AT only 10 years old, about 150 local students have used STEM and good deeds to make friends with children on the other side of the world.
This month, year 5 students from Marsden, Browns Plains and Crestmead state schools collaborated with the minds from Griffith University’s Logan campus to learn and build solar-powered lights.
These lights were then sent to students in other countries experiencing energy poverty.
The program, directed at under-represented schools in the region, was first trialed last year with 50 students from Marsden.
Program creator and Griffith’s academic preparation officer Nathalie Ferquel said it was designed to demystify university for young people.
“Because for a lot of the students from the Logan region, they may not have someone in their family who’s gone to university before.
“It is a program to encourage them to see that STEM is not scary, and can be used in your everyday life and to help solve real world challenges.”
Throughout the day, the students built miniature rockets, programmed Lego robots, and then in the afternoon built solar lights.
“… which will be sent to children overseas who don’t have access to light. They can go to Papua New Guinea, South America, Africa, Caribbean,” Ms Ferquel said.
“The lights aren’t very technical to build. The idea is for the students to learn about solar energy and what energy poverty is, and try to understand that some children on the other side of the world may not have access to light – they can’t do their homework, or they can’t read at night.”
After building their solar lights, the children wrote letters to their “solar buddy”, telling them all about themselves and what they enjoyed about the program.
“Primary school students are so enthusiastic and excited about learning new things,” Ms Ferquel said.
