State Conference 2023

Congratulations to all of the students and teachers who attended the Wonder of Science State Conference! We were so excited to welcome teams from across the State with over 290 people attending the 2023 Wonder of Science State Conference at The University of Queensland including 240 in-person and an additional 57 zooming in virtually.

Students who have won Regional Conferences across Queensland presented the results of the term-long Challenge Task research projects competing to be State Champions!

Students also participated in workshops on Owl ecology, fungi and food throughout the day and participated in a speed meet session with our Flying Scientists and Young Science Ambassadors.

A special congratulations to the winning teams

Year 4:

First Place - Kimberley Park State School

Second Place - Taroom State School

Third Place - Brightwater State School

Year 5:

First Place - Taroom State School

Second Place - Stretton State College

Third Place - Hambledon State School and St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Chinchilla

Year 6:

First Place - Kimberley Park State School and Brightwater State School

Second Place - Meandarra State School

Third Place - Mourilyan State School

Year 7:

First Place - Spinifex State College - Mount Isa

Second Place - St Mary's Catholic College

Third Place - Redlands College

Year 8:

First Place - Foxwell State Secondary College

Second Place - Rockhampton State High School

Third Place - Spinifex State College

Year 9:

First Place – Bundaberg State High School

Second Place - Stretton State College

Third Place - Foxwell State College

Congratulations to Chase from Hambledon State School and Kevin from Kimberley Park State School for receiving the STEM Excellence Award (an award for a Year 4 – 9 student who shows a great commitment to STEM).

A big thank you to Queensland Chief Scientist Professor Kerrie Wilson for providing an insightful keynote presentation for students. We loved one of your takeaways: "Most things fail in science, but that's part of the scientific process"

We were also featured on 7NEWs Toowoombah!

We are also very excited to announce that 80% of State Champions in 2023 were female! Incredible!

Thank you to our partners including Arrow Energy, Rio Tinto, Orica, GroundProbe, QUT (Queensland University of Technology), Griffith University, University of the Sunshine Coast, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Queensland Trust for Nature, Queensland Government and Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering for making WoS possible.

QUT Metro Regional Conference

Thank you to all of the students who attended the special "Halloween" edition of our Metro Regional Conference on 31 October 2023 at QUT (Queensland University of Technology)!

Students presented the results of their Challenge Tasks and participated in workshops and speed-meet at scientist events.

Congratulations to the winning teams:

Year 7 - Redlands College
Year 8 - A tie! St Mary's College, Ipswich and Stretton State College
Year 9 - Stretton State College

Thank you to the QUT, Griffith University and The University of Queensland students who judged and ran workshops on the day! Our Young Science Ambassadors donned their best spooky hats for the event!

Thank you also to Perry Collier who represented one of our funding partners Rio Tinto on the day.

Wonder of Science in Cairns 2023 - Our biggest Cairns Regional Conference yet!

Last week Wonder of Science held the biggest Cairns Regional Conference ever. With over 200 people attending including 165 students from 13 schools from Cairns, Innisfail, Mourilyan, Mossman, Port Douglas and surrounding areas! Congratulations to all of the students who presented the results of their Challenge Task Projects.

Congratulations to the winning teams:

Year 4 - Mossman State School and Port Douglas State School
Year 5 - Hambledon State School
Year 6 - Mourilyan State School
Year 7 - A tie! St Mary's Catholic College and Innisfail State College
Year 8 - Peace Lutheran College
Year 9 - Redlynch State College

A special congratulations to our Cairns Distance Education Year 6 student who participated virtually in the conference, zooming in all the way from India!

Our Cairns region is supported by Rio Tinto. Thank you to Rio Tinto for their ongoing support of the program!

We are excited to confirm that we will be back in Cairns and Far North Queensland next year!

Thank you to the 16 Young Science Ambassadors from QUT (Queensland University of Technology), Griffith University, The University of Queensland who attended the conference as judges and workshop leaders. Students had the opportunity to meet these scientists and learn about their research in our speed-meet event on the day.

Thank you to James Cook University for hosting us for this event!

