Science Week
Jennifer Selinger – Head of Science
View from the Kleinlehrer Family Science Building
It was a bright and spooky Tuesday. Frankenstein’s monster’s head lurked menacingly amongst the enormous measuring cylinders. Nearby, some brightly coloured roses drooped, as if aware of their imminent fate. A sign in chalk on the ground threatened gruesome death to any who crossed the line. Overhead, a bell clanged raucously and a hundred or so students scrambled for a safe place … to watch the annual Science Show!
Our Science Week theme began with a seriously eerie video engineered by Miranda Minton with a group of Year 9 students in which our new leader was born from Skelly the Skeleton and some real body parts (not human, you will be pleased to know).
The theme continued with lots of bubbles (bubbles are scary, right?) – we made big bubbles and small bubbles, put bubbles inside bubbles, bounced bubbles off bubble sheets, used square frames and pyramids – a myriad of bubbles were explored. The area outside K20 was very clean after lunch on Monday!
Tuesday was the aforementioned Science Show. Wednesday we investigated illusions of many kinds, making friends disappear (with varying success) and colouring spinning wheels to merge colours and cause dizziness. I am reliably informed that the ‘coolest’ activity was the parabolic mirror hologram that had everyone cringing as they put their hand on the non-existent thumbtack.
Thursday took the scariness up a notch as the participants constructed Frankenstein’s Monsters which, when set off by their owners, sat up by themselves, causing squeals of excitement. The teachers won, as usual, although the team of STEAM elective students from Year 9 tied with them, producing a limber and creepy monster. The monster that climbed up the wall and made a couple of small people gasp was definitely a close second.
The culmination of the week was the Annual House Science and Maths Trivia Quiz. The scariest part of this was the enormous number of participants this year – it was standing room only in K20 and if the trend continues we may need a change of venue for next year. There was yelling and hand waving as the House teams competed to complete the answers correctly and solve the riddles. Congratulations to Meir House who achieved 1st and 2nd place! A good start to their existence as a House.
As the Science Staff wearily dropped into their chairs on Friday afternoon, we all agreed that the hard work was worth it to see the looks on the students’ faces and hear them tell us that it was really cool and they wished it could be Science Week every week!
Thank you so much to Rochelle Hunter (our Laboratory Technician) for all her hard work behind the scenes getting everything organised and to Miranda Minton and Sarah Bishop for the lion’s share of the planning. Looking forward to next year…
