Science Week activities in Bega are “planting the seeds” for future careers says Regional Science Hub member Scott Baker.
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Around 1200 students from right across the Bega Valley, as well as more than 400 members of the public, have been getting hands-on at the Bega Valley Science Festival in the civic centre this week.
The festival opened last Saturday and continues through to 1pm this Saturday, August 18.
Mr Baker said the reaction so far had been great.
“Kids have been going home raving about it to their parents telling them what they’ve done,” he said on Friday as a cohort of St Patrick’s Bega pupils explored the various displays.
“This is unique among a lot of shires that we are running a program like this and it’s getting bigger and better every year.”
The Bega Valley Regional Science Hub is a collective involving Bega Valley Shire Libraries, Bournda Environmental Education Centre, the Sapphire Coast Marine Discovery Centre, Atlas of Life in the Coastal Wilderness and several other science-focused organisations, Mr Baker said.
A grant from national body Inspiring Australia enabled the week of activities to also include interactive displays from Questacon and other workshops on Arduino technology, robotics and virtual reality.
The VR headsets were a hit for many students as they not only explored the world of VR gaming with William Sharples of the Eden Game Development Centre, but also travelled the world from the comfort of the civic centre foyer.
There were also demonstrations of 3D printing and 3D pens, a touch tank from the Marine Discovery Centre, digital microscopes with Atlas, and displays of our natural environment flora and fauna with Bournda EEC.
“It’s all about planting seeds in these young minds and giving them the opportunity to see new technologies like 3D printing, robotics and VR,” Mr Baker said.
“They will then have that in the back of their mind and think when they get older ‘I can do that’ and know that this technology is available and accessible to them here where they live.
“Then the shire doesn’t get this ‘brain drain’ of youth moving away for further study and work.”
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