Junior School

Year 7 Camp: Camp Weekaway

Written by Laura and Mia, Year 7

Last week the year sevens went on camp to “Camp Week away”, in Benloch. We went from Wednesday to Friday and stayed for two nights. 

We had to arrive to school at 8:30 in the morning to get onto the bus at 9. When we arrived, everyone was exhausted from sitting on the bus for a good 2 hours. We went on walk around the camp on a tour to go and stretch our legs, and when we got back, we were so excited to find out who was in our cabins. There were three big blocks filled with cabins. 

The first one, the kangaroo lodge (the one that me and Chelsea stayed in), the second one, the eagles’ nest and the third one, the cottage. After we got settled into our cabins (that we didn’t want to leave because we were so tired), we found out our activity groups who we would be spending the majority of camp with. 

The first activity my group did was hut building. We went up onto a hill and had to gather all these branches and wood to make a waterproof, wind proof and safe proof hut. 

Then we did the flying fox which was a huge and high zipline and everyone got a turn about three times. The first night we went onto a night walk, and everyone was scared because the teachers were telling a true story that happened in the area, and but everyone just ended up mucking around having lots of fun. 

The next day we woke up bright and early and got straight into our activities. Our first activity was yabbying, which sadly we caught no yabbies, but we ended up finding so many tadpoles and made an aquarium! Then we had initiative activities, which were a bunch of teamwork activities (e.g., climbing through a spider web without touching the ropes).

Next, we had laser tag. This was one of my favourite activities and it was so different doing it outside in the bush, but that’s what made it even more fun, and I even ended up winning the last man standing! Our last activity of the day was the maze. The maze was a huge maze and you had to split up into groups and find all these codes and flags. 

After we finished all our activities, we all got free time out in the big grass area, and all kicked the footy and ran around. We had dinner, which was surprisingly super yum, and then we played this huge game called “Sit on ball”. It was including all the year sevens and we got to go into the middle and tackle each other to try and get the ball. We got to see all the teachers get involved as well, which was hilarious.

They next day was our last day with our last activities. We had to get up bright and early in the morning to go straight to canoeing. We got to capsize all of group members (knocking them into the water) and even though it was super cold, it was one of my favourite activities. Then we had reflection time as our very last activity. We got to reflect on camp and talk about our goals in life (B.H.A.G). By this time everyone was exhausted, and we got to get on the bus and go home. Even though I missed home and my family so much, year seven camp was one of my favourite memories that has happened. I will definitely be looking back on it when I am in year 12 and I am so glad I got to be in a year level with all these great people.

Mr Gardiner has put together a Year 7 Camp Weekaway video for you to enjoy!

Year 7 Science: Choc Chip Mining

As part of our unit on precious resources, we explored the impact of coal mining on the environment by using chocolate chip cookies. The cookies were the mines and, using skewers, the choc chips were the coal resources mined. 

Students calculated the area of the cookie mine, the amount of crumbs created and the number of chocolate chips removed. We then considered what natural resources were impacted by the mining operation and debated if mining was worth all the damage to the environment for so few 'chips' of valuable coal.  

The students realised that most of the grid paper was covered in crumbs and only a small portion of coal was removed, but that we still need coal to power our lives.  

However, the part they loved the most was eating the extra chocolate chip cookies!

Kirsty Siu

CRT

Year 8 Rube Goldberg experiments

Written by Sarah W., 8E student

This term in Design Tech, 8C and 8E have been designing and building their own Rube Goldberg machines under the guidance of teacher Mr Iape and Ms Siu.

A Rube Goldberg machine is a contraption deliberately over-engineered to perform a simple task through a series of chain reactions. 

Students got into groups of two to five and shared their ideas for their machines. The projects feature eight or more different stages, for example pendulums, pulleys, and levers. The class used available resources such as cardboard, wood, saws, retractable knives, glue guns, and a variety of other materials to create their machines. 

Student Milly R. says she has had “so much fun” during this project.

I now know all about energy transfers, and how to work cooperatively with a team. I also learnt how to safely operate a retractable knife, a glue gun, a chisel, and a saw to create a functioning obstacle for my machine.

Student Kevin Z. agrees that this has been a fun project, because of the hands-on approach. 

I learnt how to use a range of different tools and materials and worked well within a team to create eight stages. I liked this project because it was something different from other subjects. It was more practical and hands-on, as opposed to other subjects such as English in which we just sit and write. This approach has made the subject interesting and engaging.

It seems that the students have had lots of fun creating their machines, while also exploring design principles and elements alongside scientific concepts.