On Saturday 31 August, the Tournament of Minds Arts team went to Western Sydney University. We competed against many schools and academies. We needed to create an Australian twist on the Wizard Of Oz story and we came up with ‘The Lizard Of Aus.’ We needed at least three backdrops completely handmade, two original songs and dances and handmade costumes. After weeks of preparation, we finally finished and travelled to the university to present what we had created. We had a lot of fun and the Year 5 students look forward to competing again next year.

The Tournament of Minds STEM team also competed at Western Sydney University. For the spontaneous challenge we were given three questions in which we had five minutes to answer. For our main challenge we had to build a carousel which rotated three times while holding animals. This device was used to sort and classify endangered animals. In doing this we could then compare the DNA to other animals and see if both animals share similar traits. Our group had some difficulties along the way with the design of the carousel, although we brought it together at the end and we felt very proud of our final presentation.