National Science Week is from 11-19 August and there are several events being held throughout the metropolitan area and many of them are free.
If you would like to find out more, click this link and you will find the WA events finder for National Science Week. Some of these events would make a great day out for a family of Science loving individuals!
National Science Week WA events finder
Mrs Cogger encourages all families with a keen passion for Science to attend this wonderful community event. Our students are submitting entries to the ‘logo’ competition and hopefully some of our drawings and designs will be on display the expo.
Celebration of Science Community Expo
On Friday it was National Schools Tree Planting Day. The Year 3 students planted a ‘Noonjar Bush Tucker Garden’ with tube stock plants kindly donated by SERCUL, one of the local environmental groups that we are in partnership with.
Groups of students worked with Kirsten Devereux and Mrs Cogger to plant out the bush tucker garden. If you would like to take a look, you will find the bush tucker garden along the fence line behind the Year 1 boat playground.
The Year 3 students have been learning about bush tucker plants during their Science lessons this past fortnight so they were very well informed about the different species and the Noonjar uses for them.
Some of the species that were planted are
The Scarlett Runner – Noonjar people use this for making crafts and tools as the stem can be used like a ‘twine’ and the leaves can be brewed to make tea.
This is known as a Bloodroot and can be roasted and eaten like a potato.
The students also planted the Bull Banksia which is used to carry a flame when moving camp sites.
Here are some images of the students working hard on Friday morning. As you can see there was a lot of work to be done.
Of course by 10:30am we were not finished. There were still 12 plants left to go in. So at 2pm Mrs Cogger invited the Year 6 Environmental Committee to help her finish off the project. Thanks Year 6.
Mrs Cogger would like to thank Kirsten Devereux for kindly helping out as it was a huge task to get all of these plants in and she did a fantastic job – helping set up all of the equipment and marking out a planting pattern.
We would also like to thank Natasha Bowden from SERCUL for supporting us with this project and for donating the plants.
Our Year 2 students have taken up the potato challenge through their involvement in the WA Potatoes Seed for Schools program this year. Our materials package from WA Potatoes arrived earlier this term with instructions to have our seed potatoes planted by end of term. So the race was on to get them in.
Mr and Mrs Cogger had chosen Wednesday as the day to plant the potatoes. However, the weather was wet and wintery. We kept watch all morning for a break in the weather. Unfortunately 2B missed out on getting their bed of potatoes planted as during their Science lesson it was ‘pouring’. Finally there was a break in the weather for about 15 minutes and Mrs Cogger called Mr Cogger and ordered him to ‘meet 2G at the veggie garden now!’
Here are a few photos of the students planting the seed potatoes. WA Potatoes Seed for Schools will be following our potato planting journey. The Year 2 students will be learning about tubers and seeds next term and how they are different.
The Devereux brothers were back in business again this week helping out with St Emilie’s Community Veggie Garden. Patrick and Merrick helped harvest ALL the radishes and wow look at that amazing amount of produce!
The boys have fun towing the trolley to the hall to sell our veggie produce to visiting parents and guests.
Here are some of our happy customers this morning.
A group of Year 6 students have taken over the veggie accounts. This a wonderful maths problem solving and accounting exercise for the students. Mrs Cogger gives the students the money made from the sale of veggies and then the students work out their own accounting system. As a team they work out the profits and pay out any debts. At present we are in front.
Mrs Cogger is putting together a new veggie garden roster for Term 3. If you would like to volunteer, then please send Mrs Cogger an email.
Mr and Mrs Cogger are delighted to inform the school community that we have managed to get some coverage of the quenda living in St Emilie’s Bushland. Recently Mrs Cogger purchased a ‘night activation camera’. Over the past few weeks we have been setting up the camera in different spots around the bushland with the hope of capturing some images of the quenda.
Finally we had some luck.
This image shows the quenda on the far right bottom corner
Trail camera
We also found a mouse on the tree trunk.
Trail camera
If you click this link below you will see the video coverage of the quenda.
Our Year Ones are learning about nocturnal animals. The students will be having a presentation from Amanda Kristancic from the Backyard Bandicoot project based at Murdoch University. We will be very excited to share these images with her.
Science– An overview of Term 2 learning experiences
Dear Parents
This term the student’s learning experiences will be focused on the Science Understanding of Earth and Space Sciences and integrating with the whole school Mappen concept of CHANGE.
Year 1 Changes in the sky
Year one students will consider the changes in the night and day sky. Students will make predictions and scientific observations about the daily, weekly and seasonal changes that they observe in their local environment. They will use their understandings about day and night to make observations about the changes nocturnal animals make to adapt to their environments. I am waiting to hear from the Backyard Bandicoot project at Murdoch University as our resident Southern Brown Bandicoot is still inhabiting our bushland. I have invited Natasha Tay to make a presentation about bandicoots to the students.
