STEM and Robotics

Congratulations to our Robotics Team that performed admirably in June's National First Robotics Competition held at Blackburn High School. 

Thank you to Emma Love, Adrian Metheringham and Tony Lahy who supported the ~20 students onsite throughout the tournament. 

There were 15 teams competing from Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia and the BHS Robotics Team placed fourth overall. 

This is an amazing achievement, and we are very proud of our students.  Considering they only started 18 months ago, while other teams have been participating for many years.

Biology

Recently, our Year 12 Biology students enjoyed learning new skills as they made use of brand-new gel electrophoresis chambers that have been acquired for the STEM centre.  

Gel electrophoresis is a tool used to separate strands of DNA based on their length. DNA is loaded into a gel and an electric current is applied to the gel. DNA that is smaller travels further through the gel compared to DNA that is larger. This way, DNA and genes from different organisms can be compared.   

Our Year 12 students used the gel electrophoresis chambers as part of their studies in evolution. They examined the physical structure of 8 lemurs and hypothesised whether they were one species or two distinct species. To test their hypotheses, they used the gel electrophoresis chambers to compare a segment of DNA from the lemurs. Along the way students learnt new skills, including how to use micropipettes to load the DNA into the gel and how to read the gel runs.  

This was a great way to finish the year for our Year 12 students and we wish them all the best with their upcoming exams! 

The Year 12 Biology team – Ms Ivkov and Dr Cutler

Old Orchard Primary School Science Workshop

On Wednesday afternoon, Grade 6 students from Old Orchard Primary School attended a science workshop facilitated by our Year 9 students. They were very excited to be in lab coats and safety goggles for their first time.  A wide range of experiments were conducted such as chromatography, microscopes, circuits and light boxes. The Year 9 students did an amazing job and enjoyed being little teachers for the session. 

A Special thanks to the Year 9 HAP class and other students who volunteered.