SOPHIA College, Plainland has developed their own science, ecology and technology (SET) subject, designed to help students care for the environment and become solution-focused global citizens.
“What is most exciting about this program is that it encourages inquiry-based learning and will help our students develop the knowledge, and skills they need to create sustainable change,” principal Narelle Dobson said.
Ms Dobson developed SET to engage students in creative and innovative ways that align with the school’s Franciscan traditions to care core for our common home.
“Throughout the program our students can develop their ability to ask questions, design investigations, interpret evidence, form explanations and arguments, and communicate findings,” she said.
“My hope is that our students will leave the program with a deeper philosophical understanding of the interconnectedness of ecological systems, and their impact on the environment.
“SET is definitely unique compared to other schools’ subject offerings.”
Brisbane Catholic Education leader Paul Easton said Sophia College’s STEM Program was “unique in that most schools would usually focus on engineering not ecology”.
“Sophia College has used the ‘E’ in STEM to respond to their community’s needs and developed an Ecology program that also links students to future employment pathways within their local area,” he said.
Year 9 students began studying the new SET subject in January this year.
SET program teacher Pal Neilson hoped the subject would provide students with an “ecological lens to help solve local problems”.
“One of the focuses of the program will be encouraging students to find solutions to our local bioaccumulation issue,” he said.
“One of the biggest problems facing the region is the runoff of pesticides and fertilisers from farms during major flooding events, that can contaminate both our riverways, and the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay area.
“The program is technology driven, and who knows what the students will come up with, their inventions could be as simple as a drone which drops seedlings along our riverbanks, which once grown, will absorb chemical runoff before they enter our waterways.”
Mr Neilson hoped students could present their prototypes to researchers and scientists who could bring their designs to life.
