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College Chronicle Issue 12, Science Week

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

August is always a fabulous month in the world of Science as an entire week is dedicated to Science. The school theme for National Science Week 2021 is Food: Different by Design. It honours the United Nations International Year of Fruits and Vegetables and the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development.

As usual, the Science Team have lots of activities planned for Science Week that will continue to inspire a love of learning and passion for science. These rich learning activities have given our students the opportunity to master the essential skills required for a successful future, as it requires them to think critically and creatively, communicate and work collaboratively. Enjoy this edition of the chronicle as we celebrate science and learning at SVCC.

Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Psalm 111:2

Jenny Nelson, Principal

CELEBRATING SCience

Science is a great tool devised for understanding how the world works. At Southern Vales Christian College, Science allows students to expand their critical thinking, research, and problem-solving skills. They learn what it means to work together cooperatively and ethically, and they are encouraged to imagine futures in which they make a difference in their local and global communities.

At our College, we utilise the Understanding by Design (UbD) framework to design units of work that focus on targeted understandings so that students make long-lasting, meaningful connections with the theory. Essential Questions provoke teachers and students alike to explore topics more extensively and deeply. Socratic questioning throughout units also prompts students to think more deeply: What are we doing, and why are we doing it? What is working for us, and what is not working?

Problems are opportunities for change. After having worked through problems, we are not the same people ā€“ and that can be an excellent thing! It keeps us engaged and curious about the world. Teachers provide rich learning tasks to facilitate students to construct questions that aim to solve meaningful current and predicted real-world issues.

Purpose linked to success leads to a meaningful life. "I have come that [you] may have life and have it more abundantly" John 10:10. As a Science faculty team, our prayer is that students will thrive in their learning, bring the community on that journey, uphold values and venture towards an abundant life.

Heidi Scriven, Science Coordinator

SCience WEek 2021: PRIMARY

FUTURE FOODS

The theme of Science Week 2021 is Food: Different by Design. The week began with a special assembly "Future Foods: What might we be eating in 2050?" with presenters Hannah Rohrlach and Steph Daugtry from Post Dining who investigate how food will be different in the future. The Primary classes all took part in Science Week experiments which included sushi making, ice-cream creation, designing a water filter and butter making.

Annabel, Year 1 Morphett Vale
Mrs Thompson and Year 1 students making sushi
Matteo, Year 1 Morphett Vale
Indiana, Year 1 Morphett Vale
Lily, Zedekiah and Jessica, Year 1 Morphett Vale
Shauna, Chelsea, Piper and Lucy, Year 5 Morphett Vale
Joshua and Gideon, Year 5 Morphett Vale
Judah making his ice-cream
Heath, CaĆ©l and Aldo, Year 5 Aldinga
Brodie and Elliot, Year 5 Aldinga
Grace, Year 5 Aldinga
Trent and Aleira, Year 2 Morphett Vale
Olivia and Max, Year 2 Aldinga, with their butter
Oliver and Caeden, Year 2 Morphett Vale
Georgia and Feranmi, Year 2 Morphett Vale
Scout, Year 2 Morphett Vale
Archer, Alisha and Connar, Year 2 Aldinga with their butter

Science WeeK 2021: SECONDARY

RICE BIOTECHNOLOGY "ESCAPE ROOM"

The Science faculty organised an "escape room" within each of the Science classes this week. Students were treated to a fascinating lesson about genetically modified foods and a food-themed escape room. It was an immersive, hands-on experience to engage students in Science.

The Secondary students were invited to a rice biotechnology research centre as young agricultural scientists. Students first practised reading and analysing a graph on rice growth which set them up for success in the challenges. Then they explored current scientific research and innovation of "food by design" in a number of challenges. They had the opportunity to solve a series of challenges where students needed to draw on their scientific knowledge from a range of different disciplines with about 30 minutes to complete the entire mission.

Caelan, Rheian and Gabby, Year 8 Aldinga
Caleb and Tahlia, Year 8 Aldinga
Mrs Ellis guiding the Year 8s at Aldinga
Lara, Capri and Nazlee, Year 8 Aldinga
Aisha, Grace and Madison, Year 8 Aldinga
Daniel, Kim and Lara, Year 10 Morphett Vale
Rocky, Joel and Tate, Year 10 Morphett Vale

Sustainability & science

Making Banana Tea

Spot of tea, anyone? How about for your plants? Banana peel tea is an organic liquid fertilizer which helps get nutrients to your plants. While dry, granular fertilizers are a common way to add nutrients to your soil, liquid versions administer nutrients quickly, ensuring your plants get what they need to grow faster, have increased yields, and improved overall health. Mrs Butler and the Sustainability Lunch Time Club had lots of fun making banana tea as part of Science Week. On Monday they sorted out the banana peels from the organic bins around the Morphett Vale campus. Next, the banana peels were placed into buckets, covered in water and left to soak. On Thursday the students used their banana tea to water the gardens!

Year 9 & 10 Science

Year 9: The Year 9 students have been learning about ecosystems and exploring the essential question:

How can we prevent plastic and other human activities from harming marine life?"

Students discussed and explored plastic as an incredibly useful material that is all around us, how it is swamping our oceans and harming the creatures that live there and making its way into our bodies through the food chain! Students researched: "What is plastic? How much plastic waste do you produce? How do ecosystems work? What happens when they are disturbed by human impacts? What can we do to reduce the negative effects of plastic waste? How can you be a part of the pollution solution?"

Students explored how matter, such as carbon, is cycled through food chains and ecosystems. Pictured are students testing the impact plants have on the rate of photosynthesis. Students then designed their own investigation in groups to test other variables, such as distance and different coloured light filters, on the rate of photosynthesis. Students also tested the pH of the water using an indicator to determine the rate at which the water plants photosynthesised.

