Wahroonga Prep's Canberra STEM excursion

This excursion provided an invaluable opportunity for students to deepen their classroom learning through real-world experiences that encouraged them to ask questions, observe and explore in a hands-on way. 

Our students strengthened friendships, supported one another and embraced new challenges, making this trip a memorable and valuable extension of the academic learning taking place in the classroom.

“I especially liked visiting the Arboretum because we could interact with the plants and go all over the place to see a big range of shrubs and trees,” said Haydon. “We found out about the special characteristics.”

“I liked Questacon because it had a lot of fun and interesting science tools and toys,” said Sean. “In the Earthquake room, I got to experience 1.8 and 5.8 magnitude earthquakes.”

“At Mulligans Flat, I learnt about the different endangered species in the wetlands,” said Nora. “I really appreciate how the workers take care of them with the fences. I saw kangaroos, wombats, cockatoos and possums. Also, the lasagne on the second night was delicious.”

“A highlight for me was finding out that, a couple of years ago, the Canberra Deep Space Communication Centre was the only place to be able to communicate with the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 satellites,” said Milo. “I also really liked the Zoo because we could feed the alpacas and deer.”

“Every time I go to Questacon, it feels like a new place,” said Dominic. “This time there wasn’t a LEGO room, now it was about mangroves. This was really intriguing because we are learning about trees and forest types in class right now.”

“I liked the Zoo because we got to see the penguins and we got to hold a corn snake,” said Luca. “It is called a corn snake because it has a pattern on its belly. I found out about photosynthesis – it means when a plant uses sunlight and water as it’s food.”