Senior School News
Year 11 Physics
As part of our Yr 11 study of Thermodynamics we used the following concepts to create a simple steam engine; the Kinetic Particle Model of Atoms, Heat transfer and Evaporation. Controlling fast moving molecules and sending them in a specific direction allows us to move an object, in this case spin a can. This underpins the creation of a steam engine. We were able to convert Thermal energy to Kinetic energy to Strain Potential energy. This was an example of “Hero’s Engine”, the first type of steam engine constructed with simple modern day objects.
World Challenge India
We are two of the 12 students who embarked on a 4 week journey to India last year as part of World Challenge. We had been planning and saving for this adventure for a year and were all very eager to have an amazing time.
After packing the essentials we boarded a flight which would land us in Delhi, a major city in the north of India. Here we were able to explore some of the major sites and temples. It was our first experience of the culture which was a big shock to some of us. Having to be covered up and shoes off in temples, having your photos taken by random people who were fascinated with the white skin, to having traffic going in every direction. We soon left Delhi and headed for Nainital, a lovely city even further north. This was going to be where we stayed for the next week on our community phase.
Part of World Challenge is about giving back to remote communities and villages. As we settled in to Mountain Quail Camp, we began to understand the community projects we would be undertaking over the next 5 days. Each day we would walk 8 kms up and down hills to and from our village. On the first day we had to carry all the supplies from the top of steep farmland to the family's house we were going to be working at. This took great team work and planning as many of us had to do several trips which was exhausting. In the afternoon, we were able to visit the local school where we played games with the children and sang nursery rhymes with them. This was an amazing experience being able to interact with them and see the smiles on their faces. Our community project involved building a water harvesting system to enable the family to collect and use rain water. It involved making and installing guttering around their house. We also built an incinerator to enable them to burn their rubbish and cook on. These were both important aspects to enable this family to live more easily in their remote village. We also helped them out by working in the fields, picking peas during one afternoon.
The next phase of the trip was the trek. We headed to the start of the highly anticipated trek which took over 8 hours by jeep. None of us really fully understood the enormity of what was ahead. On day one we trekked 8kms uphill and gained 1km in altitude which meant we were close to 3000m above sea level. This was a hard day of walking, in fact many days were challenging. During the trek phase, we encountered many obstacles from sickness to snow to exhaustion to coldness. Waking up each morning to frozen tents and icy ground was a sight to see. We really started to appreciate the small things like chai tea and biscuits. As we ventured through the Himalayas, the views were spectacular, snow capped mountains with the sun shining off them, small little villages with people coming out to smile and wave, photos will never do it justice. After 9 days of tough walking and at times very testing conditions, we made it though the trek, something we are all very proud of as not many 16 year olds can say they have trekked the Himalayas.
It was now time to rest and relax. After a good night's sleep in a real bed rather than the tents we had been in for over 2 weeks, a somewhat warm shower and fresh clean clothes, we headed to Rishikesh. For many this was a chance to contact home as we had been offline for close to 15 days. During this time we rode in tuk tuks, went white water rafting, a highlight for many, shopped at markets, bought some crazy clothes and ate great food. We knew the hard part was over and it was time to really enjoy India. After a few days here, we caught a train back to Delhi which was an experience in itself. From here we were off to Agra and a chance to see the Taj Mahal and visit an elephant rescue sanctuary, which touched us all. The Taj was amazing, just as spectacular as you see in pictures, full of history and plenty of people taking selfies. Our final stop was Jaipur, the pink city. Once again we spent time visiting temples and learning about the Indian culture, shopping in markets to buy those last minute presents for our loved ones and trying out different and strange foods.
After 28 days in India we all had time to reflect on ourselves and the experience. We had all had to overcome adversity at times and persist through the tough times. We all thought about how lucky we were to live in Australia and have the opportunities that we do. We saw some amazing sites and experienced a completely different culture to what we know. We were pushed out of our comfort zones and put in situations we would never have imagined. There were plenty of laughs and funny times and it was well worth the journey, something we will always remember.
By Harvey Schmidt and Kirilly McDonald on behalf of the 2018 World Challenge India Group
