Year seven and eight students from 40 South Australian schools are sciencing-up their school holidays in an Australian-first.
The students, aged between 11 and 14, are taking part in a trial youth camp that builds on the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF) for year 12 students.
That particular program has been running successfully for 35 years.
Organisers of the debut NSYF STEM Explorer program want to expose younger minds to the different avenues of science and spark their ongoing interest with a range of hands-on activities.
For 12-year-old Sabastian Skvaridlo, an interest in animal and human biology is what drove him to give up a week of his holidays and take part.
"I wasn't really doing anything apart from sitting on the couch and watching television during the holidays, so it was exciting to come here," he said.
"I didn't expect so much of life to be STEM; nearly everything we do is STEM-related."
Sebastian is one of 88 students from around the state spending this week exploring STEM at Mylor in the Adelaide Hills.
"This program is a first for this age group," NYSF chief executive Damien Pearce said.
"The idea of the program is to encourage and enthuse young people to consider science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers."
Students will visit research centres and meet with leading scientists, engineers and technologists as part of the program.
The SA Museum, South Australian Aquatic Sciences, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute labs and several universities will also host events for the students during the week.
