Science News

Students design and build compost bins

In Environmental Science in Term One, one of the classes was given the task to design a compost system that would be suitable for Nossal as we only had two small plastic compost bins. We are hoping to improve composting at Nossal but needed suitably sized bins to meet the needs of a whole school. Students surveyed and measured up the site, conducted research into existing compost systems and, in teams, designed a system that they believed would work for Nossal. The winning designs were by Amelia and Amy, and Shehanee, Kaveesha and Carley. In our first lesson for Term Two, the students all worked together with the help of lab technician, Chris Bramich, to construct a 3-compartment compost system. The NEST team is now working on setting up a roster of volunteers to take compostable waste to the bins on a daily basis and we are hoping to get the City of Casey to come out and run a Composting Workshop with interested students.

Ms Jessica Ball

Year 9 Environmental Science Teacher

Science by Osmosis

Every little kid dreams about being a scientist and performing cool experiments; and in Term 1, the Unit 3/4 Biology students got to fulfil their childhood dream! Their first assessment task of 2017 proved to be both an exciting and daunting one; they were to play scientists and design their own experiments! The students had to plan and perform an experiment, centred around the topic of osmosis, and present their findings in a scientific poster.

The students took their basis for the experiments on one they had previously performed, involving potato cubes and different concentrations of saline solutions. For their self-designed experiment, they were free to manipulate the independent variable of their choosing, and the cohort showed impressive creativity in choosing the element to be changed. Some chose to use glucose solutions instead of salt, some chose to investigate different sizes of cubes, and some chose to change the vegetables altogether! Whether it was potatoes the students were using, or carrots, strawberries, or bananas, they were provided with the best materials and equipment, thanks to Nossal’s wonderful lab technicians.

The experiment was fully directed and performed by the students, who cut their own vegetable/fruit cubes, measured and labelled every cube and beaker of solution, and recorded all data and observations. They went on to use this data to create a scientific poster to relate their findings. In making the poster, the students learnt the crucial skills of evaluating the flaws and errors in their experiments (there were a few!), and communicating information in a concise manner so as to make the poster visually appealing.

As hopeful future scientists, this experiment was not only an enjoyable glimpse into the life of a scientist, but also enjoyable and worthwhile practice for when we perform more important experiments in the future.

Khanh Nguyen

Year 11 student and 2017 Science Student Leader