Science – Term 3, 1st newsletter

Science – Term 3

Throughout Term 3 students will be studying Physics. They will be experimenting with forces, heat, light, sound, electricity, sustainable energy and building and designing structures for our upcoming STEAM night on Wednesday 23rd August.

The preps have been exploring how different things move. They observed the animals in the classroom and objects around the school. The preps will observe how different sized objects roll and what surfaces they can move best on to develop their understanding of friction.

The grade 1/2 students are focusing on sound and light. They have made bottle maracas using various ingredients such as rubbers, pasta, rice, metal objects and rocks. The students have been describing the different sounds and pitch they hear and they started their STEAM project by designing the best straw rocket. In the coming weeks the Grade 1/2 students will be exploring how sounds are made, what vibrations are and how light helps us to see the world using lots of fun materials such as balloons, coat hangers, straws and torches!

In grade 3/4 students have started learning about forces. They explored mechanical toys and the types of forces used to make them move. The students made balloon rockets with various shaped balloons to compare which one travelled the furthest or fastest. Throughout Term 3, the grade 3/4 students will explore forces such as gravity, design parachutes and experiment with magnets.

Having a good understanding of forces, the Grade 5/6 students are now focusing on the different types of energy and how one type of energy can be transformed into another. They carried out some fascinating experiments on static electricity using bubbles, pipes, balloons and plastic. They described the types of charges and how they attract or repel each other. In the coming weeks the Grade 5/6 students will be exploring basic electric circuits and sustainable energy sources.

The Green Team organised and ran a very successful fundraiser called the “Sustainability Pyjama Day” to raise money for plants, cleaning the Werribee River to help the platypus and other initiatives. The students had a fantastic time at the disco and we awarded prizes for best pyjamas and best dance moves! Selected students were also involved in National Tree Day and helped plant over 300 trees. We are looking forward to planting some vegetables in our gardens this term. We hope that families will also get involved in our fun environmental initiatives. Please contact Vanessa Accornero if you are interested in helping. The Green Team also visited the Arndell Park Kindergarten this week to teach the children about sustainability. They took props and posters along with them to help the little ones understand.

Truganina South Primary School will be taking part in the “Love Your Locals” Zoo opportunity where a group of ten Grade 5/6 students will be chosen to research one of our local endangered animals, the Eastern Barred Bandicoot, and present their work to experts at the Werribee Open Range Zoo. They have already taken part in a web conference to the keepers and they will attend an excursion to the Zoo to collaborate with other schools and Zoo experts about this wonderful animal. We are taking part in the 5 cent challenge to sponsor a bandicoot for a month. There will be a video and poster shared to all communities soon to explain this further.

Dates to Remember:

STEAM night – Wednesday 23rd August

This event will run from 5:00-7:00pm in the Gymnasium. Come along to the open night for some fun, exciting challenges and activities that incorporate Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths.

Science Week

The Science room will be open for parents to join in and watch their children in Science class at the following times:

Monday 14th August

Session 1 (8:50-9:50am) for Topaz roll group D
Session 2 (9:50-10:50am) for Topaz roll group C
Session 3 (11:20-12:20pm) for Garnet roll group K
Session 4 (12:20-1:20pm) for Garnet roll group I

Thursday 17th August

Session 1 (8:50-9:50am) for Ruby roll group G
Session 2 (9:50-10:50am) for Diamond roll group A
Session 3 (11:20-12:20pm) for Turquoise roll group G
Session 4 (12:20-1:20pm) for Garnet roll group L