Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics Festival (STEAMFest 2025)

USM and RECSAM Partner for Successful STEAMFest 2025 at Tenby Schools Penang

Event Overview
The Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics (RECSAM), in collaboration with the School of Physics at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), successfully organized hands-on STEAM activities at Tenby Schools Penang on 26 April 2025. The event, STEAMFest 2025, attracted over 300 participants from schools throughout Penang, including Tenby Schools Penang students aged 3-18, who attended alongside their parents and teachers.

Educational Focus and Goals
This initiative aimed to advance Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) among the younger generation, particularly focusing on [specific SDGs: e.g., Quality Education (SDG 4), Climate Action (SDG 13)]. The event sought to demonstrate practical applications of science and art in everyday life, with a special emphasis on astronomy education.

"USM: Young Astronomer" Station Activities
Under the supervision of Dr. Idahwati Sarudin from the School of Physics, the astronomy team conducted several engaging educational experiences:

1. **Solar System Exploration**: Nur Alia Natasha Johari presented models demonstrating the solar system and simulations of Moon-Earth-Sun rotations, helping students visualize celestial mechanics.
2. **Practical Stargazing Tools**: Darshan Sivalingam introduced participants to star charts and the Stellarium software, bridging traditional and digital methods of celestial observation.
3. **Rocket Science Fundamentals**: Muhammad Amirul Azhar Kiflie explained rocket components and their functions, introducing basic concepts of aerospace engineering.
4. **Knowledge Assessment**: Muhammad Nadzreen Abidin conducted an interactive quiz to reinforce astronomical concepts covered at the exhibition.

"USM: Fun with Snap Circuit" Station Activities
Besides astronomy, the Physics division is not lacking in their presentation. Coordinated by Dr. Beh Khi Poay and his team; Mr. Lee Bing Yi (4th year Physics student), Mr. Tan Wei Liang (2nd year Physics student, and Dr. Beh Khi Khim (Post-Doc, CEDEC). Dr. Beh’s team bring Snap Circuits to the table, allowing audience to have a fun and interactive session.

Despite the apparent simplicity of Snap Circuits, one should not underestimate it. This is because the circuits were connected in a 3-dimensional manner, rather than the typical 2D (or what you draw on paper). When stacking the components, one might encounter missing connections beneath, hence some back tracking is necessary. The traffic light with speaker ensemble would be the most challenging. Still, there were challengers for this set.

The participants: is more challenging than it looks, help!

Aside from that, there were simpler sets, such as “flying saucer” (propeller to be exact). This set allows participants to play with it by launching the propeller vertically.

The flying saucer activity can be easy to assemble, but requires some knowledge in Physics in order to properly explain it. How can such Physics knowledge be applied? The ceiling fan, and even helicopters, are among those that utilizes such concepts to work.

Impact and Response
The activities particularly resonated with younger participants (ages 3-13), who showed enthusiastic engagement, demonstrating significant interest in space exploration among elementary-aged students. The international reach of the event was notable, with participation from students representing Australia, China, Japan, Korea, South Africa, and Poland.