Teaching science across the airwaves in the Kimberley

Based out of the School of the Air’s Derby studio, Scitech presenters delivered two sessions to around 30 students located across over 420,000 square kilometres.

Students from Kindy to Year 6 were investigating the concepts of buoyancy, density, pressure and temperature which was done through experiments performed with resources and materials sent to all the students prior to the sessions. Students were able to change the density of water to make a golf ball float, make thermometers, and create Cartesian Divers to explore the concepts of density, mass, volume and pressure.

Scitech Presenter Laura Pitts says that working with the School of the Air allows Scitech to reach and inspire even the most isolated students.

“We deliver a specially designed program for students at the School of the Air that focuses on creating a positive STEM experience in an online environment with a key message that no matter where they are science is accessible to them.”

“It’s a special experience engaging with the School of the Air students because we adapt our program so that learning science can still be a very hands on experience even though the students are located in homes spread across vast distances. Because students had the materials sent to them for these workshops, we could all do the experiments at the same time  and share the experience of discovering and learning together just like if we were in a classroom.”

Laura said that it was so important to be able to give the same opportunities in STEM learning to regional students that metropolitan students experience.

Laura Pitts and Kate Kleidon were delighted to see a framed Scitech T-Shirt in the School of the Air corridor from a previous visit to Derby back in 2014.

Scitech travels to every regional and remote community school every three years, and the Kimberley School of the Air visit, was part of a regional tour that this time covered Broome and Derby.