centre, students will complete a variety of hands-on sustainability activities, before getting ‘up close and personal’ with some of the animals that call the EcoCentre home. These include pythons, dragons, frogs, turtles and lizards.

Excursion 3

Iterate – problem-solving using design thinking

Students will apply the UX (user experience) design process to develop an innovative and entrepreneurial solution to a STEM-related problem.

During this excursion, students will be presented with a STEM challenge and in a rapid ideation session following design thinking principles, they will generate a range of possible entrepreneurial solutions. Shared in their teams, options will be clustered, ranked and voted upon. A ‘pitch’ will be created for the chosen solution and teams will present this to persuade peers how they can solve the real-world problem.

Designed by QUT Entrepreneurship, Iterate is an immersive experiential, problem-solving challenge similar to sprints, challenges and boot camps run by tech giants like Google and Amazon. Iterate helps to develop students UX designer and entrepreneurial mindsets and their 21^st century skills by following the design thinking processes of empathise, define, ideate, prototype, test and finally Iterate!

Excursion 4

SPARQ-ed – students performing advanced research

SPARQ-ed is a unique biomedical educational facility, delivered through a partnership between the Department of Education and the Translational Research Institute (TRI); a leading Australian medical research, development and translation facility. TRI connects scientists with clinicians and industry in a unique setting, providing access to research, clinical trial and manufacturing expertise.

Its mission being to lead Australian STEM education by delivering innovative biomedical research education that fosters the development of aspiring students as the future leaders and innovators.

During this excursion, you will tour the facility, meet researchers and engage in activities to unpack the world of Translational Research.

Excursion 5

Substation 33

Substation 33 seeks to educate the community to be more aware of what it means to live in a sustainable manner, both personally and environmentally.

The organisation is committed to improving our social and ecological environment through building enterprise. They are well known for their inclusion of people from diverse backgrounds and abilities; working with external organisations to provide opportunities for disadvantaged people to repurposing e-waste into innovative products.

During this excursion, you will tour the facility, engage in your own repurposing activities and see first-hand this important work in action.

Excursion 6

Botanic Gardens

Opened in 1976, the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha has grown to become Australia’s largest subtropical botanic gardens. Its curated plant collections feature more than 200,000 plants, representing approximately 5000 species from around the world.

During this hands-on excursion, students will examine first-hand, the causal relationship between environmental factors and the evolution of successful plant adaptions and how morphological and anatomical features are then used to classify plants.

Students will also investigate the diverse range of organisms that reside in our soils and gain a greater understanding of what’s crucial in supporting terrestrial ecosystem functions, and a deeper understanding of the impact abiotic factors have on soil biodiversity to maintain biodiversity under Australia’s predicted hotter and dryer climate.