Often in the newsletter we focus on the wonderful work that our Junior Science students are doing so this time I wanted to share what our seniors are currently learning. Our Year 12 students are in the process of drafting and finalising their Student Experiment tasks. These tasks are challenging for students not only because of the academic writing and analysis required but also because of the creativity the need to make modifications to mandatory experiments.

Our Year 12 Chemistry students have been exploring titration and galvanic cells. They have shown great patience and problem solving as well as skill when titrating samples of lemon juice, soft drink or vinegar to be millilitre accurate with steady hands to calculate the concentration of acid.

Our Year 12 Physics students have been exploring gravity and magnetism. Students have shown resilience when adjusting their experiments with solenoids and magnets so that they have accurate and valid data to analyse. Mr Gibson has supported them to modify both equipment and methods over and over until they have succeeded in collecting required data. 

In Year 11 Biology students have been exploring enzymes and the shopping list included all sorts of things including pineapple, cabbage, yeast and liver. Ms Mahipus has been guiding students to design their experiment by redirecting the original independent variable to discover new information. This has required a lot of research to find methods that will work which will be an important skill as they move into their final year of schooling. 

Our Year 11 Psychology students will have the oopportunity to attend the IPLC (Integrated Pathology Learning Centre) to learn from experts about Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, brain stem injuries and broader mental health issues such as addiction and stress. This program has been designed to be age appropriate and directly aligns to Unit 1 & 3 of their course. Permission notes and invoices will be sent to families soon. 

Our Year 11 Science in Practice students have been exploring consumer products and specifically food preservation techniques. They have been feeding and growing a sourdough starter from scratch daily for the last week. We are looking forward to seeing how much of a rise they can get in the bread compared to the yeasted control bread they made last week. 

The senior teaching team is so proud of the progress our Senior Science students are making in their learning and we can't wait to see what comes next!