Science News

The highlight of this week for me, was listening to the music of a Year 11 Physics student, Krishy, who was playing the flute that she made from an old broom stick. What an amazing sound and what an amazing scientist. As their study of waves, students have been making an instrument from scratch and analysing how the music is delivered by the instrument. Not only do they have to make the instrument, but they will play a tune on their home made creation. 

The other science classes have also been engaged in some excellent activities and learning this week. Teachers are busy developing interesting lessons and resources. The PD last week focused on comprehension and extension so that we can offer the best learning and growth opportunities for all students studying at Marian. 

During our unit on the human body, Miss Jensen’s year 8 Science class enjoyed making a life-sized diagram of the skeletal system. They began by tracing a student’s body in chalk and then used the internet to identify and locate as many bones as possible. It was very chilly outside though!

Mrs Dumbleton’s  year 9 science class has started their study of the mysterious universe. They started looking at the constellations and the zodiac signs. Students worked hard on their wonderful diagrams and found the brightest star in each constellation.  They have completed an AFL task and now that they understand that they are made of star dust, they will be looking at the birth, life and death of a star. 

Mrs Dumbleton’s  year 7 science class has completed their unit on the changing Earth and have been looking down as they walk, to see what rocks they can find. Hopefully they can develop a rock collection. They studied the environments that formed the conglomerate on Scenic Hill and learned about the ancient environments where limestone and coal are formed. This week, the students have been engaged in some fun activities making models of this little tiny thing that makes us all but we can not see, the atom. They have been making models of the first 20 elements and appreciating the particles in the atoms and how we can use them. 

The Year 11 Chemistry students have been experimenting with reactions that are used in batteries to make DC electricity. They have made a Daniel cell and were super excited when they measured the current it produced. Now, they are going to make some changes with the concentration, temperature and surface area of the electrodes to see how it changes the voltage. 

The Year 8 classes have finished their study of the Earth’s resources and Mrs Dhanoa’s class of 8D have been looking at natural and synthetic polymers. So many things we take for granted, so students were impressed to see rubber flowing from a tree and consider the man made plastics that make things all around them.

Enjoy your weekend and think of the vegetable garden with spring just around the corner and the visual delights that it brings with all the flowers, especially the wattle, and hopefully some very healthy bees. 

Best wishes

Esther Dumbleton and the science staff