STEM Showdown 1

STEM Showdown is run by the University of South Australia. The program is designed to increase interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) at primary school level with weekly challenges for the students to solve. Points are tallied up throughout the program to find out who is the school’s STEM Showdown Champion.

Students work on challenges like “Who ate the teacher’s lunch?” using chemistry to unveil the hidden number code to unlock the security footage from the padlocked box. They use their coding skills to create a game to work out who has the fastest reflexes. They apply civil engineering skills to construct a roller coaster that will safely land a ping pong ball in the school zone within set parameters. Students also use biology classification skills, make electric circuits and apply maths skills to complete the series of challenges.

There are 8 challenges in STEM Showdown 1, schools are encouraged to try and complete them all. Students may not always solve the challenge, and this is fine, we have a number of awards such as the persistence award that highlight some of the skills other than just finding the answer as quickly as possible.  

Schools will need to register their interest to be eligible to receive STEM Showdown Championship trophies, medals and participation certificates. 

To register your school send an email to:
STEMIE@unisa.edu.au

Teachers will collate student points throughout the term and email in their winning student names and a participation list at the completion of the program. 

This sample spreadsheet can be used for collecting student results by simply counting how many tasks and extension tasks students have completed (i.e. the number of signatures or stamps on their worksheets) and recording who completes the tasks the fastest for placing points. The use of stamps in place of a signature will speed up the in class marking when students complete a task and want their sheets signed off. 

Each weekly activity has it’s own teacher resource tab with links to handouts, help sheets, equipment lists and helpful hints for running the activity. The University of South Australia can also provide teacher inductions via zoom or face to face (subject to staff availability) to go through the challenges and answer any questions about the program. 

For local schools University of South Australia staff are able to deliver this program for 8 weekly sessions (subject to staffing availability). 

For regional schools, STEM Showdown is available in a supported hybrid model, with starter equipment packs and online support.