Oliver and Samuel, Year 9 Morphett Vale
Noel and Myles, Year 9 Morphett Vale
Bethany, Year 9 Morphett Vale
Jessica and Kenya, Year 9 Morphett Vale

Year 10: Students in Year 10 Science have been investigating the Essential Questions:

What causes things to move in different ways around me? How could self-driving cars be the way of the future?"

If computers will do all the driving, what information would be needed? Computers will have to detect where things are and predict whether they are on collision courses or not. That requires basic data about distances, times, velocities and accelerations. Students engaged with the tangible and physical effects of motion by testing the effect of slope on the movement of a mini skateboard using a ticker timer. They calculated distances, time and velocities then analysed and evaluated its acceleration.

Rocky, Year 10 Morphett Vale
Zoe and Kim, Year 10 Morphett Vale

Heidi Scriven, Science Coordinator

Physics

The Year 11 Physics students are investigating the UbD unit about 'current electricity and circuits' with the Essential Question:

Can I set up and control an electrical circuit?"

These photos show year 11 Physics students doing their summative practical investigation on how the length of a wire influences the resistance to electrical current passing through it. Having carried out a number of formative practicals, students gained confidence in using multimeters correctly and how to set up the circuit. They carefully read through instructions on the task sheet and worked together to change one variable and measure their results. These students have enjoyed working together to learn conventions and expectations for recording data, constructing graphs, analysing the results and evaluating the procedure they followed.

Jonathan, Year 11
Haylie, Edwin and Josiah, Year 11

The Year 12 Physics students are learning about the interactions between light and matter. The Essential Question that they are reflecting on is:

Is light a particle or a wave?"

Recently students were learning about the different ways lightwaves behave when they pass through slits or diffraction gratings. White light passing throught many slits shows a rainbow effect on a screen, whereas laser light is observed as bright dots. Last week they completed their summative practical to use a DVD as a diffraction grating. The result of their measurements and calculations was that they found the track width of the DVD to a high level of accuracy. They were very pleased with the results of their efforts, and rightly so!

Paige's hair being attracted to the van der Graaff generator's electric field
Sofia, Paige and Benjamin, Year 12, setting up a laser experiment

Laura Tew, Physics Teacher

BIOLOGY

Stage 1 Biology students have recently been studying multicellular organisms and explored the Essential Question:

What factors can affect heart rate, blood pressure and the health of the cardiovascular system?"

They then designed an investigation to determine the effect of a chosen factor on heart rate and blood pressure, such as breathing exercises and exercise intensity. We teamed up with Mr Craig Davidson's Year 8 PE class to measure resting heart rates and blood pressure and remeasured these after light, moderate and high-intensity exercises.

We look forward to collaborating with the Maths and PE class again in the future to explore and test other factors and the effectiveness of smartwatches for monitoring their health.

Daniel checks Tyler's blood pressure and heart rate
Olivia and Tyler, Year 8, have their blood pressure checked

Our Stage 2 Biology students have recently completed an investigation looking at the separation of molecules using dye through the process of agarose gel electrophoresis. This process mimics the steps of DNA separation techniques used for DNA profiling. Hands-on inquiry helps to explore the Essential Question:

How can gel electrophoresis separate DNA fragments and be used for DNA profiling for forensic science?"

As can be seen in the photographs of Jacques, micropipettes were utilised to obtain minute quantities of the mixture and molecules separated by moving when placed into an electric field. Smaller molecules travel further from the negative end (cathode) to the positive end (anode).

Jacques, Year 12
Separated molecules

As part of the homeostasis unit, Stage 2 Biology students explored the Essential Question:

Does caffeine increase heart rate, and can evidence be obtained to confirm this?"

Students first tested the average heart rate of Daphnia then explored the effect of caffeine from coffee on Daphnia's heart rate. We discussed the use of caffeine in sport and ethical considerations when working with live organisms.

Naomi, Year 12

Heidi Scriven, Science Coordinator

Chemistry

The Year 11 Chemistry students have been learning about Stoichiometry and acid-base analytical techniques reflecting on the Essential Question:

Can I measure just how concentrated and acidic an aqueous solution is?"

Having spent the first semester learning about primary and secondary bonding in chemical compounds and aqueous solution, we were ready to learn how to calculate pH and molar quantities of substances. Students brought in some everyday substances so that we could test their pH to find out how acidic or basic they are. A sample of cola drink was quite acidic, containing phosphoric and carbonic acids. We tested different milks, toothpaste and even tzaziki!

Soon students will be learning how to carry out titrations - analytical techniques to find exact quantities. One example will be to determine the vitamin C content of a commercial orange juice.

Year 12 Chemistry students having been learning about measuring chemical processes, and reflected on the Essential Question:

How and why do we measure the rates of chemical reactions?"

Students have been learning about the rates of a variety of chemical reactions. For example, rusting is a fairly slow reaction whereas the hydrogen 'pop' test is explosively fast! We turned down the lights and filmed Cyalume glow sticks losing their brightness over time, in hot water compared to cold water. The students are now looking forward to carrying out their own designed investigation to discover the rate of a chemical reaction of their choice.

Laura Tew, Chemistry Teacher

Oliphant Science AWards 2021

We are very excited to be entering over 20 entries this year to the 2021 Oliphant Science Competition. With student agency at the forefront of each entry, students had the opportunity to pursue a topic and entry of interest. This year we have a range of Multimedia, Posters, Photography, Models and Board Games entries which have been completed with outstanding effort and consideration. Well done to the entrants!

Rebecca Varnas, Extended Learning Coach