Like much of the world, Australian educators are increasingly embracing STEM education for younger students. Chris Perkins is one such teacher at Keithcot Farm Primary School outside Adelaide, South Australia. He talks about a range of issues on his radar as a STEM teacher, including how he stays up-to-date, Australian inventions, how New South Wales is a leader in that country for education, and more.

For a video of the robot arm that Chris mentioned, see it here: https://youtu.be/L9rG8cD3pxQ

The cover art for this episode comes from Gilbert Toyne’s 1925 Australian patent on the rotary clothesline: http://pericles.ipaustralia.gov.au/ols/auspat/

Related to this episode: • STEM Everyday: http://dailystem.com/stem-everyday-podcast/ • Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/twenty-one-elephants-and-still-standing-by-april-jones-prince/• 44% of teachers leave after 5 years: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/teacherbeat/2018/10/today_teaching_force_richard_ingersoll.html• Australian curriculum: https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/• Year 7 to high school: https://www.education.sa.gov.au/sites-and-facilities/year-7-high-school• Beebots: https://www.terrapinlogo.com/beebot.html• Ozobots: https://ozobot.com/• Lego Mindstorms EV3 robots: https://education.lego.com/en-us/shop/mindstorms-ev3• Video of robot arm on website: https://youtu.be/L9rG8cD3pxQ• Rotary hills hoist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hills_Hoist• Australia’s Top 10 Inventions: https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/01/australias-top-10-inventions-the-victa-lawn-mower/• World Solar Car Challenge: https://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/• Solar tiles article: https://theconversation.com/we-can-make-roof-tiles-with-built-in-solar-cells-now-the-challenge-is-to-make-them-cheaper-123775• Wave energy: https://e360.yale.edu/features/why_wave_power_has_lagged_far_behind_as_energy_source• Texas A&M research on wave energy: https://engineering.tamu.edu/news/2019/02/could-the-ocean-be-the-answer-to-a-clean-energy-supply.html• Food scientist and cook Ann Reardon debunking viral food videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26m8NmKPzUI• Verification and Validation, past episode: http://www.k12engineering.net/episodes/45

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