USYD Spectacular Science Excursion

A group of Year 7 student went to the University of Sydney to take part in an amazing experience all to do with bees! There were mini workshops, all incorporating bees and the production of honey and overall it was an awesome experience. The workshops tested our abilities and knowledge on how bees produce honey, do their jobs and how bees pollinate thousands of flowers each day! 

We started off the day with a lecture from a professional beekeeper and researcher! We learnt lots of really cool facts and got to experience what a university lecture felt like. Professor Beekman taught us lots of interesting facts and information that will help in our future experiments and research on our St Clare’s bees.  After that we split off into school groups and went to our first activity. 

In our first activity we played a game that focused on being altruistic, which means to give something without expecting anything in return. After that we stopped for a small break before continuing to our next activity. This time we went to the physics lab and made paper helicopters. We had to create an experiment and collect the data to put it into a graph. This was a really interesting and fun experience and gave us a real life view of what physics university life is like. 

In the science lab we did two different activities. The first one was bee bingo. In this activity we were each given a type of bee and we had to examine this bee under a microscope. We then had to decide what aspect suited our bee and match them up. For example if you noticed that your bee had a large, stocky body and head then it would probably be a buzz pollinator compared to using pollen baskets. 

Our second activity was honey tasting and evaluating. In this activity we were given honey made by the 5 different types of bees which were the European Honeybee, Stingless Bee, Blue Banded Bee, Green Metallic Bee, Sweat Bee and Teddy Bear Bee. We had to test the honey on consistency, smell, flavour, clarity and colour. Even though all the honey looked very similar they had a variety of tastes and smells. We also noticed that the stingless bee honey had a lot less produced because they only produce 1 kg a year so there was a limited amount of honey. We also found this was the runnier type of honey and a unique one to eat.

After we had finished all of our workshops we had a final lecture. This involved liquid nitrogen. The lecturer asked us questions about it and even gave an experiment on an egg. It showed how different chemicals and forces can affect different aspects of nature. It was a very educational lecture which was easy and fun to listen to. The presenter also used gas from a fire extinguisher to push a go kart. It was a very interesting and unique presentation.

We all really enjoyed this experience and would highly recommend it to others. We learnt lots, had fun and got to see the life inside a real university! We speak for the group when we say that was an amazing experience and we were all very inspired by how much effort the university had put into it. 

Olivia Zammit and Suki Waddell (Year 7)

Virtual Reality at St Clare’s

Two of our Year 10 students, Janice and Annabelle, spent some time this morning at UNSW’s 3D Visualisation Aesthetics Lab. The 3D Visualisation Aesthetics Lab is an award-winning cross-disciplinary research hub that explores arts-led approaches for visualising complex scientific and biomedical scan data.

The purpose of the visit was to showcase some of the work Janice has created in VR using Unity. Janice’s work involved creating a VR game that teaches the principles of the ‘Collision Theory’. This is part of her preparation for her studies in Chemistry in 2019 while Annabelle is currently researching emerging technologies for her IST project. Accompanying Janice was an ideal opportunity to visit a world leader in using VR in the medical field.

The team were very impressed with the work Janice had created as she walked them through her game, explaining how it worked and the development process she had worked through.

After demonstrating her game she was able to spend time with some of the developers talking about how she could improve aspects of the game. She received some great advice on overcoming some of the problems she was currently encountering using Unity as well as the type of programming language she should be working in.

Both girls got to spend time on the current work the team are doing in visualisation of the inner workings of the human body. This was a fascinating experience and opened their eyes to the incredible developments that are taking place in the field of medicine.

We are looking forward to continuing our work with John and the team at 3DVAL. They have been extremely generous with their time as we have looked for opportunities to integrate VR into our learning.

At this stage we see VR being a valuable tool for us initially in Science, through the type of work Janice is undertaking and in the immersive opportunities that exist on platforms like Microsoft’s STEAM. While in Technology, the virtual mannequin in Tiltbrush allows the designer to see their creation in a completely different way. Our ultimate goal is to have a group of students designing and creating in VR using Unity.

This is an exciting time as we look to create new and exciting opportunities for our students.

 

 

 

Senior Chemistry Excursion

On Friday 18th of September, the Year 12 Chemistry class went to the National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour as part of our study on Shipwrecks, Corrosion and Conservation.

Whilst at the museum, we did a number of practicals based on the HSC syllabus, such as comparing the degree of corrosion of materials under different conditions. We were later taken through the museum to look at objects that have come from real shipwrecks such as anchors, ballasts and trinkets and learn about the methods of restoration and conservation that had been used to get them to their current condition. 

These activities allowed us to visualise and extend on the theory we had learnt in class. Lastly, we walked through the HMAS Onslow, a submarine docked at the museum, and looked at the different components of the vessel. 

Sarra Mourad.