Science

In Years 7 and 8, in line with the Australian Curriculum, the study of Science at The Friends’ School is compulsory. The goals of science education are:

• To encourage wonder, exploration and engagement with the wider world
• To develop skills in evidence-based reasoning and critical thinking
• To encourage intellectual curiosity through practical investigations and student-guided inquiry
• To develop scientific literacy skills, in order to:
  • explain phenomena scientifically
  • evaluate and design scientific enquiry
  • interpret data and evidence scientifically.

All units are studied as three, interrelated and integrated strands: Science Understanding, Science as a Human Endeavour and Science Inquiry Skills.  

The topics cover the following sub-strands of Science:

• Biological Sciences
• Chemical Sciences
• Physical Sciences
• Earth and Space Sciences.

The Year 7 Connections program and Year 8 Brain Days provide opportunities for linking Science to other learning areas.

Year 7 - Science

The curriculum emphasises inquiry-based teaching and learning, with a strong focus on the science inquiry skills of: questioning and predicting; planning and conducting experiments; processing and analysing data and information; evaluating and communicating.

In Year 7 Science students:

• Explore the diversity of life on Earth, monitor an ecosystem and develop their understanding of the interdependence of biotic and abiotic factors
• Use and develop models such as food chains, food webs and the water cycle to represent and analyse the flow of energy and matter through ecosystems and explore the impact of changing components within these systems
• Consider the interaction between balanced and unbalanced forces
• Explore different types of mixtures and investigate a range of separation techniques as they become familiar with a laboratory and its specialised equipment
• Investigate relationships in the Earth, sun, moon system and use models to predict and explain events
• Use equipment safely to make accurate measurements and controlling variables to then analyse and explain relationships.

Year 8 - Science

The curriculum emphasises inquiry-based teaching and learning, with a strong focus on the science inquiry skills of: questioning and predicting; planning and conducting experiments; processing and analysing data and information; and evaluating and communicating.

In Year 8 Science students:

• Are introduced to cells as microscopic structures and the basic units of living things which possess specialised structures and functions
• Explore the organisation of body systems, including the reproductive, circulatory and digestive systems, and their interdependence
• Explore changes in matter at a particle level and distinguish between chemical and physical change
• Classify different forms of energy, and describe the role of energy in causing change in systems, through energy transfers and transformations
• Explore the different types of rocks and minerals including their formation and the Earth’s internal processes and geological timescales
• Investigate structures and consider advances in technology that have contributed to changes in the way we live
• Conduct an individual Inquiry project based on a topic of personal interest, linked to Science as a Human Endeavour
• Make predictions, experiment and propose explanations, drawing on evidence to support their views.