Spotlight on Learning

Students in Rooms 10 and 11 started our Science learning this term with a visit to Hamilton College’s Space Academy.   

We zoomed around our solar system in the planetarium visiting first the sun and then each of its orbiting gas and terrestrial planets. In minutes we explored Saturn and its rings, the heat of Venus and the freezing temperatures of Neptune and Uranus.  

When we came back to Earth, we had a short recess break and then began our Mission to Mars.  

We were divided into 2 teams and got kitted up with NASA overalls. Some of us were able to carry the Australian as well as the USA flags on our uniforms.  We became either members of Mission Control or astronauts on the Mars surface. Using our breathing apparatus and headphones in our helmets we completed tasks such as collecting rock samples and recording their radioactivity. We also located evidence of water existing on Mars's surface at some time in the past. Mission control directed our missions to the correct place on the surface, monitored changes in temperature, and in the end, evacuated us before a dust storm hit our location. We made it back into the shuttle just in time!  

For the rest of the term, we will continue to explore the space industry in South Australia and how space science impacts our everyday life.  

Check out some of our videos from the day below.

Sue Sifa 

Deputy Principal / Science Teacher