Science News - Inquiry Challenges the Mind!
Creating Futures Together
As the year comes to a close, the Science rooms have still been busy pushing the students to think outside their comfort zone.
Year 7 students have been exploring everything in space! Students have been looking at how rockets get off the ground and designing techniques with the bottle rockets. The students have been looking at different phases of the moon and how the sun, earth and moon all work together.
Year 8 students have been looking at making marshmallow catapults and creating a self-supporting bridge with no mechanical fasteners or adhesives based on one of Leonardo Da Vinci's designs. The students weaved the sticks together so that the tension between the sticks kept the bridge together and lifted it off of the ground.
Year 9 students have been discovering how ecosystems have been impacted by human interference. The students have had student agency in creating their presentations for the class.
Year 9 Forensic Science had the opportunity to do an “Autopsy”/Dissection on Rabbits, enabling them to see the digestive systems and other systems inside the rabbit. Students had seen the Rabbit fur under a microscope earlier in the Semester so that they could identify the different components of the hair shaft.
WARNING: Below are images of dissected animals - please DO NOT click on the attachments below if you DO NOT wish to view them.
Year 9 Earth and Astronomy were finishing off their course by completing the Theories of the end of the universe and various techniques for learning information about our universe.
Senior Students
The Transition program for both Year 11 and Year 12 of 2024 has been working well, where students had the opportunity to look at the subject areas that they have chosen to pursue for VCE. Some areas have done inquiry-based practicals looking at Scientific skills they will need for next year. Experiments included looking at how quickly packing peanuts dissolve in different mediums, how eggs without shells change weight in different solutions, and looking at water moving up celery over time for transpiration and flame tests on different substances.
Melissa Robinson
Science Learning Leader