STEM Education for a Better Environment
Our purpose is to promote education in Australia with an emphasis on the Natural Environment and to foster an increased awareness and competence in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Our aim is to provide the teaching resources and professional development necessary to support the Education Council's National STEM School Education Strategy.
The STEM journey begins in Primary school, and this is the starting point for the design of our resources and training programmes.
The AustSTEM Foundation is committed to raising STEM literacy in Australian classrooms
Dr Linda Pfeiffer wrote in an Explainer article for the Sydney Morning Herald in 2017 that
“ .... STEM is really a way of thinking. It is about the skills required to learn science, technology and mathematics, and how engineering and design processes and principles are used to achieve an outcome.”
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We are prioritising these key topics
The Natural Environment
Raising students’ curiosity in and awareness of the natural environment and equipping them with the STEM skills to be able to protect it.
Climate Change & Decarbonisation
Educating students in the causes and effects of anthropomorphic climate change, and equipping them with the STEM skills to understand and research methods for reducing carbon emissions.
Agriculture
Raising awareness of agricultural practice and equipping students with the STEM skills to conduct agriculture in an environmentally sustainable way.
The Water Cycle
Highlighting the importance of water resources, balancing human use with environmental needs, and equipping students with the STEM skills to diagnose, remedy and maintain a sustainable
water cycle.
Planet Earth
Introducing students to the monitoring of Earth's health and resources from space, and equipping them with the STEM skills to build their own CubeSats
We have developed and are constantly improving these teaching resources
The STEM Experiential Learning Journey
This is a whole-of-school programme introducing real world data and technology to subjects across the curriculum from Stage 3 onwards.
Single-board-computer (SBC)
We have chosen the Kookaberry as the best currently available SBC to support our STEM teaching resources.
KookaBlockly Visual Programming Editor
KookaBlockly is a visual programming language (VPL) code editor installed on a PC or Mac to create or edit programmes on the MicroPython compiler resident on the SBC's board.
Peripherals and Accessories
Curated, commercially available peripherals and accessories compatible with our SBC's plug-and-play functionality.
Applications (Apps)
MicroPython applications which can be stored in the SBC's onboard USB memory and called up in an onscreen menu.
Learning Plans
Teaching resources combining tutorials, lesson plans, projects. Their intent is to provide teachers with STEM resources capable of enhancing learning across the whole curriculum - not just Technologies.
We are conducting trials and loaning kits
Trials
Schools and institutions are conducting, or intend to conduct, trials of the STEM Experiential Learning Journey and special purpose kits during the 2022 school year
Loan Kits
We have a limited number of kits that we can offer free on loan for limited periods. Priority will be given to schools in low socioeconomic and rural and regional areas.