Jennifer Selinger – Head of Science

Last week, the computer gremlins got in and removed most of my article, leaving me with only the quote from Talia Blackman below. I feel that it is probably not good practice to steal students’ work and attempt to pass it off as my own, so here is the complete article, rescued from the evil gremlins and provided for your entertainment (I hope!)

View From the Kleinlehrer Family Science Building

There is not much of a view from here as I write this article – the city has disappeared into a haze of smoke as the hazard reduction burning goes on around Sydney. Questions about why we need to do this sort of thing came up in a number of my lessons, allowing ‘just in time’ teaching about environmental decision making (do we prioritise human life and property over habitats and clean air?) and useful ways of researching things (where are they burning and how come the smoke has ended up here?).

Real life questions are what we are all about here in the Science Department – some immediate and “every-day”, with a correct answer that can be transmitted from teacher to student such as Year 7 asking themselves what life is in their current topic (It occurs to me as I type this that this question is not necessarily straight forward either – where does AI fit in here?). Some Year 9 students looked into whether we should use nuclear energy to make electricity and they all investigated the production and use of radioisotopes on their recent excursion to ANSTO.

Other questions might be larger than life – Year 8 students are considering if we could colonise Mars, and whether we would want to. What resources would be used for this and is this a good idea? Below is a quote from a Year 10 student considering whether we should spend money on finding extra-terrestrial life or spend the money on Earth. Good, complicated questions with many possible answers give our students the impetus to find the facts they need to really come to an opinion (or maybe several opinions) on something that has importance beyond the walls of the Science labs.

And of course there is the big question that the science teachers ask themselves daily: What is the most important Science to teach our students and how can we do this most effectively? Not a question with just one answer, but a very interesting and exciting one!

Talia Blackman – Year 10

Should we spend money on finding extra-terrestrial life or spend money on earth?

I believe it is important to look for other lifeforms that are not on earth, but I don’t think it is what what the majority of money should be spent on. According to NASA’s budget for 2019, $10 million are spent on exploration for extra-terrestrial life. Although that is not a lot of money compared to NASA’s annual budget, this could send 24,630 children to school, with all required books. But the search for other life is extremely important as it would vastly increase scientist knowledge of the world and could lead to a more thorough understanding of the universe. Personally, I’m not sure if it is beneficial to spend money on finding extra-terrestrial life or if it would be better to spend money on the issues surrounding us and that are occurring right now.