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'Goop', soil and remote-control boats: Southbank's Street Science kicked off this weekend



Science is in everything, the hundreds of families who crowded on to the QPAC lawn at Southbank at the World Science Festival’s ‘Street Science’ were told.


Visitors could pop into one or more of the 20 stalls and learn how to be an ‘engineer for a day’ or talk to ‘the snail whisperer’.


‘I work in the goop’

Brooke Jensen, from Brisbane-based, not-for-profit youth organisation, Young Scientists of Australia (YSA), said she was here because “I love slime, of course”.


But she also had a more serious reason; science is in everything.


“I really get enjoyment and real fulfilment out of communicating with the general public, with kids, letting them know that science isn’t just some crazy thing in a laboratory mixing crazy chemicals,” Ms Jensen said.


She and other YSA volunteers ran the ‘Tye Dye and Magic Mud Pit’ stall this weekend.

“We want to promote science to the youth of Australia through ‘goop’ and other various things.”


The ‘goop’, a mixture of cornflour, water and food colouring, is a ‘non-Newtonian’ fluid, which goes against Newton’s law of matter, similar to honey or tomato sauce.


“So we’ve got solids, liquids and gasses but this is both a liquid and a solid,” said Ms Jensen.

“When we hit it really hard, the heavy particles, like the cornflour, don’t have time to move they just stand stiff – that’s why you can run on it – but when you have time to really sink your hands in the particles can move around and you can sink yourself in.”


While it may look like just some fun for young children, this material also has practical uses.

“Someone’s actually made a speed bump of it so when you come at it [at] a normal pace you can go over and you wont feel it, but if you hit it hard and fast, you’re going to feel that speed bump.”


Ms Jensen said this was her last year with the YSA but she’s looking forward to her team stepping up and coming back again in 2019, which will be their fourth year at the festival.


‘We want to spark their interest’

Coedi Martin, a mechanical and medical engineering student at Queensland University of Technology, said he is passionate about preserving Australia’s flora and fauna.


His studies are devoted to creating models and robots to monitor a certain type of starfish, the Crown-of-Thorns.


Mr Martin ran the ‘Reef Think Tank’ stall this weekend intended to get children involved in helping save the Great Barrier Reef.


The remote control boats were used to collect ‘rubbish’ and move it towards a floating hoop.

Mr Martin said the game’s intention is to spark children’s interest with a fun game, but also give them a “fundamental understanding” about the Great Barrier Reef and what it takes to keep it clean.


“There’s a lot of news going on about a lot of bleaching and a lot of [damage to] Crown-of-Thorns Starfish in particular, the rubbish, the pollution and we’re trying to raise awareness while also having attractive activities for the kids to have something to do,” Mr Martin said.

He hopes these kids develop an interest in any STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) careers.


“As you can see from this kind of project [the festival], it’s all collaborative nature in terms of who’s got what knowledge and how do we apply that knowledge to fix problems.”


‘Soil’s not a sexy topic’

Silvana Kelly, from Soil Science Australia, asked a young girl to read the PH tester and compare it to the PH scale, asking her if this soil was in the right range for plant growth.


“[We’re] getting the kids used to playing with soils and testing them to see whether these soils are good for growing plants and also how to protect them, as well, from losing their nutrients,” she said.


Children of all ages performed infiltration, PH and dispersion tests, as well as created ‘soil art’ to get them thinking about soil from a different perspective.


The children also got to take home their own plant; a keep-sake to remind them of the importance of good soil.


Ms Kelly said the soil stall was about “giving kids an appreciation for soil and sustainability”.

“Those pots are actually bio-degradable so they can go and put the straight in their backyard, or their garden, and they can grow their own veggies or flowers,” she said.


Lilies, lettuce and lemongrass are just some of the seedlings children can take home.


Ms Kelly hopes that children can learn about how to grow their own lettuce, tomatoes or any vegetable and be more sustainable.


“The youngest here was two-and-a-half and she’s done some PH tests so the way it’s set up we’re targeting two-year-olds to about 15-year-olds,” she said.


“They’re the future and they’re the ones that are going to be helping to protect these in the future and we definitely need to protect our soils.


“There’s only so much soil and we’ve got to feed a whole nation for many years to come so we do need to protect it.”


Soil Science Australia have been around for over seven years, this being their second year at the festival.

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