Science

Each month, one faculty at Marian, provides a scrumptious lunch for the staff to celebrate our collective birthdays. It's a lovely community lunch where the spirits are high and the food is fantastic.  This month of August, the science staff provided the feast and we celebrated and enjoyed the colour, nutrition and the taste of many different foods including vegan, cultural delights, gluten free and the good old Australian staple, the pie. 

This coming week we farewell Mrs McIntosh. She has given many years in the Laboratory, supporting both teachers and students. We are very fortunate to have had her expertise and company and we wish her all the very best as she finds new and exciting interests.

The Year 12 students are nearly ready to come back into the classroom after their trial exams. They will receive feedback from their marks and their teachers on how they can move through the next several weeks on a leadup to their final challenge, the HSC exams.  So far, so good.

Year 10 students are improving their knowledge and skills on acids and bases so they can complete their practical assessment task on “Potions”. They will use some magic to identify the chemicals and decide on the products of studied reactions.

Year 9 students are heading into organic chemistry and they will complete an assessment on “Sensory Science”. They will have an introduction to esters which are the organic molecules that provide the sweet smells and characteristic odours of fruit, perfumes and other recognisable substances such as shampoo. They will learn the skills and numeracy of making standards of a given concentration and will train their sense of smell to recognise the unknown concentration of an ester solution.

Year 8 students are about to also embark on some chemistry learning, with polymers being a focus.  They have been covering the body systems in the human body which is a difficult study because these systems work together and are so complicated, while being awesome. They have demanding vocabulary, with both spelling and function, needing a lot of study. I am sure they will find the polymer experiments both fun and relevant. 

Year 7 students are completing their introduction to classifying living organisms and they will now learn how to use the microscope and look into different cells. Their assessment task will be on this learning to show that they appreciate tiny organisms and just because we don’t see things, doesn't mean that they are not there. The microscopic world is an amazing and exciting realm that the Year 7 students now have had a little glimpse into. 

All students of science at Marian, have lots to learn and enjoy. Hopefully, they can see their world with awe and wonder!

Keep your eye on the flowering pear trees around the perimeter of the campus as the bees work their magic and the blossoms lift out spirits. Have a wonderful weekend.

Best wishes

Esther Dumbleton (Science Leader of Learning)