General News
9 August, 2022
Hands on learning at expo for students
YEAR 7 students from Cobden Technical School, Timboon P-12 School and Terang College took a step closer to their career ambitions last week.
YEAR 7 students from Cobden Technical School, Timboon P-12 School and Terang College took a step closer to their career ambitions last week.
The students took part in a day of hands-on and interactive workshops to experience how maths and science were used in a variety of industries last Thursday.
The program – dubbed Maths and Science @ Work – was facilitated by the Neil Porter Legacy (NPL) with support from the DemoDAIRY Foundation.
The NPL is a local not-for-profit which aims to expand students’ career education and knowledge of the opportunities available to them.
With 105 students taking part and 16 industrial professionals donating their time to run workshops, Cobden Technical School was a hive of activity.
The presenters came from a diverse range of industries including hairdressing, traffic control, animal health, horticulture, hospitality, agriculture and dairy.
Activities students undertook included testing water quality, calculating and measuring the daily nutritional needs of a lactating cow and building nesting boxes for Little Penguins.
The program was first run by WestVic Dairy from 2013 - 2015 and involved students being exposed to maths and science in the dairy industry.
This year’s version of the program aimed to cover a wide variety of industries, however with the schools all being based in dairy communities, there was still plenty of dairy-focussed workshops.
One rather unique activity was Eddy the Educational Cow who travelled from SWTAFE with Rebecca Toleman.
Eddy is one of only three cow simulators in Australia and helps students understand the maths and science involved in artificial insemination and calving.
Students then had the opportunity to practise pulling a calf from Eddy.
Neil Porter Legacy representative Matt Porter said the day had many positive goals.
“We want to stimulate students’ interest in mathematics and science through engaging, interactive activities,” he said.
“We also want to show them that maths and science are a part of many jobs, and a part of them in ways they may never have thought of."
“We aim for students to leave the day knowing that their skills in maths and science can help them in whatever field they are interested in working in.”
Mr Porter said there were also long-term benefits of the day for the student’s learning.
“The students will see practical applications of maths and science topics they’ve learned in school,”he said.
Cobden Technical School’s Andrea Stoddard helped co-ordinate the day and said she was pleased with how it went.
“Cobden Technical School is very proud to host the innovative Maths and Science @ Work expo,”she said.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for the students to interact for the day and learn how maths and science is involved in every occupationout there.”
DemoDAIRY foundation’s Ian Teese also attended the day after the foundation provided financial backing for the event.
“It’s our aim to encourage students to go into agriculture careers,”he said.
DemoDAIRY were the major supporter of the day, providing resources and knowledge.
Mr Porter said support for the day had been “incredible”.
“We can’t thank DemoDAIRY enough for supporting us to give this opportunity to the students,” he said.
“Industry members are generously giving their time and planning fun sessions for the students."
“And we’ve worked closely with the teachers to ensure the topics covered on the day match the curriculum they’re covering with their classes.”