Students also participated in ecology and aerodynamics workshops on the day.

Gladstone Regional Confernece

A big congratulations to the WONDER-full teams who participated in our Gladstone Regional Conference. Schools from Gladstone, Rockhampton, Bundaberg and Biloela ventured to CQUniversity Gladstone to present the results of their Challenge Task research project and participate in workshops throughout the day.

Students also met 12 STEM researchers (Young Science Ambassadors) from Griffith University, QUT, University of the Sunshine Coast and The University of Queensland.

An extra congratulations to our winning teams:

Year 5 - Gladstone West State School
Year 6 - Kin Kora State School
Year 7 - Bundaberg State High School
Year 8 - Rockhampton State High School
Year 9 - Bundaberg State High School

Many schools attending this conference are supported by Orica and GroundProbe! Thank you to the Orica representatives who attended this event.

Thank you to CQU Gladstone for hosting us again this year.

We are excited to see a few previous Regional Conference winners amongst this year's winners! We look forward to seeing all of the winning teams at State Conference in Brisbane!

Mount Isa Regional Confernece 2023

Congratulations to the teams from Mount Isa and Cloncurry who participated in our 6th Annual Mount Isa Regional Conference on 10 October 2023.

Thank you to all of the Year 4 - 8 students who participated from across the region. Students presented the results of their Term 3 Challenge Task projects and participated in Cabbage Chemistry and Marine Ecology workshops! Students also participated in a speed-meet session where they got to know all 11 of the scientists from three universities (UQ, QUT and Griffith University) visiting Mount Isa for the conference.

Congratulations to everyone involved!

A special congratulations to the winning teams:

Year 4 - St Keiran's Catholic School, Mount Isa
Year 5 - A tie! Happy Valley State School and St Keiran's Catholic School, Mount Isa
Year 6 - Happy Valley State School
Year 7 - Spinifex State College
Year 8 - Spinifex State College

Thank you to Orica and GroundProbe for sponsoring schools in the Mount Isa region to participate in Wonder of Science.

Thank you also to Spinifex State College who has hosted this event for the past six years!

Something of a WoS Mount Isa tradition, the Wonder of Science team gathered for a photo at Outback Isa at the end of the day to celebrate:

Brightwater Regional Conference

Congratulations to all of the teams who attended our Brightwater Regional Conference on Tuesday!

Thank you to Mount Mee State School, Brightwater State School and Banksia Beach State School for joining us at the conference.

Our winning teams were:

Year 4 - Brightwater State School

Year 5 - Mount Mee State School

Year 6 - A tie! Mount Mee State School and Brightwater State School!

Students also participated in DNA and food web ecology workshops.

Special mention to the wonderful pink seismograph (final photo) from the Year 6 winning Brightwater team!

Thank you to the 14 Young Science Ambassadors from The University of Queensland, QUT (Queensland University of Technology) and Griffith University for joining us on the day.

Wonder of Science in Miles 2023 supported by Arrow Energy

A big congratulations to the Years 4 - 7 teams who participated in the Miles Regional Conference at Miles State High School this year. Thank you also to the 10 Young Science Ambassadors (PhD students) who travelled to Miles to participate in conference! Students also participated in two workshops looking at DNA extraction and using vegetables (cabbage) to determine pH.

We were also excited to be interviewed by 4WK Radio on the day!

Congratulations to the winning teams:

Year 4 – A tie between two teams from Taroom State School

Year 5 – St Josephs Catholic College and Taroom State School

Year 6 – Meandarra State School

Year 7 – Miles State High School

Wonder of Science is the Darling Downs is supported by our partners at. Arrow Energy. Thank you Arrow Energy for your ongoing support!

2022 State Conference

In November 2022, our Wonder-ful 2022 Wonder of Science State Conference!

We were absolutely blown away by the record number of eager future scientists who attended the day both in person and virtually– over 164 students from 27 schools across Queensland!

Congratulations to all schools who participated at the State Conference last week! The quality of the scientific presentations on the day was nothing short of remarkable!!

