Science
MRS FRAN BRAZIER, HEAD OF SCIENCE 2020 began with the implementation of the new QCAA Senior Curriculum for Year 12. The Science Department staff were kept busy with professional learning for unit and assessment planning. The decision to develop assessment tasks in Year 8, 9 and 10, to reflect those in the new senior syllabuses, will help better prepare students for what lies ahead in senior Science subjects. In 2021 the re-development of the Year 10 Science program gives students a ‘taste’ of each of the Senior Sciences offered by the College (Agriculture, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Psychology). This will assist students with subject choices for their senior years of schooling. The department has also introduced a Year 9 Agriculture elective and expanded the Agriculture facilities at the College. A Year 8 Robotics extra-curricula opportunity continued again in 2020 with Ms Timmer. The Middle School Robotics Club initiative focuses on • developing the interest and enjoyment of girls in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects • teaching coding
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promoting innovative design and construction.
This project was in response to the Australian Government Department of Education and Training ‘Restoring the focus on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in schools initiative’. The department continues to utilise more Information and Communications Technology, specifically the MyFairholme Learning Management System platform, for the improved design and delivery of engaging learning across Science subjects and to enhance student-teacher communications within these subjects, in addition to the extensive use of data loggers that enable in-depth data analysis of student experiments. As always, our aim is to immerse the students in the Engineering Design Process that incorporates innovative, analytical and critical thinking, to solve problems in collaborative teams. Seventy-five per cent of students in classrooms now, will work in a Science and Technology-related field in their lifetime. The Science Department’s focus is to develop and consolidate the
skills necessary to achieve success in STEM-related subjects and careers. Learning experiences beyond the classroom included: • Year 8 Science Excursion to the Old Toowoomba Basalt Quarry in order to examine the Toowoomba Regional Council’s Bridge Street Quarry Feasibility Study outlining the site's proposed rehabilitation/ redevelopment. This formed part of the Year 8. Earth Science unit. • SolarBuddy School Program. Year 9 Science students investigated whether small solar panels are a feasible option to help solve energy poverty. The project culminated in students providing SolarBuddy solar lights to students living in energy poverty throughout the South Pacific, South-East Asia and Africa, to study after dusk. • The three-day Year 9 Camp at Hastings Point in Northern NSW, to study rocky shore, beach, and mangrove ecosystems and human impact on these areas. The Camp provided students with the opportunity to practise field skills used in Senior Biology (e.g. data loggers, organism distribution patterns and field sketches).
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