Lawson students’ fire awareness app gets national attention

Students from Our Lady of the Nativity Lawson will travel to Melbourne this month after their ‘Fight the Flames App’ project was selected as a finalist for the 2022 STEM MAD National Showcase.

Year 5 and 6 students Clodagh, Audrey and Polly developed the app, a real phone application designed to educate and prepare children for bushfires.

After more than 1,000,000 hectares were burnt during the devastating 2019–2020 bushfires, the students were concerned about this important issue facing the Blue Mountains community and wanted to do something to help the community be better prepared in the future.

Inspired to make a difference and educate more young people, they made it their mission to create an app that could both entertain and inform children about the importance and impacts of bushfires.

"In the Blue Mountains, we are very used to bushfires but as kids, we don't have the knowledge we need to be able to prepare for a bushfire or know what to do when actually faced with an emergency situation,” said the students. “This app has quizzes and games that contain the information needed and we hope kids will remember what to do when faced with a bushfire."

The students designed, developed and coded the app, even going as far as contacting the local NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) to visit the school and provide professional advice on bushfire information and prevention.

“They’ve done a really great job with the app. It’s very impressive,” said Colin Oxford, Lawson Rural Fire Brigade Captain.

It's a fun way of teaching everyone what to do in case of a fire. What to pack in your backpack and how to prepare your house in case of a fire. And also the lifesaving links are really important.

The RFS firefighters also gave the students some great advice on how they could improve their app.

“I would consider putting in a bush fire survival plan,” said Colin. “It's a plan to discuss with your family what to do in case of a fire. Preparing your house and your animals. Packing for your pets and making sure they're safe. Knowing the danger levels and keeping a list of important contact numbers in case there is a fire. Then you'll know who to call.”

“I am so proud of the team and their commitment to the project,” said Teacher and Librarian Maree Crawford. “The girls learnt how to code an app on MITAppinventor2 and spent so many hours working on their project. They collaborated together at school, during out of school hours and even during their holidays.”

Achieving national recognition is an added bonus with the girls heading to Melbourne in September as finalists for the 2022 STEM MAD National showcase which will be part of the National Catholic Education Commission conference.