Page 10 - 張祝珊英文中學（2018-2019學生報）

STEM at CCSC

5B Wong Yin Ka

In the past few years, the development Now that we have access to such an advanced
of STEM (Science, Technology, machine, we should definitely make the best use
Engineering and Mathematics) has of it. In order to let students experience the joy and
become a popular trend, and the same fun in making their own art pieces by 3D printing,
goes for our school. the school has organised a series of after-school
Feature Article
Hoping to consolidate students’ knowledge activities to teach students how to design 3D models
in STEM, the school has been trying to provide by using software programs like TinkerCAD.
students with some of the best hardware. Furthermore, students who need to do 3D printing
for competitions will also be allowed to use the
3D printing is arguably one of the most popular, printer.
trending technologies. It allows people to create
various daily objects as well as their own art pieces.
As 3D printing technology matures, some people
start their own creative businesses with its help.
How can we not join in this trend? Last year, the
school purchased a 3D printer - Ultimaker 3. What is
different about this printer is its dual nozzles. While
one nozzle extrudes the plastic used for your art
piece, the other one extrudes water-soluble PVA for
support. After your work is soaked in water for a few
hours, all of the PVA will melt. One advantage of
this is that damage to your work caused by removing
the support can be minimized. Moreover, this feature
of the printer allows double-sided printing, which The 3D printer
makes the product more colourful. We can design 3D models by using TinkerCAD.
In order to further develop STEM, the school
is planning to build a STEM room. Similar to our
laboratories, the room will be dedicated to the STEM
development of our students. Hence, it can be seen
that the school has really devoted a lot of time and
effort to expanding students’ knowledge. We hope to
see more talented students polish their skills and win
honour for our school in different competitions!

The 3D printer is making a phone case and an artwork! Artworks produced with the 3D printer.

STEM-related Competitions and Activities

5B Tsang Shun Wai
to absorb solar energy, which was used to drive the game called Animal Farm, where SEN children
conveyor belt on the bridge, reducing the use of non- needed to complete daily missions to earn gold
renewable energy. The conveyor belt automatically coins and then purchase food for the animals.
carried vehicles across the bridge, thus cutting down The missions included colour matching, reading
the emission of air pollutants. In addition, they comprehension, and mazes. The difficulty levels of
proposed to plant some trees along the sides of the the missions increased gradually, thus improving the
bridge to help alleviate the urban heat island effect. concentration and focusing ability of the players.
Relieving several environmental problems with only Besides competitions, the School has also
one bridge, the proposal was definitely very creative! provided junior students with a lot of opportunities
The other type of competitions requires students to immerse themselves in STEM. A good example
to make use of their creativity and scientific would be the S2 Activity Day, when students tried
knowledge to design and build a model, a robot, to make a DIY robot and miniature traffic lights. A
or even an app that can help solve a community 3D modelling and VR/AR course was also held after
problem. Late last year, some CCSC students school so students could gain more knowledge about

Our students have won the Most Creative Design Award in took part in Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2018, using advanced technology, nurturing their interest
the STEM Challenge Programme. organised by one of the world’s leading technology and talents in STEM.
companies, Samsung, and won the Merit Award
In order to promote STEM education, the School in the secondary school group. The theme of the
has been actively encouraging students to take part competition was to help SEN children. It aimed
in a variety of STEM-related competitions and to inculcate the mindset of STREAM4CARE in
activities. education. CCSC students designed a mobile phone
In the past two years, students have joined a
lot of competitions held by local and international
organisations, with excellent results.
These competitions fell into two main types,
one of which required students to use their scientific
knowledge, as well as their creativity and problem-
solving skills, to propose a plan for sustainable
development of the community. An example was the
STEM Challenge Programme organised by the MTR
Corporation, Hong Kong Education City, and Junior
Achievement Hong Kong early last year. Students Students are having their first VR experience at CCSC.
were asked to submit a proposal on ‘social inclusion Even though the School is still groping for
and sustainable development’. Our students won the the best way to implement STEM education, the
Most Creative Design Award. The ‘LOHAS Bridge’ progress so far has convinced us that the effort of
they designed had a large area of solar panel surfaces students and teachers will make it a success.
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