{"id":44754,"date":"2013-09-18T20:24:57","date_gmt":"2013-09-18T10:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=44754"},"modified":"2020-12-11T16:51:21","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T06:51:21","slug":"science-can-be-wonderful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2013\/09\/18\/science-can-be-wonderful\/","title":{"rendered":"Science Can Be Wonderful"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Dan O’Connor with St Mary’s Year 6 students Madeline Crnkovic and Tia Kanay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
St Mary’s Year 6 students Jed Sparkes and Lachlan Dolzan with teacher\u00a0Celia O’Connor<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

September 18, 2013
\n<\/strong>
\nDo you know what a Rube Goldberg machine is? No, neither did we. But the students at Murgon State High School and St Mary’s Catholic College in Kingaroy have been building some recently.<\/p>\n

Rube Goldberg was an American cartoonist who often drew complex gadgets that performed simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways.<\/p>\n

University of Queensland PhD student Dan O’Connor has been visiting Year 8 and 9 classes at Murgon SHS and Year 6 at St Mary’s as part of the 2013 Wonder of Science program.<\/p>\n

Two of projects he has been working on with the students includes investigating salinity, and Rube Goldberg machines.<\/p>\n

The program, initiated by the Queensland Division of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, aims to build passion and enthusiasm for science and technology in Queensland’s young people.<\/p>\n

There is a special focus on students in Years 6-9 living in rural and remote communities.<\/p>\n

The students undertake a research project and will deliver their findings at a competitive student conference in Dalby on December 5.<\/p>\n

“All students get to experience the peer-review process which is an integral part of a research scientist’s career,” Dan said.<\/p>\n

“At the conference, the students will present their work and be judged by their peers from other schools throughout the Darling Downs region.<\/p>\n

“The South Burnett students will also get the opportunity to critique projects completed at other schools.”<\/p>\n

Dan said he was enjoying working with the students.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Wonder of Science allows students to experience what the career of a research scientist involves and will hopefully encourage young people from the South Burnett region to continue science-based subjects through senior school and onto university,” he said.<\/p>\n

The Year 8 class at Murgon SHS’s Rube Goldberg machine involved busting a balloon in a complex and comical manner.<\/p>\n

“While the final outcome will remain top secret until the conference, we can reveal that marbles, biology textbooks and a helicopter where all involved in the development phase of the project,” Dan said.<\/p>\n

St Mary\u2019s Year 6 class are in the planning stage of their Rube Goldberg project.<\/p>\n

Another science project the students are working on is investigating how salinity can affect natural ecosystems.<\/p>\n

“Murgon Year 9s are in the process of testing the effects of increased salinity on seed germination,” Dan said.<\/p>\n

Despite being enrolled through the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) at St Lucia, Dan is based at the J Bjelke-Petersen research station in Kingaroy.<\/p>\n

He has recently been joined by Kylie Wenham, another UQ PhD student, who is investigating soil-borne diseases in peanuts.<\/p>\n

Both students are keen to work with local schools during their PhD studies.<\/p>\n

[Photos: Dan O’Connor]<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dan O’Connor with Murgon State High School Year 9 students Amanda Hadley, Ashlyn Brown, Aleesha Sanewski and Sarah Kemp<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
MSHS Year 9 students Ainslee Sippel and Jessica Jones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you know what a Rube Goldberg machine is? Well, some local students have been building them <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":44771,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,395],"tags":[21,28,35],"yoast_head":"\nScience Can Be Wonderful - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2013\/09\/18\/science-can-be-wonderful\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Science Can Be Wonderful - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do you know what a Rube Goldberg machine is? 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