There is so much happening in Science at St John’s it is not possible to include everything here, so we would like to share a snapshot of a few things happening in and around F block.

Students in Year 7 have been investigating separating techniques in their science lessons, building on their understanding of the particle theory of solids, liquids and gases.

Filtration and Evaporation are two of the experimental processes they have investigated collaboratively within their enquiry based approach.  

YEAR 8

Chocolate chip cookie mining was one approach these Year 8 students simulated to develop their understanding of Australia's rich mining resources.

Students investigated the difficulties in exploiting these resources sustainably, as well as the wider impacts on the environment and our unique biodiversity. This helps students to appreciate the scale of mining and useful products that can be obtained from the mined ore.

Students in Year 8 also develop their skills in working scientifically, these skills in collaboration and problem solving will soon be put to the test in Week 8 when they participate in the science faculties STEM day on Wednesday 9 & Friday 11 June.

YEAR 9

Students in Year 9 have worked through a natural disasters topic investigating the impacts of bushfires and the structure and movement of the Earth’s crust and how this can result in earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In Term 2 , their studies turned to the chemical world, building on their prior learning from Stage 4.

YEAR 10 

As part of the Year 10 Science Extension Physics Unit, Mrs Lewis' class put theory into practice! Students collaborated in groups to research the construction of catapults, modify the design to build a scale model and test their designs projectile motion. The construction materials and design were decided upon by each group as well as the type of projectile selected, however most groups opted for wooden frames and rubber bands.

Students took into account Newton's 3 laws of motion, applied their knowledge and understanding of trajectory motion and used various secondary sources to calculate the force, speed, acceleration and kinetic energy exerted by the projectile. Groups were able to compare how the projectiles differed in distance travelled based on the height of the launch. Students challenged their thinking, inquired, took ownership and reflected on their learning of these physics principles.

Year 10 students investigating the effects of corrosion and exploring options to minimise its impact on society.

YEAR 11

Biology students undertook a field trip to the Mt Kiera escarpment to investigate a rainforest remnant at its base. This is a mandatory component of the Biology syllabus and students soon got to grips with field sampling techniques and investigated the unique flora and fauna that is very different to their local bushland communities. 

Meanwhile back at school the Physics class are investigating time tested experiments using ticker timers, these are still used to investigate motion in a straight line. Making ticker-timer charts also develops an understanding of speed-time graphs.

Biology students are currently undertaking their preliminary depth study and are investigating the cellular processes of diffusion and osmosis involved in the transport of substances through the plasma membrane to meet the requirements of the cell. In the coming week they will investigate the mechanisms and the action of enzymes within biological systems, as well as diving into the microscopic world and working scientifically at the one thousandth of a millimetre (or one millionth of a meter) scale.

YEAR 12

HSC Biology students in Term 1 participated in a 2 day incursion here at St John’s to learn more about biotechnology - what it is, the science involved, and how it can be used to make biotech medicines.

The program featured a hands-on molecular biology approach, and gave students the opportunity to explore the methods scientists use to create biotechnology medicines.

St John’s teachers in partnership with the University of Sydney and AMGEN Pharmaceuticals lead students through the molecular engineering process that allows human insulin to be mass produced in vats by bacteria.

As we are unable to experiment on human genes, a red fluorescent gene from a sea urchin was engineered by the students into E. coli bacterium. Students had to manipulate the plasmids with restriction enzymes, run confirmation electrophoresis gels and amplify the target gene using Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a method widely used to rapidly make millions to billions of copies (complete copies or partial copies) of a specific DNA sample, allowing scientists (aka Year 12 Bio students) to take a very small sample of DNA and amplify it (or a part of it) to a large enough amount tostudy/visualise in detail.

 

Year 12 Chemists have been busy working out our olfactory senses playing with carboxylic acids and alcohols, and using an acid catalyst, to form an ester. This reaction is called the Fischer esterification. Esters are usually characterised by their smell.

The senior MC class have also investigated the microscopic world of pathogens and developed models of common pathogenic organisms such as viruses and bacteriophages.