STEAM reports 

Physics breakfast

On Thursday 19 May physics students from all different schools met with experts in the field at Monash University. We sat down in groups at tables, where we could talk to some Monash University students and other girls studying Physics. We discussed what careers in STEM are available, and the different pathways to get you there. A guest speaker talked about her research in astrophysics, and how elements are formed from the centres of stars, explaining difficult concepts in a way we could understand. We enjoyed the delicious breakfast and seeing the Monash campus, and walked away with more knowledge about the composition of the universe and pathways for women in STEM.

Sarah Powell & Jemmah Paton (Year 11)

Year 9 Science - Electromagnetism

Electromagnetism has been a short topic in Year 9 science but we’ve been able to pack a lot of information in that short time. We’ve learned about magnets and how they work, the magnetic fields that surround the magnets and how electromagnets work. In one of the pracs, we were constructing a motor that works through electromagnetism. The theory behind the motor was the permanent magnets attracting the electromagnet whilst wires, attached to brushes, change to flip the polarity of the electromagnet which causes the electromagnet to turn which then creates the motor. Some groups were successful in the making of the motor and other groups were unsuccessful. The overall subject of electromagnetism has been very informative and interesting.

Lee Lao 9A

In year 9 science, we started to learn the basics of electromagnetism. For one of the activities we made motors using Hodson’s motor kit, I personally really enjoyed the experience of learning how to make a motor and thinking about how they would be made on a larger scale. It was very interesting to see which groups were successful and how they used different techniques to get their motor working. Although it took a long time to make the motor, the experience was very interesting and informative, every bit of the process leading up to the end result was interesting to learn about. To the point that my group and I stayed in during snack break to get our motor finished. I loved this activity so much and would one hundred percent do it again.

Mia Hallam 9A

In science we have started work on electromagnetism. We have learnt about the magnetic field lines around magnets and how they can interact and affect each other. We also discussed how objects that are not usually magnetic can become magnetised using electricity and wires to create an electromagnet that can be switched on and off, which makes the basis of a motor. We have completed many experiments to support these ideas talked about in class. We have seen the force strong magnetic fields can have on other magnetic fields, created our own electromagnet, seen how generators work and even created our own motor through a kit. This topic has been a lot of fun and very hands-on by creating lots of amazing experiments to see the theory talked about in class in action. Georgia and Erin 9B