By Phil Jarratt
The industrial technology students at Matthew Flinders Anglican College stood around and watched as the beaten-up old Series 3 diesel Land Rover was lowered off the trailer.
“Are you serious?” asked one. “We get to spend the next six months taking apart a real car and putting it back together?” The teacher nodded. “Wow,” said another student, “sure beats making a table.”
Yep, this is school, Jim, but not as we know it.
In fact the Buderim college’s electric vehicle conversion project, which will be featured in Noosa at the EV Expo on Sunday, is an Australian first and is leading a global push back into high schools for learning about renewables in innovative ways. Flinders’ head of innovation and learning, Ed Wright, explains: “I started my teaching career in the UK in the early 2000s when schools were being inundated with solar car projects, but then they seemed to disappear off the radar as they got more expensive, and reappeared only at some universities. Now, as the need to embrace renewables becomes greater, the interest is back, and we’re hopeful that this project will become a model for schools around Australia.”
About 20 Year 11 and 12 students are now involved in the ambitious upcycling project, and it has already generated a lot of community interest, with Ken Mills Toyota signing on as gold sponsor, which means that the Series 3 Land Rover will henceforth be known simply as an “old 4WD”. And therein lies a lesson in marketing for the group. Says Ed Wright: “When we started researching the easiest vehicle to lift a motor out of, it really got down to a VW Beetle or a Land Rover, where basically you undo four bolts and lift it out. We weren’t anticipating a sponsorship from a rival vehicle brand, but it’s great because it’s another real-world problem and the students have to find a solution. And, I have to add, the sponsor has been wonderful about it.”
So zip! This reporter has the message loud and clear.
While the project began life last year as part of the senior Industrial Technology Skills curriculum with the simple mission of removing an engine and replacing it with an electric motor and batteries that can be re-charged from the school’s solar panels, it has grown organically to encompass a wide range of real-world skills (including branding) and a growing involvement of students from both the secondary and primary schools.
At the project launch, principal Stuart Meade said: “We recognise value in this sort of real-world project. It enables our students at Flinders to have ownership over their learning and to employ 21st century skills such as creativity, collaboration and critical thinking.” As it turns out, this was something of an under-statement.
When the project team from the college’s Innovations Club realised how much it would cost to buy an “old 4WD” and what the price of batteries was ($3,000 and the project needs seven), they sat down and drew up a sponsorship pitch and a marketing plan that would deliver on the promise. Enter Ken Mills Toyota, helped along by the fact that dealer principal Brett Mills is on the school board, but Mr Mills didn’t get to the top of the motor trade by being a soft touch. Other Sunshine Coast businesses have since also pledged support.
Next the team of teenagers put together a comprehensive business plan and pitched the school board for a business loan, which was granted just in the last couple of weeks. “They’re going to have to sell a lot of sausages at Bunnings to pay it back”, quipped project mentor Ed Wright, but the teacher can barely conceal his pride when he talks about the passion and energy the Flinders’ students have brought to the project.
He says: “I think the way we approach innovation and learning at Flinders is a bit different to other schools. Part of the joy of this project is that the approach is whole of school. We’re trying to connect as many students as we can across as many disciplines as we can. Although the core conversion is happening within the technology department, we have students working on designing a logo for the car, so that involves digital technology and computer coding for the dashboard. Down the track we’ll involve the primary school kids in some parts of the design of the interior of the vehicle. Other groups are working on purposing the vehicle once it’s finished, whether it will be kitted out as a coffee cart down at the rugby field, or whether it’s used to tow the school barbeque to events. And of course, the marketing and business strategizing is ongoing.
“The STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) component is that at Flinders we want students to be able to work with real world problems now so that they’ll be better equipped at finding solutions later on. But we see it as going beyond the STEM idea. Our experience is that the best projects are ones that excite students at all levels, from an industrial tech level to computer design to sourcing sponsorships and coming up with marketing campaigns. It’s an organic approach and to be honest, we don’t really know where it’s going. I guess that’s why everyone – students, teachers and our community supporters – finds it so exciting.”
Because the “old 4WD” is currently in pieces, the Matthew Flinders team won’t be bringing it to the EV Expo on Sunday, but they have video and photos of the work so far, and they will be there in strength to explain this ground-breaking project.
