Science
Science Update
The Science Learning Area enjoyed greeting our incoming Year 7 cohort for the first of their orientation days, with many of our staff running engaging science lessons that gave the students a taste of what is yet to come! It was fantastic to see the enthusiastic young faces as they explored chromatography and looked at the engineering required to build spaghetti towers. 🎨🗼
Students might have thought they’d be winding down now that it’s Term 4… but Science has only wound up - literally! Year 7 students have been investigating simple machines (including the mighty screw), as well as exploring contact forces such as friction and non-contact forces like gravity. The content has been so engaging that several students just couldn’t put their equipment down! 😄
Year 7s have also been fortunate to welcome Derek Nannup in Weeks 7 and 8, who explained and demonstrated how knowledge of forces is used to create and use efficient Aboriginal tools such as the boomerang, miro, and spears. 🪃✨
Students in the Year 7 Extension class are entering the Sail Grand Prix challenge as a part of SailGP, coming to Fremantle for the first time on 17-18 January 2026, thanks to Australian Sailing. It’s a high-profile, high-tech yacht racing competition with a strong sustainability focus. Designed as an exciting spectator sport, rival national teams from around the world race cutting-edge foiling catamarans at speeds of up to 100 km/h, just metres from the shore. You can learn more about SailGP here. ⛵
🌎Year 8 students have been rocked to their core learning about Earth sciences, making links to mining practices and the extraction of precious resources. Students can now apply their understanding of weathering and erosion to explain the formation of iconic WA landmarks such as The Pinnacles and Wave Rock. They also learnt how many animals migrate by following Earth’s magnetic poles.
Year 8s are now wrapping up the term studying the Theory of Continental Drift, discovering why we experience natural events such as volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. 🌋
Term 4 has truly been illuminating for our Year 9s as they explore the science of light. Using mirrors and lenses, students investigated reflection and refraction — even attempting to recreate the famous Dark Side of the Moon album cover! 🌈🎵
They’ve also tuned into the science of sound, brushing up on their understanding of wavelengths, frequency, and the speed of sound.
Our Year 10s have gone interstellar this term with their study of Earth and Space Science, learning about the carbon cycle, climate, and human impacts contributing to the enhanced greenhouse effect. In Week 6, students revised Semester II content, including Genetics, Physics, and the Earth & Space units in preparation for their exam. We hope they did well! ✨📚
In the Psychology elective, students completed a unit on social psychology, exploring why we like people and why we behave the way we do. They finish the course by diving into the fascinating world of Forensic Psychology. 🔍
In Week 4, we celebrated our wonderful Lab Technicians for Science Technicians Appreciation & Recognition (STAR) Week. Our technicians are the backbone of the Science Department, organising practicals, performing risk assessments, offering creative teaching ideas, and always being there for a chat and a laugh when needed. This highlights only a small part of what they do, and we sincerely thank them for keeping our department running smoothly!
🔬As 2025 concludes and the new year approaches, we’d like to notify families of some exciting changes in Science. The Year 7–10 curriculum has been reorganised, meaning students will encounter some different content compared to older siblings. Our dedicated Science staff have been busy behind the scenes ensuring meaningful and engaging lessons with the new curriculum.
🎉Even more exciting, we are expanding our senior school offerings to include Year 11 ATAR Earth & Environmental Science and Year 11 General Psychology! Both new courses have already attracted strong interest for next year, and we look forward to launching them in 2026.
Lauren Pascoe, HoLA - Science