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.

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!