SCIENCE WEEK: 15 -23 AUGUST
NATIONAL SCIENCE WEEK
National Science Week is a collection of events large and small staged by individuals and organisations that when, taken together, make up one of Australia’s largest festivals. The dates for National Science Week are 15 August to 23 August.
At McKinnon Secondary College, the students will participate in class competitions which involve demonstrations and problem solving. Year 8 students will be involved in Science Survivor and Year 9 Core students will complete the plank engineering challenge. All students are invited to create something useful out of a used plastic object in a sustainability competition.
Lunchtime activities include:
Monday 17/8
Bubbles in the Courtyard
Tuesday 18/8
Judging Plastic Creations in MERC
Wednesday 19/8
Rocket Firing on the oval
Year 7 Medieval Machine Judging in R11
Thursday 20/8
Meet and hold our stick insects and Ignis the lizard (Iggy for short) in T1
Friday 21/8
Snakes in the Lecture Theatre. (Coin donation to enter. Money to go to The Thin Green Line organisation)
Monday 24/8
The Great Science Quiz Part One
Tuesday 25/8
The Great Science Quiz Part Two
Other lunchtime activities include looking through the solar telescope and travelling into space with Oculus Rift. See the school’s Science Week website for more detail and information.
COMMUNITY/FAMILY EVENTS
Because Science Week is a national festival, many great events have been organised around Melbourne. All of the National Science Week events are advertised on the National Science Week web site. The Science Faculty at McKinnon is keen to suggest a couple of great local activities that families might enjoy.
MONASH UNIVERSITY
The School of Physics and Astronomy at Monash University is inviting everyone to participate in an Australia wide attempt at the Guinness World Record for the Most People Stargazing Across Multiple Sites in a Country. This attempt is lead by the The Mt. Stromlo Observatory.
The event at Monash will include guided stargazing, planetarium shows, and ‘ask an astronomer’ sessions. The event is free to attend, but in order to be counted towards the new World Record attempt you will need to bring a telescope or binoculars, or you can purchase a souvenir telescope for only $5.50 when you register.
When: Friday, 21 August, 2015
Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Where: Lemon scented lawn, just off the Sports Walk, Monash University Clayton campus
MESAC (Marine Education Science and Community Centre)
MESAC at Ricketts Points has a number of great events on to celebrate Science Week. Search ‘Under the lens at Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary’ to book for the following Science Week activities:
Several of Melbourne’s top marine academics will present a morning of great information about marine pests, marine national parks and the ecology of the Burrunan dolphin all in the context of Port Phillip Bay.
When: Saturday 15 August, 2015
Time: 9:30am to 12:30pm
Where:Beaumaris Yacht Club
From 1:30pm Marine Care Ricketts Point volunteers will lead costal foreshore and beach walks.
The next day, MESAC speakers will provide an insight into the history of the bay itself including the amazing pre-history of the local Beaumaris geology and fossils around 5.5 million years ago. The Aboriginal history of the use of the Bay will be explored.
When: Sunday 16 August, 2015
Time: 9:30am to 12:30pm
Where Beaumaris Yacht Club
Professor John Buckeridge will lead a 1:30pm fossil-history beach walk.
Therese Sweeney
Head of Science