SCIENCE

A Great Year for Science

We have had a busy semester in Science with excursions, the Big Science Competition and the everyday buzz of science at Kew.

The laboratory prep area is constantly overflowing with trolleys laden with equipment and materials in preparation for lessons, where students build their scientific thinking skills doing experiments and investigations alongside the study of theory and models. We are so fortunate to have our dedicated lab support team led by Judy Finger, who make such a rich experience of science in the classroom possible.

Students have had the opportunity to attend a wealth of excursions chosen to enrich the curriculum. The Year 10 Forensic Science classes visited the Police Museum and the Year 10 Science for Life students went to Latrobe University for a special genetics workshop “Get into Genes”.

The Year 10 Earth and Space Science students experienced the wonders of IMAX and the Planetarium at Scienceworks. Year 12 Physics made their annual pilgrimage to Luna Park to experience the physics of vertical and horizontal circular motion.

The Year 12 Biology students investigated the immune system at the “Flu Attack” workshop at Latrobe University while the Year 11 Marine Studies Biology camp was a great success – despite the nerve-wracking last minute cancellation of one of the buses. The Year 11 Physics students visited Swinburne University of Technology to experience a 3D Astrotour and an introduction to gravitational waves at the OzGrav centre, as well as to visit cutting edge research facilities.

Year 11 female Physics students got up very early in March for a “Girls in Physics” breakfast at the Hawthorn Town Hall with 100 other female physics students and young women working in Physics-related fields or studying Physics at University. Breakfast was followed by a short, inspiring talk by Dr Sue Birtle, the chief scientist at the Bureau of Meteorology. The girls enjoyed the experience of being with so many other girls who are studying physics and speaking directly with women who are pursuing careers in physics.

Kew High School participated in the Big Science Competition, an international competition consisting of a 50 minute, 30 question multiple choice test for students from Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Of the 273 students from Year 7–10 who competed, four students achieved High Distinctions, meaning that that their score was in the top 5% of students. 26 achieved Distinctions (top 10 – 15%) and 49 achieved a Credit (top 25 – 30%). The questions are designed to test analytical thinking as well as science knowledge and a number of students commented on how much they had enjoyed the competition!

Science Club has begun at Kew. Happy lunch hours have been spent testing various hovercraft designs, exploring the “Yanny versus Laurel” phenomenon and more recently building batteries, following in the footsteps of the inventor of the battery, Alessandro Volta. The batteries have been a precursor to the “Keeping the Lights On” micro power-generation challenge, where students will design and build innovative power sources, such as batteries based on soil, that can power a set of fairy-lights. Next semester, Science Club will take place on Wednesday lunch times to enable a closer collaboration with the STEM cell. Some students are already thinking ahead about activities for Science Week in August next term.

2018 – a great year for science at Kew High School!

Barbara McKinnon

Head of Science