STSS

As always, it has been a very busy few weeks in STSS across the school, as students have continued their learning in the Chemical Science domain.

Foundation - Year 2

Our junior students have been learning how materials can be physically changed by different actions such bending, twisting, stretching, crushing, squashing and breaking into smaller pieces, without changing what it is made of. They have also been exploring why different parts of everyday objects such as toys and clothes are made from different materials. Students combined this learning along with their learning in the Design Technology curriculum to make creations such as koala paper plate face masks and pipe cleaner snails.

In Digital Technology, the students learnt about algorithms and how computers use them to make decisions. They then practiced their coding skills by engaging in tasks on Scratch Jnr using their iPads.

Year 3 & 4

The middle school students have been learning about the properties of different natural and manufactured materials, such as fibres, metals, glass, and plastics—and how these properties affect the way materials can be used and re-used.

Using this knowledge, along with the Design Technology curriculum, the students began a project to create their own toy. Their toy needed to meet specific design criteria, including the requirement to use a material with elastic properties. Over several weeks, the students designed and crafted their toys using both new and recycled materials, choosing each material carefully to make sure it suited the purpose of their toy.

In Digital Technology, the students also worked on their coding skills through a self-paced Grok Academy course called Monster Maker. In this course, they wrote code to create a monster that matched a given description.

Year 5 & 6

The senior students’ learning in Chemical science this term has involved learning about how changes to substances may be reversible or irreversible.  We explored places in our homes where we may see these kinds of changes, such as in the kitchen and they participated in an experiment where they tested various solutions for their effectiveness in preventing an apple browning. The students learnt that the browning of a cut apple is due to oxidation - an irreversible chemical reaction due to exposure to oxygen. 

During the past few weeks, the students have been learning about product packaging and their impacts on the environment. They have also learnt about the effects of E-waste on the environment. This saw the students begin a group project which incorporated the Digital & Design Technology curriculums, to research a current product’s packaging (eg, coffee cups) and look for alternative materials that were kinder to the environment and could be recycled.

Fun fact: Take away coffee cups are NOT recyclable! Most paper coffee cups are lined with a thin layer of plastic to make them waterproof. This makes them a mix of materials, which most local recycling facilities cannot separate and process.

Recent estimates indicate that Australians use approximately 1.8 billion single-use coffee cups each year!  This is enough to fill the MCG in 2 years. 

You can help the environment by taking your own reusable cup to the coffee shop.

Chantel Prince,

On behalf of the STSS Team.

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