Year 7 News
Scientists in Schools
Did you know that micro organisms live almost everywhere? There are possibly more microorganisms on your hand right now than humans on earth. We even depend on some good microbes for our health (no microorganisms are not all bad!).
Dr. Cathy Wright came to MGC in Week Nine of Term Three with the Scientists in Schools program. She held a 70 minute session for all the Year Sevens, including myself, based on microbiology. She taught us many interesting facts about microorganisms and disease, using puns, captivating diagrams and videos which created quite the intriguing session for all the Year Sevens.
At the start of the lesson she explained to us her inspiring backstory. Microbiology had never really been of interest to her until much later at university when she switched courses and got her Ph.D. and Masters. Very impressive! She is now project manager for pharmaceutical medicine at CSL and, although she is currently not working with microorganisms, her knowledge of the subject was extremely thorough. Now, she is also part of the Scientists in Schools program.
Scientists in Schools is an organisation that tries to give students a different insight into science by linking scientists to schools that are currently studying a unit that links to their work.
During the lesson the 7s were taught all about viruses, Monera, Protista and fungi (year 7’s will also know that these are in order from smallest to largest) and a few other very-sciencey, impressive concepts. I have a feeling many parents were told very detailed recounts of things that we learned, like fighting diseases, and all the microorganisms that make up the human immune system.
A little later in the lesson we got to do some practical work ourselves. We were given cotton swabs and brushed them against anything dirty we found (I used mine in the inside of a garbage bin) before placing the grime off the swab and onto an agar plate inside a container (agar is like fish and chips to microbes). In a few weeks’ time we will check to see if anything has grown in our containers, this will show us if we got any interesting microbes on our cotton swabs.
The overall experience is one that I know the whole year level was grateful for. Cathy Wright was an inspiring teacher and the great thing about microbiology is that, in learning it, I think we also learned many valuable lessons about germs and avoiding sickness by doing things like washing our hands. Trust me when I say that, after seeing illustrations about green microorganisms with ugly faces and bad teeth, you won't see me sharing a drink bottle with someone else for a very, very long time!
Genevieve Campbell, 7R1
Reptile Incursion
On the 18th of August some staff from the Melbourne Zoo visited MGC’s year 7s. They brought with them interesting, eye-catching reptiles such as 3m long snakes, large insects and snapping baby crocs.
The incursion was based on some of the work the 7s have been doing in their Physical World classes. The 7s had the chance to engage with the reptiles by patting and holding them. A very popular one that was held was a snake called Tiny. Tiny was in fact not tiny at all, he was a 3m long snake (shown in the picture below). Another reptile was a crocodile about 2m long. It had not yet reached its largest size as it was only a baby. The overall experience was exciting and enlightening for all the girls.
Marisa Vallejos