How can I tell my teacher about the competition so we can do it as a class?
Send your teacher to this website, or tell them to search ‘Snowy Hydro’s Powering Up the Future competition’! Let them know that there are resources they can use to help them do this as a class project.

Why do I need to get my guardian’s permission?
Entries will be posted on our website for community voting for the community choice prizes. Without your guardian’s permission, we will not add your entry to the website. If your guardian does not give permission, that’s okay! You are still eligible for the Judges Choice prize.

Me and my best friend want to enter together. Can we just submit one entry?
The prizes are awarded to an individual student. You and your best friend can still brainstorm ideas together and help one another to put together your entry, but you should submit one entry each.

What category am I supposed to enter?
The Junior category is from ages 8-12 and the Senior category is from ages 13+. You must be enrolled in an Australian school based education to be eligible This is your age as of the submission close date.

My school isn’t doing the competition in class, can I still enter?
Absolutely you can! You could even let your teacher know that the competition is happening and they might be able to introduce the competition to the class!

I’m a guardian of a student that wants to enter the competition. Why do I need to give permission?
The permission we ask of you is for displaying your child’s work. Entries will be posted on our website for community voting for the community choice prizes. Without this permission, we will not add their entry to the website and they will only be eligible for the Judges Choice prize

I’m a teacher, can my whole class enter?
Of course! Each student will need to submit an individual entry as the prizes are catered to individual students. You can either ask students to do the submission, or you can do it on their behalf.
Plus! The more entries from your school, the more opportunities to win the school prizes.
We have AC v9 aligned resources from years 3 – 10 (but year 11s and 12s are also encouraged to enter) to help you get your students started.

Are there any resources I can use to help introduce this competition to my class?
We have AC v9 aligned resources from years 3 – 10 (but year 11s and 12s are also encouraged to enter) to help you get your students started. The resources page has resources available to download and access these.

If my class does this as a project, can I submit their entries on their behalf?
You can! Ensure you have adequate permissions from the students’ guardians to submit the entry on their behalf as entries that give permission will be posted on our website for community voting for the community choice prizes. Without this permission, we will not add their entry to the website and they will only be eligible for the Judges Choice prize.

Is there an easy way to submit my whole class’ entries at once?
Of course! To make this easiest, we suggest you collect the entries in a sharable cloud folder as students send their entries to you.
This year there will be a ‘Submit my entry’ and a ‘Submit entries for your whole class’ option.
You’ll only need to fill out the form sections that apply to your whole class once.
Then, upload the class list of the submissions (find this template in the teacher resources) as a .xlsx file.
Finally, provide us a link to a dropbox, google drive, OneDrive or other cloud folder with all of your students’ named entries. Ensure that the folder can be accessed by snowystemacademy@snowyhydro.com.au.
More detailed instructions are found within the downloadable Teacher resources folder found on the resources page.

• Check that you’ve used the planning documents available on our resources page to help you plan your presentation of your idea

• Plan your storyline using the storyboard planning document. This will help you check that your ideas flow and that your explanation makes sense.
  • Remember, the person viewing your entry doesn’t have all of the background research you’ve done and won’t have you there to answer questions!
  • Make sure you start your idea from the problem and why it needs to be solved, then take it from there!

• Plan where you will film.
  • Will it all be in one spot?
  • Be clear on what you need to film at each place so that you don’t forget to say something and have to go back and set up again.
• Think about your background and lighting
  • Is your background reasonably neutral?
  • Is there any mess in the background that you should clean up so that you look like a professional Snowy Hydro futurist? (I know! we hate cleaning our rooms too!! But trust us on this one.)
  • Are you well lit? Can we see your expressive face and your invention? You might need to close a blind, turn off overhead lights, or move a lamp to in front of you so that we can see you.
• Look for feedback before you get too far into filming or writing
  • Getting feedback at many stages is part of the Scientific and Engineering process
  • Ask your favourite colleagues; your friends, teacher, family or other favourite humans, for their feedback or questions about your invention early on.

• Practice your script a few times before you film.
• It can be useful to just use dot points for your script so you don’t sound like you’re reading a script.
• Remember, you’re the expert on your idea! You know it best and are the best person to explain it.
• Practice adding in some movements, hand gestures or use of props.
• Practice filming a few times, take a look back and give yourself some feedback. You can also take a look at the winning entries from last year to see how they communicated their idea.
• Practice in front of some people you trust or your pets to get some confidence and feedback! Remember, people who love you want to see you improve so their feedback is to make you better.
  • Note: we don’t recommend you only practice in front of your dog. They already think you are absolutely perfect the way you are… and they also can’t talk to give you feedback.

As they say, ‘A picture is worth 1000 words’. This goes for props too!

• Using props, a poster or a picture can help you get your ideas across more easily.
• Practice using the prop or pointing to what you need on your diagram
• If you are filming a poster or diagram, make sure you can read the labels in the video.
• You might like to add the poster in after filming and then record your voice over the top.

• Make sure your final entry explanation video is between 1-2 minutes.
• Test that your voice is clear and loud enough early on in filming.
• Make sure that every time you move your camera the lighting and sound is recording well.
• Minimise background noise and distractions in your video
• Avoid shaky movements. You might like to prop your camera on something solid rather than having someone hold it.
• Practice speaking clearly and at a normal pace.