Showdown at Waste World is an in-school STEM program from The National Theatre for Children (NTC) and LEGO® Education. Showdown at Waste World kickstarts with a live theatre performance and classroom educational materials from NTC and continues in the classroom with WeDo 2.0 Curriculum Solution and Core Sets for your primary school students. The live performance centres around basic robotics and the scientific process as related to recycling and waste minimisation. WeDo 2.0 Curriculum Solution allows for hands-on technology and engineering learning in the classroom. For more details, check out the About Waste World page.
Yes! Showdown at Waste World is completely free for your school. The program in its entirety is valued at over $10,000, but it is available at no cost to your school. Stockland has generously provided the funding to make this program possible for a select number of schools across Australia as part of their commitment to support STEM education.
Showdown at Waste World is a comprehensive program and takes a commitment from the schools that host—from the school at large, from classrooms, and from individual leaders who run the in-school teams. To apply, go the Apply to Waste World page. Once we receive your submitted application, our staff will work with you to facilitate the next steps.
Showdown at Waste World Live Show & Materials
For the live show, the actors will bring all materials and equipment they need with them. All your school has to provide is a space for the show—and the audience. Typically a space of 6 metres wide and 5 metres deep is enough for our actors to put up their set and make their “stage.” The National Theatre for Children is accustomed to performing in a wide range of spaces like gymnasiums, school halls, auditoriums or multi-purpose rooms. In our ideal setting, your students have enough room to sit comfortably on the floor, with an aisle down the middle of the audience for our actors to utilise.
Different portions of the program are geared toward different grade levels. Here’s a breakdown:
Showdown at Waste World Live Show & Materials
The live performance and related classroom materials are for grades P-6. All primary school students are welcome!
WeDo 2.0
The WeDo 2.0 Curriculum Solution from LEGO® Education is specifically intended for grade 2-6 classrooms. Keep in mind these sets and curriculum can be used year after year—in other words, this year’s grade 1 can experience this curriculum next year.
When hosting Showdown at Waste World, one person at the school will need to be in charge of facilitating all aspects of the program. We call this person the “Program Administrator.” We recommend this person would be a school administrator, lead teacher, or other staff member who has the ability to coordinate with classroom teachers at your school. We also recommend that the Program Administrator name an Assistant Administrator who can help facilitate the program. The Program Administrator is responsible for the following:
- Scheduling the live performance of Showdown at Waste World
- Distributing the Showdown at Waste World materials to the classroom teachers
- Overseeing and facilitating the use (and sharing) of WeDo 2.0 curriculum by grade 2-6 classroom teachers
Lead Teachers or Coaches lead the classroom sessions for in-school teams and accompany their teams through the Science/STEM Expo to conclude the season. At a minimum, two Lead Teachers/Coaches are recommended to lead your student teams. There is a lot of flexibility surrounding the timing and scheduling of sessions. For example, sessions can take place once a week over a school term, twice a week every fortnight or month, etc.
Note that Lead Teachers/Coaches do not need a science background in order to successfully lead a team. The Program Administrator may also serve as a Lead Teacher if desired. The best Lead teachers are passionate, dedicated, patient, caring, positive role models who are willing to make the commitment of time. They are good listeners who enjoy having fun and spending time with the students in undertaking their projects and forming the presentation for the school STEM/Science Expo.
Never fear, your school is not alone.
First, your school will receive all necessary materials for all aspects of the program, including printed guides for the Program Administrators, Coaches, and teachers to use. The Administrator Guide has instructions and how-tos, advice and resources, checklists for how to run an Expo and more. The Team Meeting Guide has detailed meeting plan suggestions for Lead Teachers/Coaches to show them how to guide their teams through each session as well as ideas for how Coaches can get creative with their teams.
The culminating event for the Waste World program is an in-school science/STEM Expo. An Expo provides team members with an opportunity to showcase what they have learned with their families, friends, and community in a fun, non-competitive event. Expos generally last two to four hours, depending on how many teams are participating. At an Expo, team members share their personal experience with the project topic and what they learned by working as members of a team. All teams showcase their LEGO® model, Show What You Know poster, and research with other teams, and anyone else attending the Expo. Stockland representatives may also attend and meet with each team individually to ask questions and learn more about their projects. Every team member receives a participation certificate.
