5 February 2021
Success with Summer STEM Camps
Emma

THE LAB RURAL AND REGIONAL GAME JAM

In partnership with The Lab, we once again ran the Rural and Regional Game Jam during these holidays. Over two days, students produced some amazing games. You can see a short clip from some of the games in the video below.

This camp was for both new and returning students so some students continued their previous games while others started completely new games. Working in small groups allowed for more help from staff and as a result more complex coding in the games.

Our 3D printers are also going to be getting a work out printing off their controller designs to mail out to them along with their game on a pygamer. We can’t wait to see what these students create in the future.

GIRLS STEM GAME JAM

During the Summer Holidays we ran the Girl’s STEM Game Jam camp. You can see the amazing games these students created during the 3 day program in the video below.

Students created their games in MakeCode Arcade and also created some packaging in Adobe Illustrator and a controller case in TinkerCAD so that they will receive a personalised tech kit.

It was a really enjoyable week for all. We are now going to be super busy over the next few weeks creating their controller designs with our 3D printers and printing their packaging as well. We hope they enjoy their tech kits and to see them in future programs.

Girls Designing for Wildlife

On January 21 – 22 The Banyule Nillumbik and Whittlesea Tech Schools hosted an online camp for regional girls about designing artificial habitats for wildlife in the face of natural habitat destruction.

Participants studied hollow nesting species to learn their habitat and diet preferences as well as threats faced to build a profile they could use to guide them in designing an artificial home. Guest speaker Mick Callan from Habitech provided insight into some of the statistics driving the need for artificial nest boxes and the challenges they faced designing their modular nest box. At the conclusion of his presentation Mick provided some tips to keep in mind for our designs in the camp.

After a short tutorial on TinkerCAD everyone made a start on their designs and we began to see the profiles helping the nest boxes take shape by the end of day 1. During day 2 we looked at Micro:bit and how to use sensors to track activity inside the nest boxes to roughly count how often it had been used. After lunch time was allocated to completing the CAD designs from the previous day.

We enjoyed seeing the fantastic designs come together and look forward to future camps!

Girls Designing for Wildlife Social Card