Year 2 Night and Day
Year two students will consider the changes in the night and day sky. Students will make predictions and scientific observations about the daily, weekly and seasonal changes that they observe in their local environment. They will use their understandings about day and night to make observations about the Earth’s rotation, how shadows are formed and participate in role plays to show their learning. The Year 2 students will also commence the Seed Potatoes for Schools Project (an initiative through WA Potatoes) and plant their seed potatoes towards the end of term 2. WA Potatoes will support the students throughout this initiative.
Year 3 Earth, Sun and Moon
Year three students will explore the changes in size, shape, position and movement of the Earth, Sun and Moon. They will investigate how shadows change throughout the duration of the day and link this new knowledge to changes in the Sun’s apparent movement across the sky.
Year 4 Earth’s Place in Space
Through a unit on the Earth’s rotation the students will learn how the changing patterns in the sky relate to days, months and years. Students will understand how observation and models can be used to shape their ideas and understandings through hands on activities. Students will explore the changing face of the Moon, explore Aboriginal astronomy and investigate the changing Noonjar season of Makaru.
Year 5 The Earth’s Orbit
Students will learn about the concept of change through a unit about the Sun, Earth and Moon. Students will understand how observation and models can be used to shape their ideas and understandings through hands on activities. Students will investigate the light spectrum and explore the solar system by using Celestia and Stellarium (a planetarium app). Students will also share how Science for Human Endeavour impacts our lives by sharing articles from the Double Helix magazines.
Year 6 The Changing Earth’s Surface
Through the concept of Changethe students will understand the causes of earthquakes and how they change the Earth’s surface. Students will also learn how changesto our local water supply have benefits for the local population. As a Waterwise School, we have been invited to the Ground Water Replenishment Facility in Craigie on Tuesday 29 May to learn about the future initiatives of our water supply. The students will also have an incursion from Earth Sciences WA about ‘Chem Rocks’. Students will be investigating the chemistry of soils and testing lime to help out a farmer with their crop. Robogals an initiative from the University of WA will also be giving a robotics workshop to the Year 6 girls on Tuesday 22 May.
What you might like to do at home:
On Tuesday the year 6 girls had a Robogals incursion. Robogals is a student run organisation that aims to inspire and empower young women to consider studying engineering and related fields. Robogals offer engineering and technology workshops free-of-charge in their local communities, focusing on encouraging girls from primary to secondary school to explore an interest, as well as cultivate self-confidence, in these areas.
Our presenter was Aaron. Aaron commenced the workshop with a presentation about STEM careers.
Aaron then showed the students how to program the Lego Mindstorms robots.
The students were placed into their cooperative teams and given time to experiment with he robots.
Our first challenge was to program the robot so that it travelled in a ‘square’.
Aaron was available to help the students if they encountered any difficulties.
Here are some photos of the students enjoying the incursion.
Mrs Cogger would like to thank Aaron and Dil from Robogals for providing this wonderful opportunity of learning, fun and collaboration.
This morning two of our St Emilie’s families met with Mrs Cogger to work in the veggie garden. The tasks were to pick and bag rocket and to pick, wash and bag radish. BTW Mrs Thuijs loves our radish!! Unfortunately she missed out on a bag this week as we sold out!
If you would like to volunteer for the veggie garden roster then please send Mrs Cogger an email as she is still looking for helpers to fill the roster. Her email is
Kerrie.Cogger@cewa.edu.au
We meet on the Friday mornings when there is an assembly. We work from 8-8:30am in the veggie garden and then take our produce to the hall to sell at the assembly.
Mrs Cogger would like to thank the Devereux boys Patrick and Merrick and Solomon Bonney for working so hard this morning.
This morning Mrs Cogger had the pleasure of taking four of our Year 6 students to Mazenod College to compete in the Synergy Solar Car Challenge. Synergy and STAWA (Science Teacher’s Association of WA) provided solar car kits to schools who had registered for the project and challenge. The kit included enough materials for the students to build solar cars. The students have conducted investigations with the solar cars such as
At 9:30am the competition commenced. The students had 80 minutes to build a solar car from scratch and test it out. There was a ‘hum’ of enthusiastic and engaged Year 6 and 8 scientists at work in the hall at Mazenod College.
The goal of the competition was to race the car along a 20m track made out of corflute board. One student set their car at the start line and at the finish line another student had to ‘catch’ the car so that the car didn’t crash into the sand bags.
Mrs Cogger would like to add her own comments about the day. The students were a delight to take to the competition. They used their problem solving skills and faced all the challenges with a positive attitude. They were polite and extremely well -behaved. The students were happy to celebrate the success of the other competitors.
And to top it off we came 3rd. Congratulations to Josh D, Josh H, Loren and Joanna.
To view photos of the Synergy Solar Car Challenge click the link below.
2018 Synergy Solar Car Challenge
