Welcome to G-STEM!

This term we welcomed our new Year 7 students to the G-STEM team and have shared in some fun and games between classes. One game we played tested the teamwork and reflexes of our students as they had to visually spot a match box, and respond by sending a touch reaction to their team. Did you know that our touch reflex is almost twice as fast as our visual conscious reflex? 150 milliseconds compared to 250 milliseconds! With practice, you can train your reflexes to become sharper, increasing your reaction time.

What We Are Working On

We have jumped straight into exploring the STEM inquiry cycle. Students have been investigating environmental factors that influence the hatching rate of the species Artemia salina. Sea Monkeys, more commonly known as Artemia salina (brine shrimp) are small crustaceans that live in highly salty environments, such a brine pools, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. Artemia salina have the ability to undergo cryptobiosis or anhydrobiosis, a condition of apparent lifelessness which allows them to survive the desiccation of the temporary pools in which they live. When they are freeze dried, the eggs can last for several years, according to the book Medicinal Plant Research in Africa. 

Artemia salina are photo-reactive, which means they will react to sunlight. Students have designed an experiment surrounding the change of one environmental factor; some examples are temperature, light availability, egg density, container shape, pH and salinity. We will be hatching our eggs next Wednesday!

Excursion Updates

Unfortunately, due to the recent flooding events, all in-person events at the World Science Festival in Brisbane have been cancelled. This means that our excursion originally planned for next Thursday will no longer go ahead. We are devastated and know that the students will share in our disappointment. We will endeavour to seek an opportunity to replace this extra-curricular experience for the students.

Program Reminders

Please ensure you have signed and returned the Excellence Agreement Form, which was sent home this week.

Ms Nahdia McClymont

Head of Department - Physical World/G-STEM Coordinator