Congratulations to the winning teams from the 2022 State Conference:

Year 4:

First place - Stretton State College

Second place - Taroom State School

Third place - Mossman State School

Year 5:

First place - Kimberley Park State School

Second place - Gladstone West State School

Third place - Drillham State School

Year 6:

First place - Stretton State College

Second place - Mansfield State School

Third place - TIE! Happy Valley State School and Kimberley Park State School

Year 7:

First place - Stretton State College

Second place - Rockhampton State High School

Third place - Peace Lutheran College

Year 8:

First place - Bundaberg State High School

Second place - Foxwell State Secondary College

Third place - Stretton State College

Year 9:

First place - Peace Lutheran College

Second place - Stretton State College

Third place - St Mary's Catholic College

We would like to say a MASSIVE thank you to all our partners GroundProbe, ORICA, Rio Tinto, Arrow Energy, Queensland Trust for Nature, Moreton Bay Environmental Education Centre, CoralWatch, Queensland Department of Education, Kings College, ATSE, Fresh Promotions, as well as our partner Universities – QUT, Griffith University, University of the Sunshine Coast and The University of Queensland for making this day such a success.

Orica and GroundProbe supporting WoS in Regional Queensland

What a WONDERfully HUGE October we have had here at WOS!

We have had not one... not two... but THREE amazing regional conferences in Mt Isa, Gladstone and Emerald. These three conferences were made possible by our partners Orica and GroundProbe!

Thank you to the wonderful representatives Suzie Lane and Selena Anderson (ORICA) and Lisa Cronqvist (GroundProbe) for attending and helping present awards at the Gladstone and Emerald Conferences.

Congratulations to the winning teams from Mt Isa Regional Conference:
-Year 4: St Kieran's Catholic School
-Year 5: Happy Valley State School
-Year 6: Happy Valley State School
-Year 7: Spinifex State College
-Year 8: Spinifex State College
-Year 9: Spinifex State College

Congratulations to the winning teams from Gladstone Regional Conference:
-Year 5: Gladstone West State School
-Year 6: Gladstone West State School
-Year 7: Bundaberg State High School and Rockhampton State High School
-Year 8: Bundaberg State High School
-Year 9: Bundaberg State High School and Biloela State High School

Congratulations to the winning teams from Emerald Regional Conference:
-Year 4: Denison State School
-Year 5: Blackwater North State School
-Year 6: Blackwater North State School
-Year 8: Dysart State High School

Congratulations to all schools who participated at these conferences!

FNQ Regional Conference supported by Rio Tinto

Last week 113 students from 9 schools across Far North Queensland travelled to JCU for our annual FNQ Regional Conference.   
Wonder of Science in FNQ is made possible again for the third year running by our partner RioTinto!  
  
Congratulations to the winning teams from FNQ Regional Conference:  
-Year 4: Mossman State School  
-Year 5: Hambledon State School  
-Year 6: Edge Hill State School  
-Year 7: Peace Lutheran College  
-Year 8: Redlynch State College  
-Year 9: St Marys Catholic College and Peace Lutheran College  
  
Congratulations to all schools who participated at the FNQ Regional Conference!

2022 Miles Reigonal Conference supported by Arrow Energy

In July 2022, 94 students from across the Darling Downs Region traveled to Miles State High School for our annual Surat Basin Wonder of Science Regional Conference.

Student teams presented their response to the challenge tasks vying to be named the Regional Champions for their year level. The students also participated in fun workshops and Q and A sessions with the Young Science Ambassadors.

A very big thank you to Arrow Energy for supporting this program enabling students across the Surat Basin to participate in Wonder of Science free-of-charge for the past nine years. Thank you to Arrow representative Brock Jephcote for joining us on the day!

Congratulations to all the students who participated in Wonder of Science again this year, and to our Regional Champion teams (listed below) - we look forward to seeing you at State Conference in Brisbane on 25 November!

