SWAN Hill Primary School students were treated to an afternoon of scientific wonder and engagement on Tuesday, thanks to the Questacon Science Circus.
Rolling into town in their colourful semi-truck, the Questacon Science Circus has been visiting schools in the area this week, delivering specialist shows to students on topics such as flight, music, kinetics, fluids and structures.
Questacon Science Circus presenter Kelsie Long, who performed at Swan Hill Primary alongside fellow presenter Matthew Dunn, says the aim of the shows is to try to get kids excited about science.
“Every school that we have come to has been super welcoming, super helpful, and its super fun to see all the kids faces light up when we do our shows,” Ms Long said.
“Generally we what everybody to think about how science plays a role in their everyday lives.
“Everyone can engage with science and come together to think about those different ways of experimenting, guessing or questioning.”
As well as the in-school shows, Questacon also took over the Swan Hill Town Hall on Thursday afternoon, turning it into a pop-up science centre. Visitors of all ages came down between 4pm and 7pm to participate in more than 30 interactive science exhibits and watch the presenters put on spectacular science shows. This included holding fire in their hands, lying on a bed of nails, and levitating beach balls.
Ms Long said there are many benefits in delivering these shows to students, with many schools often too time constricted to be able to perform some of these more practical demonstrations.
“We hope it will just give kids a chance to see some of the different possibilities of science, and also help them to feel a little more like they are a part of it,” Ms Long said.
“We just want to broaden their horizons and possibilities of what they can be.”
