Last week, we celebrated National Science Week! The theme this year was Glass: More Than Meets The Eye.

Students had the opportunity to participate in workshops throughout the week. These included experiments such as creating hot glue glass fibres, creating a light bulb, and observing keynote speakers including Professor Michael Cowling, Executive Director of The Create Lab, and Professor Andrew Bulmer, from the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences at Griffith University.

Professor Cowling introduced Virtual and Augmented reality to students, bringing along his equipment for students to see. Professor Bulmer taught students about the amplitude and frequency of sound waves, and how these can be used in ultrasound machines to generate images. He even brought along a real ultrasound machine and generated sonograms in real time, much to the students' delight! Both Professors are proud Foxwell parents, and we are so grateful for their contribution to our College. Students also participated in National Science Week activities every morning during roll mark, learning about glassblowing, the history of the incandescent lightbulb, and the engineering behind recycling glass bottles in our yellow bins at home to be reused.

In Physical World, students have begun Geography, and what better way to begin than getting their bearings with all the places of the world. Students have been engaged in blended learning including digital technologies and good old-fashioned Atlases. They have also started learning about landforms, including patterns of weathering and erosion in famous landforms like Uluru 

In Science, students have enjoyed getting practical in the lab investigating chemical reactions, including burning magnesium, reacting bicarbonate soda and vinegar, and observing the link between salt solutions and rusting. Students have made links between these chemical reactions and the chemical weathering that occurs in rocks. An example of this can be seen in landforms where oxidation occurs, producing beautiful orange hues, a symbol of the presence of iron oxide

Year 9 Science have been exploring the theory of volcanoes and tectonic activity by modelling phenomena including liquefaction and eruption. A reminder that as per the assessment calendar, all year 9 students will sit their science exam next Wednesday 31st August. Attendance is important for every day, but especially important next Wednesday, to ensure no student misses their exam.

There is certainly a lot going on in this space at the moment, and we're so glad we are able to share it with you.

Nahdia McClymont

Head of Physical World