Written by Sam Eyers

Last Thursday, Newington sent a group of year 9’s and 10’s out to Homebush to compete in a STEM challenge called ‘the Science and Engineering Challenge’ run by Newcastle University. It is a nationwide challenge that tests students’ problem solving and common sense. 

The teams each competed in two different challenges during the day. These challenges tested everyone and pushed us to think in different ways to solve the problems we were faced with. Some of these challenges were: 

Newington Competing in the Bridge Building Challenge
Fish Traps
  • Bridge Building
    • Students must build a bridge that is as light but as strong as possible. 
  • Fish Traps
    • Students must place magnets on a board to catch certain sized balls and let other sized balls flow to the bottom. 
  • Job Juggle
    • The aim is to schedule tasks in the shortest possible time.
  • ElectraCITY
    • Students must work out the most efficient pathways while weighing up the cost of cables and their resistance, and the cost of leaving buildings without power!
ElectraCITY

Throughout the day, all students worked hard in their respective challenges; not to mention the weeks of preparation every Wednesday lunchtime for four weeks. Yet, we saw the effects of our practice and diligence come through when we were able to win the day by whopping 81 points. With this victory, the team will most likely be progressing to the state competition which is to be held in Newcastle in term 3. 

This was truly a once in a lifetime experience and if you ever get the chance to compete in it, I strongly encourage you to put your heart and soul into the work as you will be proud of what you can achieve. 

If I learnt anything from today, it was that teamwork is key to a person’s individual success. Additionally, if you are struggling, move on, try something else that you can achieve but come back to the thing you struggled with once you have refined your skills. 

These lessons are not only applicable to science but can be used in your everyday life to overcome the challenge you face. The transferral of skills across different areas is key to one’s success in whatever they want to do; and can make the difference between triumphantly taking that trophy home, or walking home empty handed.