Science News

Year 7 investigating simple machines by making Catapults

Year 7 have been learning about Forces and Simple Machines this term and which act as Force or Speed Multipliers. 

How many are you familiar with? 

As part of their final assessment, they were tasked with designing a catapult that would launch a marshmallow the furthest distance by changing a particular variable, testing the catapult, analysing the data along with building and testing an improved version. 

Initial suggestions for the variable they could change were:

• changing the height of the fulcrum, 
• changing the length of the effort arm, 
• using more elastic bands to store a larger quantity of elastic potential energy,  
• changing the effort applied at launch, 
• changing the size/mass of the projectile (marshmallow).

After testing, these were the results of some of the more successful groups. Can you identify which variable had the largest effect? Check out the photos. Are all designs equal?

All students should be congratulated on their creativity, tenacity and engagement shown throughout the task. Well done!

Marc Lewandowski

Chemistry and Science Teacher

Science Week at GEC – The Case Is Closed!

Science Week brought mystery, competition and plenty of scientific thinking to Glen Eira College this year. Students across the College had the opportunity to take part in our Science Week quizzes, while the whole-school GEC Cluedo Investigation had students examining evidence, questioning suspects and developing some very creative theories about what had happened to Ms Allan.

The GEC Cluedo Investigation

The mystery began with Ms Allan being discovered dazed and confused following an unexplained incident. Where had it happened? What had caused it? And, in true Cluedo fashion, who was responsible?

New evidence was released throughout the week. Students examined photographs from the scene, witness statements, an overturned stool, mysterious documents, scientific equipment, a blue equipment tub and, increasingly suspiciously, traces of Oobleck.

Some clues proved very useful. Others sent our investigators in entirely the wrong direction.

After a week of theories, accusations and scientific detective work, the case could finally be closed.

The solution

It was Ms Hunt...in Room 5...with the Oobleck!

Fortunately, the truth was considerably less sinister than a traditional game of Cluedo.

Ms Hunt had been preparing a Science Week demonstration investigating the effect of sound vibrations on Oobleck, a non-Newtonian fluid. Following a trial of the demonstration, some Oobleck remained on the floor. Ms Allan later entered Room 5, slipped on the residue and fell, creating the confusing scene that our investigators spent the week trying to unravel.

The clues had been there all along: the Oobleck, the sound equipment, the blue equipment tub, the connection to 8B, the demonstration notes and the residue found on Ms Allan's shoe.

Some impressive detective work

The final entries ranged from carefully constructed scientific explanations to some wonderfully imaginative alternative theories.

Rhea Madhu (Year 8) produced an exceptionally detailed investigation, closely examining the physical evidence and noticing that the design on Ms Allan's shoes lined up with the marks in the Oobleck. Rhea used the shape of the marks to argue that someone had stepped into the spill before slipping backwards.

Daisy Hopkins (Year 7) successfully uncovered both the culprit and the science behind the mystery, concluding that “Ms Hunt was working on an experiment to test how sound vibrations affected a non-Newtonian fluid. In this case, oobleck.” Daisy then connected the speaker, amplifier and other evidence to the demonstration and subsequent spill.

There was also some excellent scientific reasoning from students who did not necessarily arrive at the correct suspect. Tengyi Bian (Year 8) carefully cross-referenced the demonstration notes with the equipment booking information, recognising that the speaker, amplifier and plastic tray provided important corroborating evidence. Mimi (Year 7) reconstructed much of the sequence of events, including the demonstration, incomplete clean-up and fall, while Thalia Michaelidis (Year 7) made strong connections between the sound equipment, Oobleck and physical evidence from the scene.

Not every investigation followed the same path. Our Most Entertaining Theory finalists found ways to incorporate everything from amplifiers and sudden noises to elephant toothpaste, trip hazards and attempts to conceal evidence. Some of our suspects may have been relieved when the actual solution was finally revealed!

GEC Cluedo Investigation Awards

Congratulations also to Michael Davey (Year 12) and Asher D'Costa (Year 7), our Lucky Detective prize winners.

Congratulations to everyone who submitted an investigation. Solving the case required students to distinguish useful evidence from red herrings, make connections between clues and use scientific reasoning to decide which explanation best fitted the evidence.

Science Week Quiz Challenge

The Cluedo investigation wasn't the only opportunity to get involved during Science Week. Students also put their scientific knowledge to the test in our Science Week Quiz Challenge, with competitions running across Years 7–10 and Year 12.

Congratulations to our quiz placegetters:

Well done to all of our quiz participants and congratulations to our placegetters. It was great to see students from across the College getting involved and putting their scientific knowledge to the test.

Thank you

Thank you to all the students who participated and to the staff who supported the activities throughout the week. Science Week provided a great opportunity for students to engage with science beyond their regular classroom activities — observing carefully, asking questions, solving problems and following evidence, even when that evidence involved a suspicious blue equipment tub and Oobleck on the floor.

A special thank you must go to GEC's wonderful Laboratory Technician, Jess Wiltshire, who came up with the idea for the Cluedo mystery and helped bring it to life throughout Science Week. Thank you, Jess, for all the effort, creativity and inspiration that went into creating such an engaging activity for our students.

A special thank you also goes to Penny Marks in the office, who helped keep the mystery unfolding by posting the new clues and evidence to Compass each day. Thank you, Penny, for your help throughout the week and for making sure our detectives received their daily evidence.

Thank you also to Ms Allan for being such a good sport and volunteering to be our mystery victim. The investigation certainly wouldn't have been quite the same without her!

And finally, thank you to Ms Hunt for being such a good sport about being named our mystery perpetrator. In keeping with the spirit of the investigation, Ms Hunt herself didn't know she was responsible until the final day of the mystery. She was finding out where the evidence led at much the same time as everyone else!

Given the detective work, discussion and imaginative theories the investigation generated this year, we are hoping the GEC Cluedo Investigation will become an annual Science Week event. We are already looking forward to next year's mystery!

Erik Van Weeghel: Science Learning Area Leader

Jess Wiltshire: Lab Technician