Science News

Term 2 Science

It has been a challenging term for students, staff and parents/guardians. While at times we felt like we had woken up in a parallel universe, we adapted quickly to our new environments. Under the difficult circumstances, students produced some great work.

Year 7 and 8 YAP studied Ecosystems, taking a deep dive into a system that they wanted to learn more about and they created some amazing presentations. They went on to study the Solar System and with objects they could find at home performed some great modelling of day and night, seasons and eclipses. Upon returning they investigated forces and learnt to appreciate gravity and friction.

Year 8 had a closer look at the resources that we remove form the Earth. They developed an appreciation of the importance of ensuring that we protect and respect our environment while satisfying our need for things such as mobile phones, reliable electricity to charge them and even most of their clothing. They went on to have fun investigating water usage and cost in their own homes, possibly shocked by the amount of water they can use in one shower. Since returning they studied Ecosystems by completing an interactive virtual fieldtrip. This week they have realised that yoghurt is made from milk and bacteria, even culturing some of their own.

Year 9 turned their focus on the Nervous and Endocrine system, the two systems which co-ordinate the body. When they returned to school they moved onto disease where they were able to apply what they had learnt first-hand about Infectious Diseases, how they are transmitted, treated and prevented. They conducted an investigation in class where they modelled disease transmission of “Pink Disease”. We hope this gave students an understanding of the importance of vaccination to reduce the spread of disease. 

Year 10 turned back the clock and rocks to see how life has evolved on Earth. Some students produced some creative geological time scales while at home. They moved onto Genetics when they returned to school, enjoying being back in the labs and extracting DNA from strawberries.

Stage 6 students should be congratulated for the way they adapted to studying from home, especially considering the nature of some of their courses. The Science staff as well as the students were very excited to come back into classrooms and laboratories to the collaborative methods we maybe took for granted and now appreciate that bit more.

Mrs Louise Watkiss

Head Teacher Science