Congratulations to the winning teams:

- Year 4: Taroom State School
- Year 5: Dhrillham State School
- Year 6: A tie! Dhrillham State School and Dalby South State School
- Year 7: Miles State High School
- Year 8: Miles State High School
- Year 9: Tara Shire State Colleg

2021 STEM Excellence Showcase

Congratulations to all the teams who represented their region at the 5th Annual WoS State Conference Friday 26 November at The University of Queensland. 132 students (97 in person and 32 virtually) in 35 teams from across Queensland showcased their research projects to the Young Science Ambassadors and special guests. The students were judged against set criteria in order to be considered for the State Champion Award for their year level.

 Thank you to our teachers and parents for supporting their students and to our valued partners for supporting the program in 2021!

PRIMARY STATE CHAMPIONS

Year 4:

1st Place - Stretton State College

Year 5:

1st Place - Stretton State College

2nd Place - Brightwater State School

3rd Place - Roma State College

Year 6:

1st Place - Meandarra State School

2nd Place - Stretton State College

3rd Place - Mount Mee State School

SECONDARY CHAMPIONS

Year 7:

1st Place - Peace Lutheran College

2nd Place - Redlands College

3rd Place - Spinifex State College

Year 8:

1st Place - A TIE! Spinifex State College - Mount Isa and Stretton State College

2nd Place - Miles State High School

3rd Place - Bundaberg State High School

Year 9:

1st Place - Peace Lutheran College

2nd Place - Stretton State College

3rd Place - Bundaberg State High School

Wonder of Science Surat Basin 2021 Wrap-up!

Just over 500 students from 11 Darling Downs South West schools participated in Wonder of Science this year, thanks to generous funding support from Arrow Energy.

A total of 37 classes across Years 5 - 9 completed Wonder of Science challenge tasks in term 2 receiving ‘in-person’ visits from the Young Science Ambassadors. Teachers told us they were delighted to welcome the Ambassadors back into their classrooms following ‘virtual-only’ participation in 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Around 160 students were selected to represent their school at one of the regional student showcase conferences, held at Dalby South State School and Miles State High School.

Student teams presented their response to the challenge tasks vying to be named the Regional Champions for their year level. The students also participated in fun workshops and Q and A sessions with the Young Science Ambassadors.

Congratulations to all the students who participated in Wonder of Science again this year, and to our Regional Champion teams (listed below) - we look forward to seeing you at State Conference in Brisbane in late November!

A very big thank you to Arrow Energy for supporting this program enabling students across the Surat Basin to participate in Wonder of Science free-of-charge for the past eight years.

Dalby Conference Champion Teams

- Year 5 - Dalby South State School
- Year 6 - Dalby Christian College

Miles Conference Champion Teams

- Year 5 - Roma State College
- Year 6 - Meandarra State School
- Year 7 - Miles State High School
- Year 8 - Miles State High School
- Year 9 - Miles State High School

Wonder of Science 2020 Virtual State Conference

Congratulations to all our State Conference teams who represented their regions by attending the virtual event on Friday 27 November at The University of Queensland. The depth of thought, conceptualisation, and execution that went into your investigations and presentations was incredibly impressive. Thank you for sharing the excellent responses to your Wonder of Science Challenge Tasks with your fellow Regional Conference Winners.

Thank you to The Hon Meaghan Scanlon, MP - Minister for the Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Minister for Science and Youth Affairs, Professor Bronwyn Harch - Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research & Innovation, and Dr Kirsty Short - influenza virologist at UQ Science, for your words of encouragement and support. Thanks also to our generous partners from university, government, education, and industry sectors: The University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, Griffith University, Arrow Energy, Rio Tinto, The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, Queensland Government, Brisbane Catholic Education, and Independent Schools Queensland.

SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Year 7

3rd place – Bundaberg State High School, North Coast

2nd place – Spinifex State College - Mount Isa, Mount Isa

1st place – St Peters Lutheran College, Brisbane Metro

Year 8

3rd place – Bundaberg State High School, North Coast

2nd place – Stretton State College, South East

1st place – Cairns School of Distance Education, Far North Queensland

Year 9

3rd place – Stretton State College, South East

2nd place – Innisfail State College, Far North Queensland & Roma State College, Surat Basin

1st place – Narangba Valley State High School, North Coast

PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Year 3

Junior showcase - Indooroopilly State School

Year 4

Junior Showcase - Stretton State College

Year 5

3rd place – Happy Valley State School, Mount Isa

2nd place – Stretton State College, South East

1st place – Kimberley Park State School, Brisbane Metro

Year 6

3rd place – Meandarra State School P&C, Surat Basin

2nd place – Edge Hill State School, Mount Isa

1st place – Stretton State College, South East

Wonder of Science Regional Conferences go Virtual!

Darling Downs South West schools (32 classes) from Year 5 - 9 participated in Wonder of Science thanks to generous funding from Arrow Energy! Based on continuing uncertainties related to COVID-19 all Wonder of Science school programs moved online for 2020 - meaning Young Science Ambassador visits will occurred via video lessons or video conferencing sessions. The 2020 Wonder of Science Darling Downs South West Regional Conferences also looked a little different running ONLINE via Zoom where representative teams from each school presented the results of their WoS challenge tasks for the term.

Congratulations to all of the winning teams and to all of the students who participated! The winning teams were:

• Dalby South State School (Year 5)

• Meandarra State School (Year 6)

• Taroom State School (Year 7 and 8)

• Roma State College (Year 9)

Our winning Meandarra team included students that were Year 5 winners in 2019 - making them two-time champions!

All participating students were mailed a certificate for participation and the winning teams received a trophy and medals which schools presented to their students at school parades.

Watch this space for the next round of winning teams from the Term 3 Virtual Regional Student Conferences!

State Conference 2019

See all the highlights from our 2019 State Conference here! Congratulations to all the regional teams invited to attend and showcase their curriculum-aligned WoS challenge tasks. Thanks again to Queensland University of Technology for hosting us this year.

A fantastic day was had by all with the judges reporting outstanding quality in the student presentations across all year levels! The following teams were awarded:

Year 5
State Champions - Kimberley Park State School, representing the South-East Region
2nd - Guardian Angels School, representing the Metro Region
3rd - St Luke’s Anglican School, representing the North Coast Region

Year 6
State Champions - Mansfield State School, representing the Metro Region
2nd - Stretton State College, representing the Metro Region
3rd - St Martin’s Primary School, representing the Metro Region

Year 7
State Champions - Bundaberg State High School, representing the North Coast (North) Region
2nd - St Mary’s College, Ipswich, representing the Lockyer Valley Region
3rd - Roma State College, representing the Darling Downs South West Region

Year 8
State Champions - Innisfail State College, representing the Far North Queensland Region
2nd - St Mary’s College, Ipswich, representing the Lockyer Valley Region
3rd - Taroom State School, representing the Darling Downs South West Region

Year 9
State Champions - Smithfield State High School, representing the Far North Queensland Region
2nd - Spinifex State College - Mount Isa, representing the Mount Isa Region
3rd - Bundaberg State High School, representing the North Coast (North) Region

This year two Year 4 teams from Stretton State College and Indooroopilly State School also showcased their projects for the first time at a Wonder of Science State Conference!

Wonder of Science returns to Cairns!

In 2019, Wonder of Science returned to Cairns for the first time since 2017. Over 275 Year 7 - 9 students from two schools (Smithfield State High School and Innisfail State College) participated in term long STEM inquiry tasks ranging from taxonomic identification of bugs to understanding chemical energy transfer. Recently 40 students were selected to represent their schools the 2019 Wonder of Science Regional Conference at Jame Cook University in Cairns. This conference was the last of eleven regional conference held by Wonder of Science this year.

At the conference, teams of students presented the results of their research projects. We saw amazing presentations from our Year 7 - 9 teams with some students launching makeshift rockets, calling members of the audience to participate in live demonstrations of chemistry experiments and even presenting their work entirely without notes or palm cards with confidence rivalling that of University students.

