Science

Heart Dissection

Last week, the Year 8 Science classes had the opportunity to perform a sheep’s heart dissection as part of their study of the Circulatory System.

This practical gave students a “hands-on” learning experience and provided a realistic view of the structure and function of the components of the heart and its related blood vessels.

Although a little cautious at first, students engaged in the heart dissection and became quite skilled at making incisions to expose the various structures of the heart. Here are some of their reflections:

“I liked the dissection because instead of just looking at a book at seeing pictures of the heart, we got to experience it first hand and actually see it, which helped us get a picture in our head of what it actually looked like. It was very educational”.   

                                                                 Isabella Zeeb

"It was captivating to learn about the muscle that never sleeps. The inside of the heart was fascinating to see how it works effortlessly, and how it keeps us alive”. 

                                                                     Denzil Latt

“The heart dissection was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I had fun seeing the real valves and arteries of the heart. It was nerve-racking at first, but once I had made my first cut on the heart, it was not so scary”.   

Ashton Ricafranca

“I think the prac was a good thing to learn about the heart, the valves, the main blood vessels and where the oxygenated blood and de-oxygenated blood is located. I think the prac was fun to do with our friends”. 

Michael Stoichev

 “One thing I loved about it was the real-life learning comparison. I personally am a visual learner and so this really helped me learn about the heart”.                              Meleina Zeeb

“It was incredible to think such a small and insignificant looking organ is so important for life”.                                             Nicholas Navarra   

“I do believe that this experiment was truly beneficial in our understanding of the heart, especially on its parts and functions”.    

Agna Aji

“Doing hands-on work of cutting and categorizing the sections of the heart strengthens your understanding and gets you to see for yourself that what you learn in class, comes into context”.                    Jia Chen

“It was interesting to learn about the parts of the heart, but it was even better to visualise the heart in real life”.                        Sarah Abood

“The heart dissection … got me more involved in a different aspect of Science which I now really enjoy”.               Marley Kago

Thanks go to Ms Nugent, our Laboratory Technician, for organising and preparing all the equipment, and to the Education Assistants for their help during the practical.

Ms  D Tersigni 

(Science Teacher)

Phases of the Moon

The Year 7 Sciences classes have been learning about the Moon. Many interesting facts have been discovered from the mysterious “man in the moon” and what the moon is made from. The best way to study the phases of the moon is by using oreo biscuits, where students carefully pull the biscuit halves apart and shape the icing to show the different phases of the moon. It was an educational and delicious learning experience!

Miss D Pisconeri 

(Science Teacher)