Around the School

Chess Team report 

  • Date and Time : Monday 15 May at 9 am until 11 am
  • Venue : Resource Centre (period 1 and 2)
  • Opponent : Corowa HS
  • MAG are playing the (Black pieces 1,3) and (White pieces 2,4) 
  1. Michael Williams (Black Pieces)        Year 10                                    
  2. Kirsten Yuan (White Pieces)              Year 10                         
  3. Alexander Barnes (Black Pieces)       Year 9                           
  4. Jonah Hunter (White Pieces)             Year 9                           

Result:  MAG 3 ½   defeated Corowa HS  ½ 

 

Highlights of today's games

 

Michael playing at number 1 with the black pieces played a very sound game and got into a winning position with a great pin on the bishop that resulted in it being taken by a pawn. Michael played to be in a winning position having taken all of white's pieces. He missed a trap set by his opponent and a stalemate ended the game with a draw. This was a good result for the Corowa opponent, but Michael’s effort put MAG into an unlosable position 2.5 to 0.5. 

 

Kirsten played a very tactical game as number 2 with the white pieces against an opponent who used the clock very well to make sure the moves were very well calculated. She won a game that went for over an hour of very strategic play and made a great checkmate after some very clever exchanges of pieces that enabled space on the board for her to affect a checkmate.

 

Alex played fast and convincing chess with the black pieces and produced the first win for our chess team. He sets a high standard and credit went to his opponent who played it out right to the end. Alex checkmated with queen and rook and had pawns to spare if needed. 

 

Logan came into the team on short notice and played with the white pieces against a much younger opponent. The game turned in Logan’s favour with a great fork on the opponent’s bishop which saw two pass pawns ready to make queen. He had to play carefully to get the win and avoid a stalemate that the opponent was playing for. 

 

This was a strong performance by MAG who will advance in the competition.

Science Around the School:

Year 4: What are we standing on?

Students have been studying Changing Surfaces of Planet Earth. To help in their understanding of our amazing planet, we are singing songs, drawing amazing places from the smelly in Rotura, NZ, to the crystal formations in Mexico, as well as making models. A lot of enjoyment was evident as models of Crust, Mantle and Core. There was even more enjoyment eating their model. Our next challenge is to construct an interactive diorama of an extraordinary spot on Earth’s surface. Watch out for our creations in future newsletters.

Year 5: Space, the final frontier

We have engaged enthusiastically in our topic of the Solar System. Engaging videos have been created to songs with extraordinary use of imagination and innovation. We use these songs as introductions to each class. Recently, we have produced a simulation of a gas giant, Neptune. Our next journey will be into the future of space travel for us with an understanding of past exploration. Watch this space!

Year 6: The finer details of fibre

Our students are looking at materials, their properties and uses.  The study of fibres is central to our investigations as we looked at wool, cotton, industrial hemp and nylon.  There was great excitement as we looked through a microscope at the fibres and saw their inner twining. 

Year 9: Enzyme Activity

Mrs Carmody's Year 9 Science investigated the effect of temperature on the activity of rennin - a biological catalyst.