The Victorian Space Science Education Centre Excursion

The Victorian Space Science Education Centre (VSSEC) is a specialist STEM learning facility, one of six established by the Victorian State Government. Since its official opening in 2006, VSSEC has used the context of space to enhance the learning experiences in Mathematics, Science, Technology and Engineering for both teachers and students.

VSSEC is located in the grounds of Strathmore Secondary College. The spiral galaxy shaped building provides a stimulating environment which encourages students to be fully engaged in problem-solving and scenario-based learning.

Home - VSSEC

Year 12 Chemistry students took part in a whole day workshop at the Victorian Space Science Education Centre (VSSEC) recently. The focus of the workshop was to generate and analyse different vegetable oil-based biodiesels as potential alternatives to petrol diesel.  Our students explored how laboratory analysis and instrumentation techniques can be applied to organic compounds to identify and ensure the purity of various biodiesels generated. Though the workshop was quite intense, students were able to apply qualitative and quantitative tests to analyse these biodiesels.

Our Year 12 Biology students with teacher Mr Andrew Sivakumaran, visited the VSSEC. Below are several comments from the students on their experience.

Going to the VSSEC workshop was an amazing experience and a great opportunity. We were given the chance to use some high quality and very expensive instruments that we do not have access to at school. The whole experience was very interesting, and I learnt a lot of information for my upcoming SACs and exams.

Jess B.

A fantastic opportunity which allowed us to place into practice what we had learned in the classroom about Infrared Spectroscopy and Gas Chromatography.

It was also a chance for us to develop our lab and research skills and etiquette which will become helpful to us when working on our independent investigations’ poster.

The institute had very kind and helpful staff who were able to answer our questions and give advice regarding our future career choices.

Mansour B

The experience in the workshop gave me a better understanding of how this analysis is applied in real life.

The researchers at VSSEC explained the processes for us and help us get results.

The results we got helped us better understand the concept and theory.

We learned about proper lab etiquette.

Joy Al Deib

Being part of doing hands on experiments with the use of expensive machines is a privilege for us to experience.

Everything is fascinating and piqued our curiosity during the day. Maybe because I am a novice to this kind of environment, but each session went well, although there were some instances that were difficult and stressful, over all everything is worth spending time on.

Kenneth L

It was a great chance to learn more about how to make Biodiesel and to test out if my olive oil is a good source to generate biodiesel. This experiment has made me understand and learn many new things about the fuels we use in life and how they are made. Overall, we all got the best experience and outcome from this creative experiment.

Sozvin

The excursion to VSSEC was interesting and fun. With the activities that we di on that day. I gained more knowledge and also got to apply what I had learned in school.

Denise

Towards a Sustainable Future: An Exhibition Highlighting Science Skills at LNSC

The science exhibition on the last day of term 3 was a high note for the Year12s this year. Throughout the year, the Year 12 Biology and Chemistry students have been upskilling their science skills, and on the last Friday of term 3 they exhibited their science and communication skills in the form of oral and scientific poster presentations. 

Towards a sustainable future was the theme of the science exhibition where students displayed their independent research work into alternative biofuels and antimicrobial compounds. The chemistry students were able to transform everyday cooking oils into sustainable fuels and analyse these biodiesels with high-end scientific instruments that were kindly provided by the Victorian Space Science Education Centre (WSSEC). Additionally, the biology students were able to extract and analyse the effect of everyday herbs and spices for their anti-microbial properties, and these scientific investigations were conducted in collaboration with the Whittlesea Tech School (WTS). 

All the Year 12 students who took part in these investigations were able to present their research work at the science exhibition in a professional manner. The exhibition was open to students, staff and the wider community. Based on feedback received from parents and community leaders, all of them were very impressed by our students’ research and communication skills as well as their display of professionalism. As for our senior students, they all want to pursue carriers in science. Mission accomplished! 

Andrew Sivakumaran

Biology/Chemistry Teacher