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Wilderness Times | Spring 2020
FACULTY IN FOCUS
SCIENCE “If you hear a voice within you say you cannot paint, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.” – Vincent van Gogh This ‘can do’ attitude resonated strongly with the faculty, as we faced the online COVID-19 challenge; keeping learning alive for the girls during lockdown…but never locked in. The Science Faculty ever resourceful, harnessed the ‘science of life’ that surrounds us every day whether we are at home, at school, within a classroom, or at the dining room table. Across the Middle and Senior School, our girls undertook a series of different activities during their remote learning journey. Our Year 7’s focused on understanding the principles of pure and impure substances by completing a treasure hunt. Here they saw, identified and learned about pure and impure substances. “Today I have learnt many objects are pure or impure substances. I have learnt that some types of sugar are pure, and others aren’t. I learnt that raw rubber is pure, but rubbers are not. I now know that tap water isn’t pure, but distilled is. I have learnt and deepened my understanding of pure and impure substances and what they are. I am excited to challenge myself by dissecting and pulling apart substances and finding out what particles they have in them. I still wonder which everyday items I use are pure and impure. What are the most common pure and impure substances?” – Audrey Petrucco
In Year 8, girls investigated particle theory. To further develop their understanding, they reflected on the connections they made to the processes of diffusion, convection, expansion and contraction. While our Year 9 students demonstrated the ‘conservation of mass’ using kitchen items, their double lessons were broken up by heading into the garden to photograph a flower and uploading it to the group chat. Girls in Years 10, 11 and 12 worked together in break-out communities of learning in order to beat the isolation. The engagement seen across their chat rooms was a testimony to the deep learning the girls continued to enjoy during the difficult time. These special moments not only captured the unprecedented challenge facing humanity, but they also captured the ingenuity and resourcefulness of our staff. As a faculty we continued to push the boundaries, we continued to learn (what worked well and what needed improvement – and at a lightening pace), and we continued to share our collective wisdom in order to continue to deliver learning that matters. As a leader, I am incredibly proud of the Science Faculty and girls alike as we embraced this challenge together and kept science alive within our virtual classrooms. Simone Burzacott-Gorman Head of Science
