Shine Magazine, Issue 9, October 2009 - Department of Education ...

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Grampians
Kaniva College won two of the top three places in this year’s Aurecon
Bridge Building Competition. Fifty-six teams, made up of Year 8 and 9
students from schools across Victoria, took part in the competition, which
is now in its ninth year and was held at Scienceworks during National
Engineering Week. Students work in teams of three and are given three
weeks to design and construct a model bridge using supplied materials
that include balsa wood sticks, a cardboard tube, a 5m-long piece of string
and quick-drying glue. On judging day the bridges are tested to failure by
progressively adding weights to a specially built rig. They are also tested
on strength to weight ratio, visual appeal, workmanship and creativity.
The winning bridge withstood 136kg of weight before collapsing, earning
Kaniva College $1500, plus $200 each for team members Jacob Rayner,
Tim Eastwood and Joe McDonald. Leibler Yavneh College won second
place (104kg), while Kaniva College’s female team came third (85kg).
Western Metropolitan
Video games, fashion and beauty products, cookbooks, and clever eye masks
with earplugs, are just some examples of business that students at Baden Powell
P–9 College represented at their inaugural Trade Fair. Presented by students in
Years 7 and 8, the fair was the culmination of a unit of work designed around
the Australian economy, learning about economics, civics and citizenship and
consumer science. Proud teacher Suzanne Love says the students thoroughly
enjoyed the hands-on approach to learning and the community was impressed
with their creativity and professionalism. “Everyone was extremely impressed by
the standard of their efforts and the manner in which they worked in teams to
brainstorm, design and produce an array of functional and quality products,” she
says. “Their approach to businesses for sponsorship was professional, confident
and polite, and the community was amazed at their wonderful imaginations and
abilities to make their ideas into reality.”