Young Scientists in the Making
Young Tassie Scientists
On Friday 23 July, Mount Carmel College was very lucky to have The Young Tassie Scientists from the University of Tasmania come and talk to a few of our Primary classes about all things related to Science. The group of scientists are researchers and engineers who volunteer time to share their passion for science with people across Tasmania.
Year 3
Instead of our usual spelling test on Friday, three young scientists from UTAS presented to our class. We helped Emily solve a 100 year old mystery using forensic science, learned about DNA from Jake, explored magnetism with Maddie, and Alana told us all about how the smallpox vaccine was developed.
Year 4
Allanna introduced our class to Chelsea, Catherine and Hannah. Chelsea works as an Antarctic Scientist and spoke about her work with Glaciers. Catherine is a Neuroscientist and spoke about the brain while Hannah is a Volcanologist and shared some of her knowledge on how to tell when a volcano is about to erupt.
The Year 4 students were so engaged throughout the session, asking some fantastic questions and coming away with a wealth of new knowledge. Below are some of their quotes about the incursion.
I liked Catherine’s presentation. Catherine studies the brain, eyes and spinal cord. She did a presentation on an optical illusion when the image gets twisted in your brain.
Eve
I liked Chelsea’s presentation on Glaciers and the ice cores because they were very interesting. I learnt that they send bits of the ice core to different countries like France. I also learnt that they have to go in a room that is -20 degrees to study the ice cores. They wear big puffer jackets and lots of other warm clothing because of the temperature.
Jemima
We loved the mini experiments & how they made it easy to understand. It was interesting and we learned a lot. Hannah is a volcanologist and she showed us an experiment about a volcano eruption and a magma chamber.
Grace, Bella and Annabel
Year 5
Last week the Year 5 students were privileged to attend a workshop run by four female scientists from the University of Tasmania. The girls listened with tremendous enthusiasm and purpose as they soaked up information about the ways volcanoes are measured, how the brain functions and responds to pain, the life and times of Dr John Snow and how sea urchins are destroying the waterways around Tasmania. The girls engaged fully with all four speakers asking thought provoking questions along the way. The buzz was electric. A huge thank you to our Head of Mathematics and Science, Mrs Aimee Woodward, who organised the visiting scientists for us.
Day 2 @ the BrainWays Holiday Program
At the second day of the BrainWays Holiday program, the first topic that the Years 2-4 class started with was about teleportationand time travel. We learnt about Quantum Physics.We learnt about the Quantum Leap,which is where an electron moves further or closer to an atom. When an electron attracts energy it moves further away from the atom, and when an electron ejects energy it moves closer to the atom. Here is an example of a carbohydrate atom. It has six neutrons, six protons and two electrons on the first ring and up to eight electrons on the second ring.
The second topic was architecture.During this topic we made sugar cube pyramids whilst we studied Egyptian architecture. Then we were challenged to build a skyscraper out of thirty straws and some masking tape. We also learnt about medieval architecture that we found very interesting.
We learnt a lot and had lots of fun. We enjoyed the BrainWays Holiday program.
Mimi Bakker (Year 4) and Elsie Wearne (Year 2)