SCIENCE NEWS

A Busy Term in Science

Science Club

Science Club is a place for experimentation and inspiration. This terms activities have included using digital image analysis to count bacteria growing in a petri dish, building and tested boats powered by magnetohydrodynamics, creating layers of colour in a measuring cylinder and Halloween fun with dry ice. The year will conclude with using laser cutting and 3D printing to make Christmas decorations and growing crystal Christmas trees.

SharkWise Incursion November 29th by Mia Rocca in Year 7B

On Thursday 29th of November, the Year 7s had a guest speaker who talked to us about sharks features and how to be safe in shark prone waters.  Dr Travis Dutka from Latrobe University came in and shared his Sharkwise Presentation with us. Travis went over the topics of adaptations, habitats and safety around sharks. He brought along a Tiger Shark jaw, which many of us had the chance to see up close in our Science lessons. It was a very informative and educational presentation, and was interesting to see how sharks behave and the statistics of sharks around Australia.

WildAction Incursion

WildAction bought a wonderful menagerie of Australia wildlife to Kew High School to complement the Year 7 Classification and Ecology units. Highlights included the joey hopping around room 11 and the koala snuggling up to the presenter.

Professor Bunsen

The Year 9 students were entertained and inspired by Professor Bunsen’s exciting demonstrations using mostly ordinary household equipment and chemicals.

Year 11 Physics Exhibition Evening

Year 11 Physics includes a unit of study where students can choose from 12 different options, ranging from the physics of the stars to sport to music to the human body. Students really enjoy selecting their own topic and create a digital presentation accompanied by a hands-on demonstration. Highlights included the wind-tunnel with dry streamers to demonstrate air flow around different shaped aircraft and cars, the “carrot” recorder demonstrating resonance in an open pipe, the black-hole funnel showing the warping of space-time and the lie-detector based on human resistivity. The innovation and breadth is a great feature of the night, which is open to parents, students and members of the school community. The posters from the student extended experimental investigations were also on display, giving an insight into the diversity of topics accessible to the students.

Barbara Mckinnon

Science Coordinator