80 per cent of girls doing physics in Melbourne pilot program
Monday 14 September
Photo opportunity 12 noon: Scientists, teachers and schoolkids available for interview at La Trobe University where they will be 3D-printing cochlear bones.
Growing Tall Poppies is getting schoolgirls into physics by doing real science, with real scientists.
In their pilot program at Melbourne’s Santa Maria College they’ve increased the retention of girls to Year 12 physics to 80 per cent—and now the program is expanding to other states thanks to Federal Government funding.
The current crop of Tall Poppies are this week participating in hands-on experiments, learning how to image and 3D-print cochlear bones at La Trobe University.
With mentor scientists they’ll be learning about the tiny cochlear bone and how it helps us hear; how X-rays can be used to create 3D models without the need for surgery; as well as seeing 3D-printing in action.
“Some students are really surprised that there are women doing this kind of science—that it’s not just old men in lab coats,” says mentor Hannah Coughlan, nanotechnology PhD student at La Trobe University and CSIRO.
“It’s all about letting them know that anyone can be a physicist and anyone can do research.”
