Riverland students are thinking outside the box to help solve the region’s fruit fly problem
Students at St Joseph’s School Barmera are using space technology to explore a new frontier of science in trying to find a resolution to a devastating national problem.
Last year, the school introduced Year 3 and 4 students to the Makers Empire Kids in Space project, an Australia-first program from The Andy Thomas Space Foundation that provides students with the opportunity to participate in STEM learning through engaging, space-themed thinking. Students are now embracing the space technology to devise a solution to the fruit fly infestation that plagues much of the country, including the Riverland.
The school lies in a fruit fly red zone and many of the students’ families are directly affected by the ongoing issue. “We have children from families of growers whose lives have been affected by fruit flies,” principal Nanda de Winter says. “A lot of fruit comes from the Riverland. If we don’t do something now, it will have a long-term impact on our region and our families.”
The school’s budding scientists have joined forces with the Department of Primary Industries and Regions, SA, (PIRSA) to brainstorm innovative ways to use space technology to tackle the fruit fly problem in the region.
A visit to the school by PIRSA staff was followed by a trip to a sterile fruit fly breeding site in Barmera where students got up close and personal with the insects and learned about the sterile breeding program, which involves mating sterile males with native females to reduce females’ reproduction potential and in time eradicate the species.
“It was very interesting,” Ms de Winter says. “The fruit flies were put into containers and exposed to cold air so they were not very active. The children grabbed a handful of fruit flies and had them on their hands and walking on their arms.”
Back in the classroom, the students have been using their thinking and problem-solving skills to help PIRSA solve the fruit fly problem using the Makers Empire computer application. “They were working in small groups to come up with a solution which they printed in 3D,” Ms de Winter says. “At the end of the term, they presented their solutions and the PIRSA people were involved in the judging – with one of the teams chosen to present their solution, on behalf of our school, in Adelaide on July 1.”
The students’ exposure to cutting-edge technology and educational practices is setting them up for success. “It’s futures thinking – thinking outside the box,” Ms de Winter says. “Sometimes students feel limited to think outside the box, fearful to make a mistake. This project pushes them to take their thinking to the next level and think beyond the norm.
“Children are excellent creative thinkers – they like to come up with some crazy ideas. This is an opportunity for them to realise that crazy ideas are actually not bad. They can lead to something great because it’s those ‘crazy’ thinkers who save the world a little bit at a time.”
Discover your local Catholic school - find a school tour during Catholic Schools Open Week, August 19-25 2024
Generations connect to create understanding, share stories and learn together
Mary MacKillop College Year 9 students Sienna and Ashlyn are meeting a new older friend, Judy Rogers, who regales them with stories of flying from London to New York on Concorde and the time she carried the Olympic torch 500m along Addison Rd before handing it off to Gavin Wanganeen.
