“This morning we had a meteorite landing at school,” teacher Bethany Kelly said.

“The area was cordoned off and students were under the assumption that police had already come.”

The discovery was the first of many surprises to come throughout the day, as part of a special year seven Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Challenge Day.

The students were split into 16 teams of four and had to work together throughout the day to solve various science, maths, technology and engineering challenges.

First up, the students were tasked with testing the meteorite.

“They were given samples and went to the science rooms to discover what the substance was and whether it was worth any money,” Mrs Kelly said.

“It wasn’t worth any money.”

While the students were undertaking tests, a spaceship landed in the playground. 

The students discovered they had to crack a code created by martians to enter the spaceship.

Once the code was cracked, they discovered baby aliens in the spaceship and had to then work together to build rockets to send the baby aliens back into space.

“Each team got a baby alien which were printed on our 3D laser printer,” Mrs Kelly said.

“They were then given basic materials and worked to create a rocket to launch their alien back into space.”

Mrs Kelly said the students really enjoyed getting out of the classroom and doing something different.

“They’ve all sat and worked in the hall really well together,” she said.

“We mixed them up, so they’re not with their normal class groups. We also have students from special education participate in the challenge.”

The STEM Challenge Day was the first of three year seven challenge days planned for the year.

Next term there’ll be another, this time involving the English, drama and HSIE faculties.

“We really want to make year seven fun and engaging,” Mrs Kelly said.

“We want to get them involved in activities where they can think differently and put their minds to something while working in teams, rather than the classroom.”