In and Out of The Classroom

Year 11 Chemistry

Students in Year 11 Chemistry have been looking at the topic of Concentrations and Solubility. They conducted a dilutions practical in class to see the relationship between concentrations and volumes. 

What do you call a tooth in a glass of water? A one molar solution.

Year 10 Immersion Day

The Year 10's enjoyed a variety of workshops hosted by Monash University for their Immersion Day.

A highlight for all students and a place where they can learn with hands-on activities. Here are some images of the programs.

Year 11 Experience Day

Last week we had an incredible day with the Monash HPR! The students had a blast working with the Monash team to simulate and construct their very own rockets, as well as sharing our experience in aerospace and studying within the STEM field.

Monash HPR (High Powered Rocketry) is a student team dedicated to the design, analysis and construction of high-powered rockets. 

VCE Chemistry

VCE Chemistry students have taken to the kitchen and the art supplies this week to carry out some simple pracs at home. Unit 1/2 students have explored reactions of acids and bases by making their own Wizz Fizz from bicarb soda, citric acid, icing sugar, and jelly crystals - what a tasty way to learn! Students in Unit 3/4 explored the principles of chromatography by separating the colours in water-soluble textas on paper towel with colourful results. We hope some hands-on learning has been a nice break from the screens this week.

Microbiology

In Microbiology we have been focussed on learning some key classification  and experimental techniques working with bacteria and fungi. Our students have first learnt the important technique to keep themselves and everyone safe called the Aseptic technique.

Once we developed this skill they were now ready to tackle the important task of growing their own bacteria and fungi. We use in the laboratory non pathogenic bacteria Staphylococcus epidermidis and Esherichia coli. Students in these photos were learning how to streak for single colonies. On our return from lockdown they will be able to see their bacterial colonies they have grown and also learn how to stain them and view them under the microscope. This will enable them to identify their structural morphology. From here we will continue to conduct further tests to help them identify how to classify these bacteria as Gram positive/Gram negative, which is an important diagnostic tool in Microbiology.

We also have been working with fungi, in particular oyster mushroom spawn. Students worked in pairs to grow their very own mycelium brick using the mushroom spawn and sugar cane mulch. This takes several weeks to grow and once done they will design their own experiment to explore the thermal properties of their brick. We are going to use this as a way to explore the idea that Fungi could be an important part of our future.

We are having a fabulous time exploring and growing all things small.