Students also participated in Chemistry Workshops run by YSA Joshua Davis and a Q and A session run by our Young Science Ambassadors Soi Law, Felix Egger and Sachini Fonseka. JCU Young Science Ambassador Maria Rivera Araya also assisted with judging on the day.

Congratulations to the winning teams:

Year 7 - Innisfail State College

Year 8 - Innisfail State College

Year 9 - Smithfield State High School

The quality of presentations on the day was astounding from all teams. Congratulations to everyone who participated in the day.

We look forward to welcoming the Cairns winning teams to State Conference in Brisbane on November 29 at QUT!

Wonder of Science Returns to Darling Downs South West

This year 1083 students from 17 Darling Downs South West schools (62 classes) from Year 5 - 9 participated in Wonder of Science thanks to generous funding from Arrow Energy! Thirty-six Young Science Ambassadors visited schools throughout the term assisting students with their Wonder of Science Challenge Tasks. Over 240 students were selected to represent their schools at Regional Conferences at either Dalby South State School in June or Miles State High School in July.

Representative teams from each school presented the results of their WoS challenge tasks for the term and participated in a "physics meets art", “science communication” and "cornflour slime" workshops throughout the conferences. The students also participated in Q and A sessions with our Young Science Ambassadors. At Dalby, the WoS Trophies were presented by Arrow Energy Operations Manager for the Surat - Maxwell Murray. Congratulations to all of the winning teams and to all of the students who participated!

The Winning Teams

Dalby:

- Year 5 - Drillham State School
- Year 6 - Dalby South State School
- Year 7 - Dalby State High School
- Year 8 - Bell State School
- Year 9 - Bell State School

Miles:

- Year 5 - Meandarra State School
- Year 6 - Moonie State School
- Year 7 - Roma State College
- Year 8 - Taroom State School
- Year 9 - Tara Shire State School

Wonder of Science was also privileged to have WIN News Toowoomba, Chinchilla News and ABC Radio report on the conferences. Thank you again to Arrow Energy for their continued support of Wonder of Science in Darling Downs South West.

2018 State Conference

Congratulations to all the teams who were selected from their local conferences throughout the year to represent their region at the Wonder of Science State Conference at The University of Queensland on November 30th, 2018. We're so glad you could join us to showcase your WoS STEM projects!

Please enjoy the 2018 State Conference highlights video and feel free to share it with your friends and family!

An extra special "WELL DONE!" to all those teams who presented such excellent STEM projects that they were awarded the title of 2018 State Champions:

Year 5

• 1st place - Happy Valley State School, representing Mount Isa

• 2nd place - Mansfield State School, representing Metro

• 3rd place - Dalby South State School, representing Darling Downs South West

  Year 6

• 1st place - Kimberley Park State School, representing Logan

• 2nd place - Mansfield State School, representing Metro

• 3rd place - Riverside Christian College, representing the North Coast

  Year 7

• 1st place - St Mary’s College, Ipswich, representing the Lockyer Valley

• 2nd place - Riverside Christian College, representing the North Coast

• 3rd place - Shailer Park State School, representing Logan

  Year 8

• 1st place - Roma State College, representing Darling Downs South West

• 2nd place - Spinifex State College, representing Mount Isa

• 3rd place - Marsden State High School, representing Logan

  Year 9

• 1st place - Bundaberg State High School, representing the North Coast

• 2nd place - Marsden State High School, representing Logan

• 3rd place - St Mary's College Ipswich, representing the Lockyer Valley

Thank you to our wonderful partners, without whom we would not be able to reach as far and wide across our beautiful state: Arrow Energy, Glencore, Queensland University of Technology, Griffith University, The University of Queensland, the Australian Academy for Technology and Engineering, the Queensland Trust For Nature, Moreton Bay Environmental Education Centre, the Queensland Government and Queensland Office of the Chief Scientist.

Regional Student Conference: Roma

Students from Roma and surrounding schools participated in a one-day student conference.

 Students presented their response to a challenge task aligned to the Australian Curriculum: Science. The regional student conferences provide the opportunity for students to participate in scientific inquiry which builds higher order thinking skills and develops scientific understanding.