Science

Communicating with the Specialist Team

We look forward to partnering with you in 2025, and welcome your input:

Hayley Oliver (Science)  Hayley.Oliver@education.vic.gov.au

Year One and Two Learning

I cannot believe how much we have achieved in the Science classroom over the past couple of weeks. It has been busy, busy, busy and it is a real credit to the students’ passion, dedication and persistence to get as much done as we have. 

We asked the question “What happens when you mix things up?” The students then worked their way through an investigation with lots of predictions and observations as they made a class set of gluten-free playdough. This was so much messy fun! 

Students have also been learning about Australia’s First Nation Peoples and how they used and use the materials from the natural world around us, to create utensils to assist in food preparation, hunting, gathering and their daily lives. The students learnt that a common way for Australia’s First Nation Peoples to make baskets and bags is to weave using plant fibre made from their local plants. The students then had a go at doing some paper weaving. This will hopefully then be turned into a basket!

Year Three/Four Learning

The Year Three/Four students have been asking the question “How do you decide which material to use?” We started this unit off with playing a game of material eye spy. We then learnt about materials and their properties and the language we can use to describe certain materials. The students did this by using some water and a pipette to test which materials are waterproof and which ones are absorbent. They then used some other descriptive words to talk about the properties of their material without giving away what the material is. 

We have also been looking at what happens once a particular object has finished its job. In the coming weeks, the Year Three and Four students will be using an object they brought in, repurpose it into something else suitable for the material it is made from, and give it a new purpose. The students will draw and label a few designs and then create their design. 

Year Five/Six Learning

The Year Five/Six students have been learning about the different states of matter and more specifically their properties. They have been able to classify each matter and then have learnt what the particles of solids, liquids and gases look like. 

We have then tested the question “Can you pour solid matter?” The students had a range of solid materials, from pencils and paperclips to cotton wool balls and sand. They had to try and pour them from one cup to another and predict what would happen. 

This week the students investigated the question “Can solid matter always be seen?” The students looked at some sugar with their naked eye and then used a magnifying glass to draw what the sugar granules looked like magnified. They then dissolved the sugar in warm water and predicted whether or not the sugar was still a solid. Once they tasted the sugary water, they decided that the sugar was still there, but perhaps too small to be seen. They then added some lemon into their cup and enjoyed finishing the investigation with some home made lemonade. A HUGE thank you to the students and families who provided us with lemons for this lesson. 

Butterfly Update

Our beautiful butterfly emerged! We were lucky enough that it emerged during school hours, although sadly when it came out, nobody was in the room. It was such an exciting experience to see the chrysalis change from green to black and to be able to meet the beautiful butterfly that was living inside!