Tournament of Minds – Primary School

We are very proud of our Years 5 and 6 students who participated in the Regional Finals of the Tournament of Minds Competition on Sunday 30 August at UNSW. The Primary School entered a STEM and Language Literature team. Each team worked hard to develop their Long-Term Challenge over six weeks and performed admirably on the day to present their Long-Term Challenge solution as well as compete in the unseen Spontaneous Challenge.

The STEM challenge, Small Scale, Big Screen, required the girls to develop an original science fiction film concept and create a miniature setting, complete with a controllable moving component, to bring a memorable scene to life without computer generated imagery. The girls imagined a world in which the Earth had stopped spinning, using their miniature, live-action performance and enhanced video clip to explore the disastrous consequences that might unfold. As part of their presentation, they explained the STEM principles underpinning the construction and operation of their miniature, including their use of scale and movement, as well as the digital editing techniques used to bring their science fiction world to life.

The team included Alice Chandler, Ava Grange, Ava Yusiw, Ivy Zhang, Kaylee Wang, Madeleine Chirakis and Maya Clark. It was wonderful to see the girls bring their scientific thinking to life through an engaging dramatic performance. They worked collaboratively and with persistence to develop a sophisticated solution to this difficult challenge.

The Language Literature challenge, Reels to Radio: The Ultimate Radio Drama, required the girls to create an original, modern radio play series designed to captivate today’s young audiences through the power of storytelling. The girls developed a 20-part series before presenting three short episodes featuring three main characters, a coherent narrative arc and sound effects, as part of a pitch to have their series aired on 3TOM FM.

The team, including Emily Yeung, Ines Allen, Mabel Smith, Olive Manton, Piper Prain-Pfahl, Agnes Lloyd-Roberts and Sophia Bragg, drew on an experience highly relevant to young people: the excitement and uncertainty of transitioning to high school, together with the friendship dramas and relationships that are part of growing up. Their imaginative storyline brought a time traveller from the past into the world of a present-day teenager, allowing the girls to explore these experiences from very different perspectives. The challenge required the girls to think creatively about storytelling in an audio format and how dialogue, voice and sound effects could be used to bring characters and their story to life. The Language Literature team performed confidently on the day, coming away with an Honour Award. Well done, girls!

Congratulations to all the Primary girls who participated in the Tournament of Minds Competition.

Tournament of Minds Facilitators
Cristi Wilsmore, Madeleine Whitfeld and Emma Kelly