Period 8 and 9

As part of the 2018 STEM Festival, we will be running two extra periods on our timetable on Wednesday, 2 May from 6:00 PM, just for parents and friends.  A range of teachers in the Senior school will run sessions that come straight out of our teaching programs, so that you can experience the sorts of things that go on in our classrooms every day, with a decidedly STEM flavour.

These are not show-and-tell sessions, but hands-on classes where you get to be the student for two lessons.

The classes are being run by some of our most experienced and senior staff and range from chemistry experiments and astronomy, through to food technology and sports science. See below for all of the things that are on.

No experience or background in any of these areas is necessary – just bring your phone, your inquisitiveness and your enthusiasm to get involved.

To join us on the evening, please follow this link to register for the sessions that you are interested in. Unfortunately, there are maximum class sizes with some of our sessions (due to the room sizes), so they will be filled on a first-in basis. Please note, there is a separate registration for each participant. In the week prior, we will send you your personalised timetable for the evening.

I look forward to sharing some exciting learning with the whole community as part of the 2018 STEM Festival.

Trent Driver
Deputy Head (Academic)

PDHPE 
Year 10 PDHPE 
Mr Wayne Cox (Head of Teaching and Learning) 
Mr Michael Ha (E-Learning Leader and PDHPE Teacher)

Participants in this session will perform a range of basic fundamental movement skills (jumping, throwing, and golf swings) and self/peer assess the movement using different analysis apps on the iPad. The big screen will also be used as a teaching tool during the lesson.  Participants are asked to wear comfortable clothes to get the most out of the session.

Using video provides many opportunities for enhancing students’ motivation and learning. 65% of all learning in Physical Education is through visualisation (Kibble, 2005). Videos can be used as immediate delayed replay to provide students with a better understanding of the importance of breaking skills into components and the technique of performing a skill (Weir & Connor, 2009). It also creates highly motivated students and increases the pace of learning (Kibble, 2005).

PDHPE 
Year 9 PDHPE 
Mr Nick Wainman (Head of PDHPE) 

Participants in this session will complete a lesson from the Year 9 PDHPE program.  You will complete a fitness circuit and will be issued with a heart rate transmitter to record your heart rate and collect data associated with your effort.  This lesson will use technology to better understand ways to interpret our fitness and use that information to better inform our personal health goals. Participants will require appropriate attire, towel, water bottle, plenty of energy and enthusiasm.

Technology
Year 11 Engineering Studies
Mr Lindsay Raven (Senior Engineering Teacher)

Participants in this session will explore the structure of materials, as part of the HSC Engineering Studies course. We will look at how the internal structure of materials influence their physical and mechanical properties in a range of applications. These ideas are part of the fundamental building blocks in Materials Science, and central to any understanding of Engineering.

Technology
Year 9/10 The Lab
Mr Jimi Randall (Senior Engineering Teacher)

Participants will complete the first introductory lesson to the Lab, our home-grown Design Thinking subject. This will cover an introduction to using the laser cutter and Corel Draw. Parents will be introduced to design principles and our workshop and will leave having produced a headphone wrap.

Mathematics
Year 11 Mathematics
Mr Doug Vass (Head of Mathematics)

This is a dive into Mathematics, and participants will get a chance to see how maths is applied in the classes of our senior students.  Have you ever wondered what “e” meant? Why is it 2.718281… We will prove this via learning an introductory calculus concept and some good old compound interest. You will work through some calculus via first principles and complete some simple calculations. This sits in both the Year 11 IB and HSC courses in Year 11, and is a great insight into Maths at the school.

Science
Year 10 Science
Mr Vatche Ansourian (Senior Chemistry Teacher)

The kitchen is essentially a chemistry lab where food are your chemicals and cooking and baking are the chemical techniques used. This lab will introduce the chemistry of food. Participants will make spherified liquids, flavoured spaghetti, fluffy solids and pearls of food. The chemistry of food involves polymerisation, changes in state, and the uses of everyday chemicals. This is definitely a practical session and will make food look anything but plain!

Science
Year 10 Science
Mr Andrew Millar (Head of Science) and Mr Ian Oosterhof (Senior Physics Teacher)

The wonders of the night sky can be viewed from Earth with just our eyes, but there is a way to get a better view. This outdoors hands-on activity will involve Participants using telescopes and instruments to view the night sky and see objects previously missed. Students encounter space throughout Years 7-10 and continue studying the physics of the universe in Years 11 and 12.

Science
Year 10 Science
Mr Andrew Davies (Senior Chemistry Teacher)

Chemistry is a colourful science and involves a myriad of colours, sound and smells. This lab-based session will demonstrate a number of chemical reactions which students see from 7-12. Participants will be able to watch a series of experiments involving liquid nitrogen, dry ice and explosive thermite reactions.

Science
Year 8 Science
Ms Joanne Heaume (Senior Biology Teacher) and Mr Tom Cosgrove (Assistant Head of Science)

Dissections are one of the most important biological techniques which shed light on internal structures of organisms. Participants will live a lesson in the life of a year 8 student and will dissect a rat using scientific equipment. Students in year 8 dissect a mammal such as a rat to consolidate their study on human body systems. (Please note, parents who feel ill at the sight of blood or during surgical procedures should not attend this session).

Technology
Year 10 Food Technology
Ms Shelly Carruthers (Acting Head of Technology)

From the Coolamon to the Wok. Come and join a hands-on experience in the kitchen taking part in a Stage 5 Food Technology lesson within the unit of ‘Food in Australia’. Participants will be introduced to the workings of the teaching kitchen, then take part in the practical components of turning bush foods in contemporary cuisine. You will get to sample Crocodile, Kangaroo, Green Ants and Finger Limes and much more. Just to get a little taste at what our boys experience as part of this unit.

Technology
Year 10 Coding and Robotics
Mr David McNaughton (Senior Technology Teacher)

Computational thinking is the process of understanding a problem and expressing its solution in a way that a computer can solve the problem and is at the core of coding or computer programming. In this lesson, parents will learn the key concepts of computational thinking and experience coding their own computer program to put these ideas into practice. The lesson reflects the early stages of the Year 9 & 10 Coding and Robotics elective and also units of work in the Year 8 Games Design and the Year 10 Information & Software Technology courses.