Course: UniSA STEM Innovation Experience

Welcome to STEMIE!

The STEM Innovation Experience (STEMIE) is designed to increase science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) engagement in schools and enhance awareness of STEM in the wider community. This is achieved through students participating in a series of STEM-based tasks linked to curriculum and showcasing their learning.

Every year, new STEM challenges are developed around a central theme. They will engineer and prototype designs to complete a set action, justify their mathematical considerations, use Arduino coding to create a device within set parameters for their technology component and complete scientific investigations and research around the central theme.

Representatives from each school present their learning at regional showcases, where they are judged against other schools from their regional cluster. Winning schools from each region progress to The STEMIE Final to compete in unseen STEM challenges.

The program is supported by The University of South Australia with the UniSA STEMIE Moodle, covering skills required to complete the tasks, and resources. There is also ongoing support through the UniSA STEMIE email address available for teachers and students to use to access UniSA staff and support for the program.

STEMIE@UniSA.edu.au

Photo: 2023 STEMIE National Final Winners Mt Gambier High School (SA) with the theme STEMIEana Jones.

STEMIE Themes

This year schools can choose their theme for STEMIE from a selection of past themes. The chosen theme will cover all aspects of the program for this year, the science, technology, engineering, mathematics and overall summary tasks.

The choices available are:

Revolutionary Resources
Flood! Fire! Famine!
Carnival Capers
Movie Magic
Mars Mission

The STEMIE Final will have a completely independent theme from those completed at schools and listed above.

If you would like more information about STEMIE or if you need to confirm your schools participation in STEMIE contact us at STEMIE@unisa.edu.au.

Past themes and participants

STEMIEana Jones - Schools had a choice of 5 previous themes to complete at school. The STEMIE Final theme was inspired by Indiana Jones, with students racing against the clock to write codes using information from archaeological digs, classifying animals and graphing toxicity levels, engineering boulder diverging roller coasters, mathematically calculating and then constructing pendulums of set length, and face their fears while they collect heart rate data for spreadsheet analysis.

Revolutionary Resources - Revolutionary Resources focusses on the STEM skills involved when managing resources and balancing environmental impacts. Students will complete STEM based tasks including investigating the chemistry of getting raw materials into everyday items, using Arduino coding to create environmental detection devices, engineering a payload transport prototype and mathematically modelling energy consumption and distribution using dynamic spreadsheets.

Flood! Fire! Famine! – Students completed STEM based tasks around the management of natural disasters. Their challenges included investigating the science behind bushfire management, using Arduino coding to develop a flood mitigation device, engineering a famine busting chicken egg collection device, and exploring mathematical modelling of livestock and crop yields through the use of dynamic spreadsheets.

Carnival Capers – Students completed STEM challenges based around the science of show rides, incorporated Arduino technology to create a prototype device that improves attendance tracking, engineered their own side show style game within set parameters and worked out how their carnival activity can create a profit using mathematical justifications, including statistics and probability of winning side show games, and proceeds from show bag and ticket sales.

Movie Magic – This theme was based around the STEM skills in the movie industry with each school developing a 3D printed company logo, dynamic spreadsheet model to demonstrate flexibility within movie budgets, engineering and prototyping a camera rigging device to navigate a set track within a specified time limit and creating an Arduino coded display for the launch of their fictional film company at the Regional Showcase.

Mars Mission – This task was based around a proposal for a mission to Mars. Students costed the catering for the mission and justified nutritional requirements, they created astronaut selection criteria based on their investigations and research, engineered a Mars rover to navigate a set terrain track and coded an environmental control system to demonstrate how living conditions could be regulated.

Students demonstrating the Mars Mission themed tasks at the Regional Showcase.

Project Dolores – Students developed and costed a fictional town plan for the development of a suburb in regional South Australia. They researched possible impact on local flora and fauna in the region and developed technology-based animal detection devices and investigated plant growth factors. They also engineered and strength tested bridge designs for access to the town.

Metro Expo – Technology and engineering were used to improve an aspect of transport, either a new initiative or an improvement on an existing structure or system. The maths and science tasks were linked to event planning with the development of a mathematically justified sponsorship proposal to run a major event and science investigations into flame colours and research into fireworks.