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EXPEDITION TO THE ECLIPSE The night of 26 May marked an important event in the astronomical calendar: the first visible total lunar eclipse in Australia since 2018. To commemorate the occasion, we held the ‘Expedition to the Eclipse’, a Science Festival run by students for students.
Preparations began in Term 4 of 2020, with a group of passionate students from Years 7-12, meeting weekly with Mrs Hendriks and STEM Captain Julia Cummins, to plan the event. Throughout the night, there was the opportunity to participate in a range of fun-filled science activities— from telescope making and rocket launching, to puppet and owl shows— all the while dressed in a spacedthemed costume! Gathering to watch the stunning blood moon at the end of the night topped off an incredible experience—one that could only be described as ‘out of this world’! Marina Ruan, Year 11 STEM Captain 2022
How fortunate, grateful and thankful we are for being able to witness the total lunar eclipse on a clear night, having had a sausage sizzle and waffles from a food truck. The Expedition to the Eclipse was a student-led event held to encourage everyone to get out and enjoy witnessing a natural phenomenon with the use of telescopes and scientific understanding. As the event planning evolved it became a cross-curricular event with the Big Band, Wind Ensemble and Chamber Strings playing and entertaining us on the night. The Chinese Club made and presented a moon shadow puppet show, and the Junior School Science and IT team produced an array of activities to do with the exploration of the solar system. Volunteers from Year 10, 11 and 12 students escorted Year 5 and 6 students to a variety of activities on the night adding to a real sense of community. I believe the highlight for many students was the owl show in the Audrey Keown Theatre and the Invertebrate House with fluorescent beetles and beasts. The telescopes manned by PLC Sydney staff, BINTEL astronomers and the Chalmers, Cummins and Yilan/Chow families were viewed with amazement and wonder by all. There were two highlights for me: the first was observing students looking up at the eclipse from all around the school, listening and in some cases dancing to the music from the Big Band. And the second, was the team work and laughter when the students organising the Science Festival put together 400 lava lamp kits, 300 show bags, 300 telescope kits and 400 rocket launching kits in the weeks leading to the event. The students who organised the event led by Julia Cummins should be very proud. Mrs Fiona Hendriks Science Teacher
PLC SYDNEY / CAMPHORA
