Continuing their studies of Essential Energy, the Year 5/6 students are learning about various forms of non-renewable energy and comparing these with renewable sources of energy. Students are learning how energy can be mobilized and stored and discussed community choices regarding the generation and use of energy. The trainee engineers were then challenged to design and create their own water turbine or waterwheel to lift a small weight. Check out their results! Just because our Year 3/4 students couldn’t visit a sheep farm to investigate procedural writing due to COVID restrictions, it doesn’t mean we can’t bring a farm into the classroom! Thanks to Marilyn and Richard Gristede our students were able to watch a fleece’s transition from lamb to wool bale through a series of videos produced by the Gristedes. Students practiced observing, note taking, drawing a flow diagram and produced a report to demonstrate their understanding of the processes involved. What a wonderful living classroom our students are a part of! Paddock to Plate was a major theme for our Year 3/4 students this year as they investigated how milk and other products were produced, collected, processed into various goods and distributed to retailers before they ended up on our tables. To continue this theme, and learn about procedural writing, our students watched sheep and shearing videos generously produced by Marilyn and Richard Gristede when it became apparent that our Paddock to Plate excursions could not proceed due to remote learning restrictions. After watching ewes lamb, seeing inside the shearing shed, learning about shears, watching a sheep be shorn and observing a fleece being sorted, skirted and packed into a wool bale, students practiced note taking, drawing a flow diagram and writing a report. What a wonderful living classroom our students are invited into, thanks Marilyn and Richard! This semester our Year 9/10 Science elective students are investigating CSI Forensic Science where they discover the underlying principles in chemistry, physics and biology associated with the intriguing world of Crime Scene Investigation. As part of the TAP community connections, we invited Trevor Evans from the Victoria Police Forensic Services Centre to join the class by Webex. Trevor has been a senior examiner in the Major Crime Scene Unit, currently working in the Education and Training Unit and he explained to our students that Forensic Science is 'an application of natural sciences and other sciences pertaining to matters of law'. He described the various careers involved in crime scene investigation and the role of a crime scene examiner which was to 'present a picture' at court of what may or may not have happened at a crime scene using photos, sketches and evidence. Unlike the CSI personnel depicted on TV, Trevor explained that evidence and scenes took much longer to process and that specific skill sets were required in different areas of the investigation before a case went to court. He showed students examples of evidence that was used to link an offender to a crime scene such as ballistics, fingerprints, the physical fit of evidence, shoe impressions and blood stains using Leucocrystal Violet and Luminol. We are very grateful to Trevor for contextualizing the sciences and skills our students are investigating in Forensic Science this semester. A major science focus for our Year 5/6 students this term has been ‘Essential Energy’ with students investigating the vocabulary associated with energy, conducting energy audits in their own homes and learning about the various sources of energy for different types of appliances and machines that transfer and transform of energy. Under the TAP banner students have been provided with examples of different energy sources used in agriculture and in our region. Students have produced posters displaying their exploration of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydro, tidal, geothermal and biomass and non renewable energy sources including nuclear, coal, oil and gas. Earlier this term, as a part of their biennial science studies of ‘Push and Pull’, the Year 1/2 students were able to observe some big machines in action and were challenged to see what parts of machines ‘pushed’ or ‘pulled’. Tim Roberts used a Kobelco 13.5t excavator to explain how levers and pistons could make the arm push or pull with very big or exact movements. Beth Roberts described how the New Holland C232 Bobcat skidsteer used force to move and she demonstrated the hydraulics and rams that were used to move the bucket and tread. As silage season is in full swing, instead of a silage wrapper, this year we invited paramedic Andrew Berry to school to show students how forces are used in the Mercedes Benz ambulance. Andrew demonstrated how to safely use your core to push and pull and students observed the Stryker stretcher and foldable wheelchair in action. Transformers indeed! Thanks again Tim, Beth and Andrew. Water it. Grow it. Cook it! - Winner! During remote learning in Term 3, Mr Bell challenged our 7/8 Kitchen Garden students to be involved in the Wannon Water ‘Water It. Grow It. Cook It.” competition. This is a fantastic program to get students inspired to get back to nature, learn about growing their own fruit and vegetables and create a recipe for their chance to win great prizes. We were recently informed that Year 7 student, Ella Lewis, won first prize in the Secondary Section for her Pumpkin and Spinach Crust-less Quiche. This was a great outcome as the ingredients for the quiche were sourced from Ella’s family garden. The judges mentioned that Ella’s delicious looking quiche was packed with pumpkin, spinach, capsicum, onion, basil, fetta and toasted pine nuts and was certainly a winner. “This recipe is very appealing and the instructions easy to follow. Very delicious, looks healthy and fresh." Ella won a $500 Bunnings voucher to go towards gardening products for our school garden. Congratulations Ella! We were very proud to share the success of our ‘STEP UP!’ nomination in the Resilient Australia Victorian Schools Awards with our community as our volunteers are the backbone of it’s success. Articles were published in two local newspapers and the story was shared by local volunteer emergency services through their social media posts. Thanks to two Timboon P-12 ex students, Katy and Che, and current student Mali who represented the CFA, ACO and Port Campbell Surf Life Saving Club members who facilitated the 2019 TAP’s On! STEP UP event. Fingers crossed for the National Awards in Canberra on 4th December. The Year 7/8 Commerce elective students have been learning about different career pathways and opportunities and were joined via Webex with Biosecurity Officer, Lauren Cain. After her education at a small rural secondary school at Mirboo North, Lauren was a Rural Youth Ambassador, has worked with Zoos Victoria, spent time overseas, studied Conservation and Restoration at postgraduate level and has been a seasonal firefighter for three years. Whilst a Rural Youth Ambassador, Lauren enjoyed speaking to young people and engaging with rural communities. Lauren is currently a Biosecurity Officer with Agriculture Victoria in the Plants, Chemicals and Invasives team in Ararat. As a Biosecurity Officer she helps control pest species; rabbits and foxes, plant pest species like serrated tussocks and helps with emergency response cases such as the recent avian flu outbreaks. After having seven different jobs she has just accepted her dream job as a permeant Park Ranger in Gippsland. Her advice to students was that there are many pathways to reach your goal and to focus on your passions and interests. We are proud to announce that Timboon P-12 School has been awarded First Place for one of our ‘Great Ocean Road – Curds & Why’ Dairy Billboard entries. Over 155 submissions from schools across Australia were received but the winning entry was submitted by team ‘CamemBEAR’ – Poppy Smith and Ruby Ward, so this is an outstanding achievement. Mr Mottram included this competition as part of the Year 8 science unit and this task asked students to create a dairy billboard demonstrating students’ learning about Chemistry-Curds-Cheese. The dairy billboard was designed to include an understanding of the Australian dairy industry, showcase students’ scientific research projects and promote Saputo Dairy Australia and the Great Ocean Road products to consumers. Poppy and Ruby will receive a Winner's Certificate and a prize pack, with Participation Certificates given to students and $500 awarded to the School. A marketing career beckons ladies! |
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March 2024
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