WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING (2 of 2)
STAFF VS STUDENT GAME
BY FRANCIS BEST (YEAR 7 COORDINATOR)
With the buzz of the World Cup slowly starting to settle down, another fierce rivalry was continuing to build: the staff vs Year 12 students soccer match. The Year 12 group had been diligently practising, planning and preparing for the monumental feat of ending the teacher’s streak of sporting dominance, and the hard work paid off with a 3-1 victory against the staff team.
Well done, Year 12s!
VCE BIOLOGY STUDENTS TAKE THEIR LEARNING BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
BY ANNIE RAJULU (SCIENCE TEACHER)
Our VCE Biology students recently had the wonderful opportunity to take their learning beyond the classroom through a hands-on workshop at the School of Biological Science sat the University of Melbourne.
The workshop was closely connected to the VCE Biology curriculum, particularly Unit 4,
Area of Study 1, and gave students the opportunity to investigate how the body responds to an infectious disease outbreak using an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA).
This practical investigation allowed students to apply their understanding of immunology and explore how scientists detect and investigate infectious diseases.
Students also explored evolutionary biology through an investigation involving the fruit fly,
Drosophila melanogaster. They examined how a mutation can affect the fitness of an organism and how this can lead to changes in phenotypic and allele frequencies over time.
While the students had mixed feelings about the workshop at the beginning, their opinions certainly changed by the end of the day! Many commented that they thoroughly enjoyed the experience because of its hands-on nature and the opportunity to work with scientific equipment and techniques used in real research.
Experiences such as these are particularly valuable because some of the practical investigations undertaken at university level are difficult to replicate at school due to the specialised equipment and significant cost of materials required. Through this workshop, our students were able to experience authentic scientific investigations and develop practical skills while connecting the concepts they learn in the classroom to real-world biological research.
It was wonderful to see our students engaging with science in a different environment, developing their practical skills and gaining a deeper appreciation of the work carried out by scientists and researchers. We are grateful to the University of Melbourne’s School of Biological Sciences for providing our students with this valuable learning opportunity.
THE DAYS OF CREATION
BY KIRSTY MEESE (KINDER DIRECTOR)
This term in Kinder we are learning about the days of Creation, by learning about a day a week. We’re very excited to find out each week what God might of created on each day and there’s been much speculation if today’s the day that he created; people, cars, trees, trucks, cats, robots etc and it’s been such a privilege to see the pure excitement of our littlest learners as we unpack each day.
During week one, we learnt about darkness and light, by playing shadow guessing games, using the light box to build on and only painting with black or white paint on black or white paper. As we learnt about day two which was all about water, we drew on calligraphy scrolls, explored water painting (apologies the jumpers that might have gotten stained with our water spray paint).
In week three we learnt about land, plants and vegetation and, we were very blessed to have not one but two volcano experts join us. Our first expert was Mr Grace who told us all about Krakatoa, the largest sound in history from a volcano eruption, as well as showing us a volcano eruption experiment. We also had one of our Kinder parents join us, show us photos and tell us about the time that we walked along an active volcano and how the ground was very warm. We were also blessed that week to also have a “planting expert” join us (a Kinder parent) who explained how plants work and helped us plant a variety of seeds and flowers to grow at home.
This week we’ve been learning about day four and how God created the sun, moon and stars. We’ve been using our finger skills to cut out and decorate stars, playing with our hot (not really) yellow sun playdough, and learning about black holes and that Saturn has 293 moons.
Next week we begin learning about day five, before we take a short break to celebrate Kinder book week, and I can’t wait to see what their curiosity unfolds as we learn about all the different fish and birds that God has created. If you think that you might be a fish or bird expert and might like to join us, please let me know.