In Term 3, Year 5 explored unsustainable fishing practices and the effects on oceans and land. For Science Week, they were asked to design an innovative machine that combated any environmental challenges for the ocean. 

Several of their inventions were designed with sustainable materials (i.e. solar panels, reusable materials) and tackled a major problem (fishing bycatch, excessive waste, etc).

We asked two of our Year 5 students, Ashley and Olivia about their Science Week learnings and innovative machine.

“For Science Week, we had to create a model that would help clean and protect the ocean. We learnt about how nurdles (micro plastics) can affect a turtle’s digestive system. We also learnt how we could use solar power in a machine and make it waterproof to adapt to being used in a water environment,” Ashley said.

“My group made the ‘Marina Cleana 3000’ Our prototype used aluminium foil, bottle lids, paper, sticky tape and a toilet roll. If we were able to make the real thing we would need a steel cylinder, time sensors, solar panels, two large mesh bags and filters,” Olivia said.

Ashley and Olivia learnt quite a lot during Science Week!