Congrats Erica on the award of the National Science Week grant ‘My Goodness: Interactive multisensory science books’

Get a taste for science in National Science Week!

Our $500 000 grant round for 2021 has just been announced with great projects from around the country preparing to celebrate science. Many of the projects took inspiration from the National Science Week school theme of Food – Different by Design, including Food – Now and into the Future which is all about making healthy food choices and will be presented by the Wesley Mission in Logan City just south of Brisbane.

STEAM Ahead – Foodlovers is an exploration of traditional Indigenous food and modern food production techniques at the Western Sydney Parkland. If you’re thirsty for more, four boutique brewers will conjure special brews for ExBEERimental Science in Hobart and share their techniques and tastes with both live and virtual audiences.

And while they may not be delicious, the Donut Shooting Robots in Adelaide will fight it out as 15 teams go head to head in a design – build – program competition.

Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said the Australian Government was proud to support inspiring, innovative and accessible projects as part of National Science Week.

“Science is everywhere, and National Science Week is for everyone,” Minister Andrews said.

“Even in the midst of last year’s lockdowns, more than one million Australians took part in events across every state and territory. This year, we’re looking to boost those numbers even higher.

“From concerts to VR tours and everything in between, this year’s National Science Week grant recipients have something to offer every Australian.”

The grant recipients are:

VIC

My Goodness: Interactive multisensory science books
Monash University

Read about immune system cells through your sense of touch or learn about food and nutrition through a 3D soundscape. ‘My Goodness’, a Rossjohn Sensory Science Multisensory Science Book, is an exhibition of 10 interactive ‘books’ designed for low-vision, blind, hearing-impaired, deaf, and non-disabled audiences.

The Books explore the relationship between infection, immunity, food, and nutrition. They make science accessible to more people by using large print text, braille, tactile artworks, haptic and 3DAudio, visual tracking and tactile sensor interaction technologies.

Original article

National Science Week 2021 will run from 14-22 August. Watch this space for further details.