Science

It’s been a tough year for everyone and missing out on almost six months' worth of lab time made it extra tough for both science teachers and students alike. But being the great problem solvers that scientists are, our fabulous science teachers at Box Hill High School created some amazing lockdown pracs that students could complete at home with almost no time to prepare. 

A big thanks for all ours teachers’ hard work creating pracs suitable for remote learning, and also a big shout out for students giving it their all even in tough lockdown circumstances. 

It was a great relief to get back into the classroom for Term 4, and more importantly, the lab, so the directive was pracs, pracs, and more pracs! when all students were back on site. Below is an example of some of the fun pracs students experienced when they returned to school. 

Back to 'Pracs'

During the lockdown, students reported that they enjoyed participating in the practical tasks. Tasks such as watching and recording ice cubes melt in the sun, calculating the energy needed to make a cup of coffee, videoing red convection currents, timing oscillating teddy bears and measuring rolling distances across the kitchen floor of baked bean cans, all of which needed a spectacular finale. 

So in 2020, the year of the toilet roll, it was only fitting to finish up with a renewable, recycled toilet roll projectile competition. So, the Year 11 students enthusiastically blasted the rolls in a soft fluffy white volley across the quadrangle to an appreciative audience of junior students. Practical Physics can be fun. 

- Dianne Wilkinson  

Science Olympiads

This year we had almost 50 entrants into the Australian Science Olympiads! As with many things in 2020 the Olympiads were held online, including the brand new Junior Olympiads – which had a very positive uptake.  

Whilst all students who participated are commended, there are some honourable mentions, so please join me in congratulating the following students for their outstanding performance in the Australian Science Olympiads this year: 

Junior Olympiad (years 7-10) 

Jacob Hsiao – High Distinction & top 50 for year 8 in Australia 

Ian Desouza – High Distinction  

Aiden Wong – High Distinction 

Miko Tay - High Distinction 

Mark Zhu – Distinction & top 50 for year 7 in Australia 

Tanvi Mishra – Distinction 

Miraz Rai – Distinction 

Dishita Jathar – Distinction 

Congratulations to all those who competed in these challenging exams!  

- Mr Lachlan Tantau