Science/Outdoor Ed

Lead to sustain

Lead to Sustain is an annual conference run by Manningham Council for primary school students where they have the opportunity to spend a day outdoors at Currawong Bush Park participating in a range of workshops centred around the theme of sustainability 🌿✨.

Each year TC's Environmental Action Group (EAG) work together to plan two different workshops that they present throughout the day up to four times 💚♻️.

This year for Workshop One they decided to deliver the well-tested favourite 'Story of a river' 🌊📖 which is a narrated story that describes the journey of water from a mountain all the way to the sea and all of the things that end up in the water along the way. The students each get to add an 'ingredient' as we tell the story, ranging from pesticides (bicarb), pig sludge, shampoo and fishing line. They then discuss ways we could have kept the water clean 💧🤍

Workshop Two was a brand-new idea inspired by the fact that the conference coincided with Halloween 🎃👻, 31 October. Inspired by their desire to dress up, they came up with the idea to teach the students about fast fashion and relate it back to being more sustainable when sourcing costumes. They devised a card game where students matched numbers with facts and then had a relay race where the students had to sort costume items into boxes depending on how you would dispose of them at the end of their life 👟👗♻️. Options included H&M for damaged fabrics, Athlete's Foot for old shoes and Salvos for good items. By the end the students were shocked at how much clothing is wasted and well-versed in how to reduce this problem 😮🌏.

On the day our TC students were amazing 🤍💙👏, drawing many positive comments from the primary teachers about how knowledgeable and professional they were. Well done to all the students involved! 🎉

Meg Bailey

Engineers Without Borders @ Melbourne Uni

A recording studio in the Torres Strait Islands to help preserve traditional knowledge? Now that’s an award-winning engineering idea! ✨ 🎧 

Last week, the University of Melbourne’s Engineers Without Borders student club hosted an interschool design-thinking challenge focused on solving real issues faced by a remote island in the Torres Strait. Students explored problems such as waste management, cultural preservation and improving access to medical care 🌏💡 

Our three TC teams shone — each creating a unique, thoughtful and practical solution: 
🥇 1st place: A cultural hub with a recording studio where elders can preserve spoken-word traditions for future generations 🎙️✨ 
🥈 2nd place: A boat washdown facility to help prevent the spread of aquatic pests 
🏅 Commendation: A plastic-recycling facility designed to reduce environmental impact 

Here’s what participating student Oscar had to say: 

“The Engineers Without Borders challenge was an excellent opportunity for my fellow students and me to explore our problem-solving skills and practise our teamwork. I really enjoyed visiting the University of Melbourne for the first time and meeting new people. It was a very enjoyable experience, and I hope other students say yes to opportunities like this — they complement classroom learning and help you build confidence in a fun and interesting environment.” 

Huge congratulations to all three teams, you represented TC with creativity, innovation and heart 💛🛠️