Recently, we shared what our Year 7 students have been exploring in ESSTEAM.
Since we last checked in with them, the students have been busy finalising their products, which they designed to reduce plastic waste, and this week they presented their final pitches to members of the School Executive Team and Dr Amelia Harray from The University of Western Australia.
Read on as Head of ESSTEAM, Natalie Paterson, shares insights into the unit.
Year 7 ESSTEAM students recently participated in the Design for Impact: Innovations in Plastic Alternatives Showcase, concluding their unit on global plastic pollution and sustainable design. Throughout the program, students investigated the environmental and social impacts of plastic waste, exploring how plastics are produced, used, and persist in the environment. Through activities such as plastic consumption audits, material investigations, and hands-on bioplastics prototyping, students developed a strong understanding of the need for more sustainable solutions.
Using a Design Thinking approach, students worked through the stages of empathy, problem definition, ideation, prototyping, and testing to develop innovative concepts aimed at reducing plastic waste. They explored biodegradable and bio-based materials, considered user needs, and evaluated the feasibility of their ideas, while demonstrating key entrepreneurial skills such as creative thinking and continuous improvement.
The showcase provided an authentic learning experience, with students presenting their work to a real audience and receiving meaningful feedback. Their ideas were evaluated by members of the School Executive Team, alongside Dr Amelia Harray from UWA, providing valuable insight from both educational and external perspectives. The event highlighted students’ ability to apply scientific understanding, creativity, and entrepreneurial thinking to real-world challenges, as they worked towards designing solutions for a more sustainable future.
There were many innovative product and business ideas presented, including:
- Glassline – Skin care that uses refillable bamboo pods
- Soap and Surf – Eco friendly hair protectant in plastic free packaging
- Tealiteful – Dissolvable tea bags
- Tru Chew – Edible, biodegradable gum
- ALAS – Plastic free, chemical free makeup in refillable containers
- Cemi & Co – Recyled metal ring that functions as a wearable student card for the uniform shop, canteen and bus
- FunghiFoam – Plastic free, evironmentally friendly styrofoam alternative
Congratulations to the winning group, Cemi & Co!
We are incredibly proud of our students and the thoughtful, forward-thinking solutions they have developed. Well done girls!
