HS STEM Toolkit - Presentation Notes - Simplified

Presentation
Notes
Slide One
Page 1 of 14
Slide Two
Introduce yourself and what you do. Also if you feel comfortable include a little
personal trait ie: I also sell homemade products at markets, I used to play saxophone
in a band, something interesting about yourself.
Page 2 of 14
Slide Three
Your aim: inspire kids about the big-picture of why engineering matters, and how
engineers shape the future...without using the word ‘engineering’ in this slide.
Choose an application of engineering, and describe the person who does this without
saying ‘engineer’:
Improving the environment

Curing cancer
Building roads, bridges and skyscrapers
Inventing a sustainable future
How do you get there? Choosing the right foundations at school.
What sets you up to be a problem solver? A strong technical/science background.
Page 3 of 14
Slide Four
Your aim: connect engineering disciplines with answers to real-life problems that
could shape the future.
Part 1: What are the boundary-pushing ideas in your area of engineering?

These ideas are brought to you by problem solving.
Part 2: Think of a practical problem solving example that relates to:

Electrical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Chemical engineering
Civil engineering
The takeaway - math, science and engineering subjects are the pathway to solving
these problems.
Page 4 of 14
Slide Five
Your aim: illustrate how engineering touches nearly every aspect of modern-day
life.
Using a ‘day-in-the-life’ approach, what things have you done so far today that are
thanks to engineering?
Examples:
Using Wi-Fi
Roadworks
Electric vehicles
GPS
<1:04 video>
The takeaway - engineers contribute to almost every aspect of our lives.
Page 5 of 14
Slide Six
Your aim: put engineering into a context that the students can picture themselves
in.
Game time - the aim is for students to start sitting down, and stand up if they can
answer yes to a statement.
Test statement: Your hair is brown <there will always be one clown that stands up at
the wrong time, have a laugh if you get one of these!>
Real statements:
When you start something, you want to finish it.
You want to contribute to making the world better.
You want the freedom to work anywhere in the world.
You question things - you’ve been in trouble for asking ‘why’ too many times.
You like problems that have a definite answer (like ‘what is 2+2’, rather than ‘describe
a perfect lunch’.)
You had a thing for LEGO or Minecraft.
You want to earn a good living.
At the end of the game, hopefully all students are standing - and these are future
potential engineers.
Read through the 8 reasons to consider engineering, adding context/questions aimed

at these students.
The takeaway - engineering is a career path that may suit you.

6
Page 6 of 14
Slide Seven
Your aim: point out engineering careers that transcend stereotypes. Feel free to
insert your own examples!
Breaking the stereotypes - consider what interests a teenager might have, and how
they might relate to engineering.
Makeup (chemical engineering)

Music (audio engineering)
Cars (mechanical engineering)
VFX + Animation (electrical engineering): “Are you a wiz at maths and science and are
you also in awe of films with great VFX and animation? Maybe you can make the next
Oscar winning animated film, like Guy Griffiths.”
<Click on Lego Movie image to show Guy Griffiths video>
The takeaway - your interest can easily translate into a career in engineering.
Page 7 of 14
Slide Eight
Your aim: help the students understand the ‘soft skills’ that make a great engineer.
Optional question/answer activity (if you’ve got a warm audience!) - what do you
think would make a good problem solver?
Direct students towards answers like:

Imagination
Communicating your thoughts on paper/to people
Sketching
Research
Detail-orientation
Critical thinking
All of these things also make a great engineer.
The takeaway - engineering is more than just technical skill.
Page 8 of 14
Slide Nine
Your aim: bust the myth that getting a high ATAR score and going to university is
the only way to become an engineer.
Time to share - how did you get to be where you are? Traditional study, a gap year,
alternative entry pathways?
Outline the ways to get to a graduate engineer position:

Straight from school
Via enabling courses
Transferring from a related course
TAFE engineering-based courses
Defence traineeships
The takeaway - if you want it, there are ways to make it a reality.
Page 9 of 14
Slide Ten
Your aim: widen perceptions of who’s in a team of engineers.

What are the different roles in a team of engineers?
Explain what the difference is between:

Tradespeople
Technicians/technologists
Engineers
Associates
Finally, what role do you play as an engineer?
The takeaway - even if you’re not an engineer, working alongside them is a great way
to spend a career.
10
Page 10 of 14
Slide Eleven
Your aim: introduce the video and generate some interaction.

Felicity Furey is working to change the stereotypes in engineering, alongside
engineers like Renee. Let’s take a look…
<4:20 video>
11
Page 11 of 14
Slide Twelve
Your aim: introduce the video and generate some interaction.

Building a Formula 1 car sounds like a lot of work, right? Well, a bunch of people your
age have done exactly that, thanks to the F1 in Schools challenge. A team from
Australia won the competition in 2018 - let’s take a look.
<3:19 video>
12
Page 12 of 14
Slide Thirteen
Wrap-up time - discuss how students can get involved with engineering:
Do you want to explore engineering? There are plenty of ways to get involved.
Here are some projects that you can get involved with through school:
Power of Engineering
The Power of Engineering project holds one-day events for Year 9 and 10 students
around Australia.
F1 in Schools
This is a worldwide competition with 17,000 students racing to develop the fastest
miniature Formula 1 car.
If you want to explore engineering on your own:
STARportal
STARportal is full of free and low-cost STEM workshops and activities that are
available around Australia. Why not look at some of these during your next holidays?
Day of STEM
A free online resource that lets you experience what a day in the life of a STEM career
might look like.
There’s plenty out there, but what can you do now?

• Start thinking about the problems you want to solve 13
• There are programs and grants out there, so get involved now
• Keep your head in the game - turn up, every day
• What’s your passion? Learn all about it
Leave them with something inspirational they can do today to move towards a future
as an engineer.
Page 13 of 14
Final Slide
14
Page 14 of 14

HS STEM Toolkit - Presentation Notes - Simplified

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

HS STEM Toolkit - Presentation Notes - Simplified

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

HS STEM Toolkit - Presentation Notes - Simplified

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Presentation

Improving the environment

How do you get there? Choosing the right foundations at school.

What sets you up to be a problem solver? A strong technical/science background.

Part 1: What are the boundary-pushing ideas in your area of engineering?

Part 2: Think of a practical problem solving example that relates to:

Read through the 8 reasons to consider engineering, adding context/questions aimed

The takeaway - engineering is a career path that may suit you.

Makeup (chemical engineering)

<Click on Lego Movie image to show Guy Griffiths video>

Direct students towards answers like:

All of these things also make a great engineer.

The takeaway - engineering is more than just technical skill.

Outline the ways to get to a graduate engineer position:

Your aim: widen perceptions of who’s in a team of engineers.

Explain what the difference is between:

Your aim: introduce the video and generate some interaction.

Your aim: introduce the video and generate some interaction.

If you want to explore engineering on your own:

There’s plenty out there, but what can you do now?

You might also like