After distilling lavender and eucalyptus the Purple Power class visited the Timboon Railway Shed Distillery to compare processes. Josh Walker explained the process of distilling alcohol and students were able to compare this process to distilling essential oils such as lavender and eucalyptus. The first difference noted was that the wash is heated slowly and does not boil whereas in essential oils we have boiling water. Many similarities exist in the evaporative process but the output is more pure alcohol than other outputs, whereas with essential oil it is a small amount of oil to large amounts of distillate. Josh explained how the pure spirit is clear and does not have a lot of taste. It is by putting it in barrels and by adding flavours that the whiskey and other spirits gain their colour and taste. Josh talked about the growing market for his whiskey and spirits and his plans to expand production in the future. Thank you Josh for giving up your time to be part of our class and the TAP project. "It's a tough gig but someone has to do it!"... those are probably the thoughts of our two calves, Bambi and Maggi, who have been loaned to the school for 3 weeks for our Cows Create Careers science elective by ex student, Peter Fulton. The calves have been fed, watered, patted, measured, talked to, fed, pampered, assessed, scratched, recorded, exercised, fed, cuddled and observed...a tough gig indeed. Jo Beard, the mayor of Corangamite Shire spoke to the year 7/8 elective politics elective ‘Who’s in Charge’ recently. She spoke about the general role of council representatives, the structure of the Corangamite Shire, some of the lobbying they do and the local and state government budgets. This included explaining some of the wins the shire has had in the recent state budget, particularly regarding roads and the Shipwreck Coast masterplan. Jo spent some time talking about the St Patrick’s Day fires both in general and in terms of the council’s role. It was interesting to hear about her meeting with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and how he had a really positive impact on people’s morale regardless of their political views. Students were able to voice some of their own ideas on areas around Timboon and Port Campbell that they felt could be improved. There was some valuable input on areas such as the swimming pool and skate park in particular. Students also learnt about the Corangamite Youth Council and how they can be used to help implement some of the suggestions made. A big thank you to Jo for giving up her time to come and speak to students as part of the TAP program. |
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February 2024
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