Taking selfies to the next level
Year 2 from Holy Spirit laying in the shape of a wheel waiting for the satellite.
Who wants to be seen from outer space? Teachers and students from primary and secondary schools across Canberra have created signs and messages on their ovals for a chance to be seen from outer space. As part of National Science Week in the ACT, the world’s largest satellite travelling 770 kilometres above Earth, flew over Canberra and surrounding areas to capture a “Satellite Selfie.”
Years 2 and 3 from Holy Spirit Primary in Nicholls went onto their oval on Monday morning for their selfie.
Year 2 teacher Jane Johns said they made the shape of a wheel with radiating spokes and made the initial HSP, with Year 3 spelling the word ‘Hi.’
“We needed to make ourselves look big and be contrasted against the green oval, and I thought a centre circle with spokes coming out from it was a simple shape to get the students to make.
“They were very excited to be part of this event and were amazed that a satellite we can’t see could see us and take our photo,” Mrs. Johns said.
A Year 10 science class from St Clare’s College participating in the Satellite Selfie.
A Year 10 Science class at St Clare’s College set up lab coats on their oval forming the letters STCC.
The letters STCC is what the College is fondly known as across the ACT. Science coordinator Rebecca Harper explained how their plans changed due to the weather and how they managed to set up just in time for the satellite to capture them.
“We were planning to do our Satellite Selfie on Friday, but the weather forecast wasn’t looking good, so we hastily changed things and managed to get the class to go onto the oval and do it quite quickly,” Ms. Harper said.
Wednesdays Satellite Selfie flyover was cancelled due to poor weather conditions, with several Catholic schools not able to participate. Mother Teresa Primary school in Harrison was one of the many schools which missed out and had planned to create a big sign with the students.
Students from Mother Teresa taking part in their boat making competition for National Science Week.
Assistant principal Craig Hart said that it was unfortunate that this happened, but the students have been engaging in other Science Week initiatives, including many experiments and boat making competitions.
“Based on this year’s Science Week theme of ‘Deep Blue,’ students from each year level were tasked to create a self-propelled vessel to see how far it could travel in our dam.
“This has been a great success with over 200 boats being launched throughout the week,” Mr. Hart said.
Other schools that participated in the Satellite Selfie include Sacred Heart, Good Shepherd, St Jude’s, St Clare of Assisi Primary and Merici College.
- Claire Bakker is a journalism graduate from Canberra and attended St Francis Xavier College in Florey. She has a passion for storytelling and photography.