Mathematics

The year 7 students have had a tremendous start to mathematics in 2022. We have begun the year with a discussion on the importance of mathematics and the place of mathematics in the modern world.

Students began the term with an investigation into “Number”. The investigation led them to understand that for two quantities to be equal, they must be equal in total value. To develop their mental capacity, students have been learning different strategies to add and subtract. Some strategies that students have practiced are the commutative, associative, partitioning and compensation strategies. Together with the mental strategies, students developed their written strategies by using algorithms and expanded notation to solve addition and subtraction equations.

The Aces class is busy with setting personal goals after using “Essential Assessments” to evaluate their strengths and next steps. They have also reinforced their understanding of the commutative, associative and distributive laws. They are presently investigating base numbers, indices, squares and square roots. To expand their analysis and practice of answering word problems, students have been solving word problems regularly.

Students have personal timetables and have adapted well to the new routines in mathematics, having their textbooks and stationery ready for each lesson.

LOTE - Spanish

Recently in Spanish we have been learning lots of vocabulary for different family members and learning how to talk about our name, age and birthday. We’ve also started working on the steps for how to best undertake listening and reading comprehension activities, how to build and use the resources in our books, and how to be independent learners. Each of the classes has been set up with their Quizlet accounts and been shown how to use it to revise vocabulary. Hopefully our Year 7 students are on the path to using this as an independent, self-motivated tool for learning and revising vocabulary.

Science Program

It’s been a busy start to the Science program in 2022. Students have been enthusiastically participating in an introduction to Science, focusing on learning new vocabulary and how to safely operate all of our equipment in the new science lab.

Year 7 students have been working on Physics for our first unit of the year. It’s been wonderful to see students engaging with an open mind and taking on board new terminology. We have been working on forces and simple machines, the different types of forces and how to write up a lab report. At Saltwater we have been lucky enough to have the use of Lego Education BricQ Motion Prime for our Physics unit. This is a great resource that allows students to apply their Science inquiry skills and provides a hands on experience on how a change in an object’s motion occurs based on force and mass.

With the use of Lego BricQ we are inquiring into the science behind sports and how we can apply Newtons three laws of motion. It has presented our year 7’s with the opportunity to strengthen communication skills through collaborative discussions whilst analyse solutions to any problems they may encounter.

“Something exciting that I was looking forward to in Science was being involved in experiments. The ‘Go jump’ activity was fun. I recorded my jump in Mars and apparently, it was the highest jump recorded in my sheet due to the lack of gravitational pull on the planet. The objective was to measure gravity and to see how high our jump was in other planets around the universe. I am really looking forward to learning more about Physics in Mr Robinsons Science classes”.

By Hala Baker 7C

Robotics and Coding

This year, Saltwater College has partnered with CS in Schools, following the Introduction to Coding program developed by experts in computer science. Students are learning the Python programming language and are working towards coding their very own text based adventure game. In addition to the CS in Schools coding activities, students are able to build mbot2 robots, which they will also be able to code in coming weeks.

As well as learning how to code in an industry recognised language, students are building skills that are highly regarded in the workforce, such as collaboration and attention to detail.

CS in Schools strives to make learning at school relevant and connected to industry. If you or someone in your network is a computing professional and would like to volunteer in one of our classrooms, CS in Schools is actively recruiting volunteer computing professionals to support our school. You can learn more about volunteering at https://csinschools.com/volunteer/ and you can express interest at https://csinschools.com/apply/.

Visual Arts

Students in the Year 7 MYP Orange group MYP Art program have been in inquiring into:

Statement of inquiry: Exploring and creating with modelling materials helps us to understand 3D mediums and develop our skills.

Inquiry questions : How can modelling skills enable us to use similar mediums?

How is clay made and what are its purposes and function?

What is the history of ceramics and how has it changed over time?

Global context: Personal and Cultural expression

Learner profiles:

Open- Minded – to learning new skills and experimenting with materials

Thinkers –applying, mastering, and analysing the skills learn.

Risk taker: how do we apply knowledge to creatively solve problems we encounter during our project?

Students have been learning about sculpture and developing their modelling skills. They have consolidated and established their skills in modelling by designing and creating a coil pencil holder using modelling materials and clay. Students have inquired into the history of ceramics and are understanding the various stages of the clay drying and firing process. They are learning to be able to differentiate between scoring, slipping and blending and understand the role of ceramics in society. Students will be able to research the history of ceramics and how it has changed over time. They will be able to manage their time and use self-management skills during the various stages of their coil pot making process and will employ thinking skills to create a functional coil pot to hold their pencils. Students will then apply their knowledge of colour theory to paint their coil pot demonstrating colour harmony whilst using the various art elements and principles of design.

