Whole school Science

From Kimalee, teacher 

From Prep to 6, it is great to see students predicting, making observations, discussing results and drawing conclusions when participating in Science activities and experiments. This term, students continue focusing on the Science learning area of Earth & Space Sciences.  

Prep - 'Weather'  

Preps have celebrated the beginning of Eel Season on the Wurrundjeri Calendar, crafting bouncy eels.  They have been watching videos, participating in discussions and painting pictures for animals that live in hot and cold climates.  We have also graphed the different types of weather that we’ve recorded over the past 5 weeks. Lastly, we are waiting for rains to fall now that students’ rain gauges, made from recycled bottles, have been stationed in the school garden near the front gate.   

Year 1 - 'Habitats'  

Year 1 have focused in on what plants need and they have grown cress on cotton wool.  They have tried eating a ‘whole plant’, including roots (carrots), stem (celery), leaves (coriander), flower (broccoli) and seeds (snow peas).  We graphed the results to see what students like to eat the most, with carrots being a clear favourite.  Students have also investigated and discussed our ‘School Habitat’ – from possums to snails, drawing food chains from one animal or plant to another.  In ‘Ocean Habitat’ week, students watched mini documentaries and examined shells, different seaweeds and model sea creatures.  Lastly, they wrote a cinquain poem on a favourite sea creature.  

Year  2  - 'Water'  

Year 2 have completed some great research, discussion and teamwork creating posters on oceans, tidal rock pools, rivers, lakes and wetlands.  They have explored the 3 states of water – solid, liquid, gas.  They have conducted experiments using shaving foam, water and food colouring to ‘make it rain’ and used the correct format to write up the experiment afterwards.  Students have also learnt songs and created mini water cycles using ziplock bags.  

Year 3 – ‘Day and Night’  

Year 3 have been investigating the process of Earth’s rotation and revolution. They have inquired and created sundials and used the concept of shadow to understand how the concept of time came into being. Students also created a working model of the different phases of the moon to understand and make predictions of the changing sizes and shapes of the moon. In the latter part of the term, students will be engaging with technology like Makers Empire to study and design a voyage to the moon to extract minerals from its surface. 

Year 4 - 'Earth's Crust'   

Year 4 have investigated Igneous Rocks, with their air bubbles and crystals, and grown their own crystals using baking soda or borax.  Through crushing and heating candy and biscuits, students are remembering that heat and pressure is required to make Metamorphic Rocks.  Students are also learning to make predictions and correctly write up experiments that they participate in.  Lastly, students have explored weathering and erosion, learning the importance of vegetation to prevent erosion and the loss of topsoil.  

Year 5 - 'Our Solar System'   

Year 5 have investigated the planets in our solar system, including research and discussion on what the planets are made of, number of moons, weather conditions, atmospheric composition and more.  Students defined and drew examples of galaxies, along with making a spiral galaxy pinwheel.  Students have watched videos and discussed natural and artificial satellites, including the function of different artificial satellites and their basic engineering structure. Students have designed their own artificial satellites on paper and using apps such as Makers Empire, Sketches and Minecraft.   

Year 6 - 'Natural Disasters'    

Year 6 have been engaging with Natural Disasters for this term. They have been investigating different equipment that is used for measuring the extent of the disasters, creating flood prevention plans for the different parts of Australia that are prone to floods. Students have also been engaging with creating presentations to show the use of renewable resources like Tidal and Solar energy in Minecraft to power towns across Australia and make life on Earth more sustainable. They will be creating flood plans in the following weeks for different emergency situations like evacuations.