8 exciting STEM projects
Design Brief 1
It hasn’t rained for three years. The people in Catherine Hill Bay have no water in their water tanks. They only have accessed to unclean water and purchasing water is too expensive. You have been employed by a company to come up with a cheap way to make dirty water clearer (Sustainability) Featured project: Design and make a water cleaner from a used PET bottle. A good place to start: Water in the 21st Century |
Design Brief 2
Your school Seaside Public School is located in a setting where the impact of rising sea levels is an authentic issue for you and the local community. How can the community of Seaside prepare for, survive or recover from a catastrophic event? (Sustainability) Featured Project: A house designed suitable for simple and sustainable coastal living with adaptation for survival in a catastrophic event. It must include list of items used and total cost must not exceed $10. A good place to start: Climate change and oceans, Sustainable housing, Lake Macquarie planning for the future |
Design Brief 3:
Swansea bridge is not coping with the volume of traffic due to the new developments. You have been employed by Lake Macquarie Council to find a solution to cross the channel and to continue to allow boats into the lake. Featured Project: To design a method to cross the channel to have the least impact on the local marine environment. A good place to start: Planning starts for an aging bridge |
Design Brief 4:
You are travelling on the Viking probe on the way to the Moon and you noticed that the Moon is much closer and much larger than in reality. Construct a scale model of the Earth-Moon-Mars system in terms of planetary size, and to discover how far one might have to travel to get to the Moon or Mars if you were travelling on the Viking Probe at a certain speed. (source: STEM Lessons from Space/NASA). Featured Project: A scale model of the Earth-Moon system, both in terms of planetary sizes and distances using recycled materials. It must list materials used and cost must not exceed $10 A good place to start: NASA Viking missions |
Design Brief 5:
Fossil fuels are becoming less popular globally, due to financial and environmental costs. As fossil fuel resources dwindle, small scale energy production is becoming more popular. Create a prototype alternative energy source such as wind, solar and hydro (Sustainability). (adapted from Cannobolas Rural Technology High School). Featured project: An alternative energy source to produce energy. A good place to start: Solar energy, wind energy |
Design Brief 6:
You need to survive in the zombie apocalypse. You need to design a robotic vehicle to help deliver food and emergency supplies (adapted from Cannobolas Rural Technology High School). Featured Project: Build the base LEGO EV3 or Lego NXT vehicle to navigate through a course. A good place to start: Mars exploration Rover and more |
Design Brief 7:
You notice that electronics including devices are becoming smaller and more affordable every year as more and more people are throwing out broken electronic devices during council waste week. Design, make and code a musical keyboard from recycled materials that anyone can play. (adapted from Cannobolas Rural Technology High School). Featured Project: A recycled materials based keyboard using a development board (eg Makey Makey) and coded with Scratch. A good place to start: E waste and more |
Design Brief 8:
You notice that the vegetable seedlings in your grandparent's garden are not growing well as it has not been watered frequently. Design and make a self-watering biodome to sustain a seedling (Sustainability) Featured Project: Design and build a mini self-watering pot using recycled materials. It must list materials used and cost must not exceed $10. A good place to start: Lake Macquarie City Council, what does sustainability mean? |