A NOTE FOR PARENTS

Dear parents,

Please encourage you children to check and view the School box Visual Arts page on a weekly basis . This will enable them to be prepared for their Art lessons where they will gain knowledge on the theory and history behind their craft and prepare them for the subsequent lesson in art class so we can maximise practical activity time. There may also be images of techniques and skills which can assist them with their understanding of their art unit which they can practise for homework and further their skill development. Thanks for your support and collaboration in your child's education.

https://ilearn.saltwatercollege.vic.edu.au/homepage/code/7VA3

A few of the video links are attached below:

https://www.slideshare.net/mszimmerartteacher/ceramics-vocabulary

https://youtu.be/E6CcYS7CEQw

https://youtu.be/UJYXK5WuOjg

https://youtu.be/dPNSjzWVU5c

https://youtu.be/415IUYIQ8Jw

Financial Literacy

Financial literacy is a new subject that we have introduced to the Year Seven elective program this year. In the first few weeks of the elective, students have explored how the concept of money has evolved over time while also exploring the link between employment and wages. We explored how the progressive tax system works in Australia while also discussing the fairness and distribution of tax dollars which contributes to our society. Over the last few weeks, students have also further developed their critical thinking and information literacy skills as they researched the cost of mortgage payments when compared to wages of their potential future employment opportunities. They also critically analysed the benefits of renting compared to owning a home. Here are some student reflections from financial literacy so far from term 1:

Vanessa Mocko

During Financial Literacy this year we have been exploring salaries and wages of jobs and calculating the taxes for them. We investigated mortgages, buying, and renting houses. We calculated the recommended 30% of our take home pay to look at the affordability for a house and I found out that I couldn’t afford to buy a house, so I investigated renting. During financial literacy I have learnt many new things that will hopefully help me in the future.

Violet Deering

During financial literacy I enjoyed calculating taxes, investigating mortgages, wages, buying and renting houses. The things l already knew about financial literacy were salaries and mortgages. We found websites that we could use to calculate what the taxes were from our jobs’ average wages. During this term, l have learnt and explored buying and renting houses, wages, and mortgages that will hopefully make my life easier in the future.

Frank Zhao

Financial literacy is one of the skills we will use when we are adults. This year Saltwater College offered this course as one of the elective subjects. Six weeks in, and we have learned about taxes and how to calculate them. We also learned about houses and comparing renting and buying along with which is the best option to choose in different situations. This week we explored what is simple and compound interests.

Dance

Year Seven students have embarked on and started a new challenge using a musical theatre song from the smash hit show Hamilton called “My Shot”. This is a song neither of the students have heard before or are familiar with, along with only a select few having heard of the show. We reflected back on the story line of the show and the creator of it briefly, and how he got started and created two amazing Broadway smash hit musicals and a movie from nothing. This was to also help give students insight as to what can be possible when all else seems impossible once you put your mind and focus to it. As I mentioned to students in class regarding opportunities or goals and how to make things happen…’don’t wait…create!’…it all starts with you.Using the selected song I have created and started a group routine with all the students explaining all the elements needed to make this a strong and successful performance. The group then has to work together to finish off the second half of the routine, combining their creative ideas, concepts, skills, and strengths to finish it off and make it happen. This also highlights teamwork, communication, and problem solving skills while everyone compromises to help reach the goals and tasks set out. As we continue this exercise it’s amazing to see how the students perceive the task at hand and collectively work out of their comfort zones to achieve what’s required. The finished product will then be performed to fellow Year 7 students once completed.

Visual Communications

Visual Communications 2022 has been introduced into the secondary sector with its own creative space consisting of a studio, classroom and print area. The new space provides students with limitless possibilities for creative and academic growth within the subject.

Year 7

The focus amongst year 7 students this semester will be that of camera control opposed to previously using the fully automated setting. This gives students the opportunity to semi control the outcome and decision making when crafting imagery. The semi automated controls such as Aperture Priority are tools that the student will utilise to manipulate the outcome of a concept presented to the viewer.

Students are required to hand up all work via computation sheets recording all relevant camera details and metadata . This, in time will prove to be crucial information when learning the corresponding relationship between aperture, shutter and quality (ISO).

Considering students are only doing the elective for a term duration, we have introduced software such as Adobe Bridge that is a browser for students to sort files and collate metadata.

Road Safety

Written by Michael Nicolaides