We built this city… on STEM and code!"
Okay, maybe not a city but our students definitely built bridges, towers, catapults, and even water turbines in this year's thrilling STEM Cup! On Wednesday 25 June 2025, twenty bright and enthusiastic Year 5 and 6 students proudly represented Caningeraba State School at the annual STEM Cup held at Benowa SHS, going head-to-head with other Gold Coast schools in a series of high energy STEM challenges.
STEM—short for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics—was brought to life through creative, hands-on problem solving. Our students were divided into five teams of four, each rotating through a range of activities that tested their innovation, logic and teamwork. Our students had been preparing for a number of weeks prior to the competition to ensure they would be familiar with the types of challenges they would face on the day.
One team took on the high-stakes Bridge Building Challenge for the entire day, a triple-points task where students constructed a bridge out of provided materials to span a set distance. The strength of the bridge was put to the test, and the more weight it held, the higher the score.
Meanwhile, the remaining four teams rotated through three of the following four challenges:
- Paper Towers – using limited materials to build the tallest tower capable of holding weights.
- Crypto Challenges – cracking coded messages using technical ciphers and logical thinking.
- Water Turbines – constructing working turbines and measuring how many spins they achieved under water pressure.
- Catapults – designing and launching for distance and accuracy.
Throughout the day, our students displayed perseverance, creativity, resilience, and incredible teamwork. There were moments of breath-holding tension and joyful celebration as designs were tested and scores revealed. Despite being first-timers in the competition and facing experienced teams, our students approached every challenge with enthusiasm and a growth mindset.
Excitingly, we held a top 3 position in the scores across the tower, turbine, crypto, and catapult events for the entire day. The final scoring event was to test the bridges from all schools to determine how much weight they could support. Our bridge team's design impressively supported 6.5kg, which was tied for the third highest weight out of all the schools. Due to a decision based on bridge weight our team's bridge was awarded points for 4th place in this challenge.
The final results rolled in, with the top four schools separated by just a single point between each position. Caningeraba finished fourth, just one point behind Bellevue Park, and 2 points behind St Vincent's but the winners on the day were Ashmore State School. Congratulations to the top 4 teams for such tight healthy competition and well done to all the other participating schools for their effort and sportsmanship. I have to say though that it was a truly impressive debut for Caningeraba. We couldn't be prouder of how our students represented Caningeraba with integrity, ingenuity, and a passion for STEM. For many, it was “the best day ever" and we're already looking forward to returning next year with even more experience, confidence and Caningeraba spirit!
Our team members and the challenges they completed were as follows:
Team A: Bridge Builders: Zac, Sonny, Soda & Lilly
Team B: Paper Towers, Crypto, Water Turbine: Zac, Harrison, Ace & Jasper
Team C: Crypto, Water Turbine, Catapult: Finn, Xavi, Nate & Ragnar
Team D: Water Turbine, Catapult, Paper Tower: Alice, Piper, Blaire & Sinley
Team E: Catapult, Paper Tower, Crypto: Walker, Nixon, Max & Levi
I think it is very important to thank Benowa SHS for organising and hosting the event, to express gratitude towards parents and teachers for encouraging and supporting these children and to acknowledge how fortunate we are that our school supports these invaluable learning experiences and opportunities.