Science News

The final day is here for Term 3. The new syllabus has shown itself to be full of science and it has been a challenge to complete the term’s work.

Some Year 10 students had an activity where they were introduced to the Trilobite, an arthropod that lived 540 million years ago in the ocean. When I was a Year 10 student, I found ¼ of a trilobite fossil at Yass. This is evidence that in those times in the Earth’s history, the ocean and the beaches were at Yass, not as they are now at Sydney. This is evidence that the Australian coastline has changed over time, the ecosystems and the organisms have had to adapt to changing environments. Other evidence is the limestone caves at Oberon.

Limestone is made at the bottom of the ocean from the bones of oceanic skeletons after fish and other organisms die and drop to the ocean floor. It is an interesting tale with lots of wonderful evidence to explore. Students also looked at the MegaFauna that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders lived with and faced the dangers that they posed. Procoptodon, the Kangaroo ancestor, was a massive animal and many MegaFauna were extremely dangerous.

The Year 9 have been exploring chemistry and finished the term looking at polymers. Mrs Fletcher’s year 9 class buried some polymers in the back garden to see if they were biodegradable. They will keep an eye on them for the remainder of the year.

Year 8 study Chemical Changes next term after looking at chemical concepts and polymers this term. They will also prepare for a semester assessment which will examine their scientific learning and understanding from the study they have completed in this semester.

Year 7 have finished their study of cells and classification and will complete the study for the year, looking at solutions and techniques used to separate mixtures. They have had some exciting learning experiences.

We are very sad to farewell our wonderful Year 12 young adults and we pray that they keep studying and achieve the results they need for the next chapter, with a focus on work and career and being happy.

The Year 11 students return as the Year 12 students for 2026. Teachers are preparing for great learning experiences to continue to build their brains while marking their exams. It may be a two week break, but a Teacher’s work is never done!

The fruit fly larvae are just preparing to come out of the ground when it is 30°C. They will cause havoc for fruit as they continue to complete their life cycle. It's our sign that hot days are ahead. I wish you every joy over the break. Podcasts and audio books are a great way to relax the body while enjoying a story.