Students from Medowie's Catherine McAuley Catholic College have taken part in a new program aimed at embedding space and science into the school curriculum.
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Boeing Australia has partnered with the University of South Australia and Regional Development Australia to run the lessons at Catherine McAuley Catholic College and Aviation High School in Queensland.
The Future U program has been aligned to Australian schools' lesson plans, enabling teachers of years 7-10 students to engage, educate and inspire young minds on a diverse range of space career pathways.
"We've learned from more than 17 years supporting the Aerospace Gateway Schools program that the best way to optimise children's learning is to make it easily accessible for teachers to apply in their classroom," said Sandra James, senior manager University Relations and STEM.
"By tailoring our content into the national curriculum we're hoping to expose students early to key skills and knowledge that capture the hearts and minds of future space leaders and innovators and grow our talent pipeline."
The lesson plans provided students the chance to design and test a Mars spacecraft prototype, explore the uses of welding across the space manufacturing sector, improve the sustainability of flights, and build and work in a gateway lunar base.
"Providing the tools to engage students in real-life practical scenarios beyond what they see in movies or TV, has made the possibility of a career in the space industry very real for them," said Luke Kelleher (leader science and mathematics) at Catherine McAuley.
More than 180 Year 7 students in the NSW Hunter Region experienced the program in December, through the RDA's ME program.
