Weird & Wonderful Science 

Science Week - August 11-15

Science Week Fun on Wednesday 13th was fabulously coordinated by our Lab Techs, Dorothy and Kylie.  At lunchtime, in the Science Discovery Centre, there was a buzz of activity with teachers sharing their love of all things Science. This year's theme was Decoding the Universe: Discovering the Unknown with Nature’s Hidden Language.

Students got to look at the patterns in leaves and observe the symmetry in fruits and vegetables by making colourful prints as paper placemats. They discovered a link between maths and science by finding the Fibonacci sequence and golden ratio in a range of flowers. The golden ratio, also known as the divine proportion, which is approximately 1.618 and is often found in nature and art as it is believed to create aesthetically pleasing compositions.  Leonardo da Vinci, the painter of the Mona Lisa, was fascinated by mathematics and the golden ratio and he used it to paint her facial features.

Students were also able to make models of DNA with licorice and marshmallows, and guess what DNA also completes turns that approximate this golden rule. Still, with the marshmallows, constellations were made of the night sky using kebab sticks and toothpicks. Thanks to the Lab Techs for organising everything, the teachers for sharing their passion for Science, and the students for joining in the fun.

Year 7 Reptile Encounters

On August 20th, Reptile Encounters spent the day at Killester in the Science Discovery Centre, running an Animal Classification session with each of the Year 7 Science classes. 

The animals on show were a stick insect, frog, frilled neck lizard, olive python, long necked tortoise, crocodile and a sugar glider. The students were all really engaged, asking many questions and enjoyed getting up close and personal, touching or holding the animals. 

Chloe, the presenter, spoke about the classification group each of the animals belonged to, some of their identifying features, and what trophic level they would be in a food web based on what they ate. She also spoke about the difference between vertebrate and invertebrate animals, ectotherms and endotherms. This is what we have been studying in Science this term, so hopefully classroom learning has been reinforced and the students have had a memorable hands on experience.  

Some student reflections and some of the things they learnt or found interesting are here:-

"This incursion was so much fun. All the animals were so interesting. I found the crocodile and the olive python really cool. I found out that the frilled neck lizard can frill out its neck, open their mouths and hiss and then run really fast at their target to scare things away. When I touched the snake it felt very different to what I thought, it's scales were silky smooth."  - Anastasia K.

"Encountering all the different animals: stick insect, sugar glider, frog and reptiles, was really cool. Personally, the sugar glider was my favourite because it looked so cute and felt so soft. I also liked the crocodile, olive python and the frilled neck lizard. I learned about classifying animals from kingdom to class and many new animal facts. For example, frogs can be omnivores and crocodiles are apex predators." - Uyen T.

"I found it interesting that all the different animals had different features. I learnt that a crocodile mother can carry her babies in her mouth to the water. I also learnt that it is a reptile at the top the food chain. The python had really smooth and scaley skin. The sugar glider was very cute and soft. It is a nocturnal mammal which means it likes to sleep in the day."  - Leneeka M.

"I learnt that the python will shed its skin fully at once and not in parts so that it ends up being as long as the snake’s length. My favourite animal was Freddo the frog. I

had the frog on my head and I could feel the frog’s padded feet on my scalp." - Sienna C

"I really enjoyed this incursion as I got to learn about lots of different animals and I got to hold a real snake. We could feel his muscles moving as we held him. I found it interesting that the olive python does not have venom, will grow to be up to six metres long and weigh nearly 20 kg. I learnt that the frilled neck lizard can run really fast on its back legs." - Nancy N.

"I learnt that pythons do not have venom but kill by using their muscles to suffocate their prey and then swallow them whole." - Jeannie U.

"I enjoyed holding the python and the frilled neck lizard. It was an amazing experience. The incursion was so much fun." - Tiffany T.