2012 School Magazine

, 11

The Chemistry Olympiad was both fun and challenging Ninete Year I I students who had performed well in Term I started learning the subject matter of the Years I I and 12 Chemistry curriculum in ten weeks with Mrs RDSS The topics included ca rbon c hemistry. electrochemistry. reversible reactions a rid acid-base behaviour. We developed a number of valuable skills. Including learning to teach ourselves from the resources available This may help us over the next few years and Into university. it required a lot of hard work and determination but

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IAIl l During the course of the year. many mathematicalty wired girls have participated in 11unreatI challenges. copious amounts of T 11rrationatI thinking and a mind boggling but extraordinarily fun Maths camp The year started off with the Science and Engineering Challenge in Term I More than thirty 91rts attended The University of Queensland in SIX groups. each group eager to complete a very complex problem An example question included design and build chairs for Jenni and Debbi Itwo dollsl that make a profit for your company ' But the catch to this question 15 that both Debbi and Jenni have to fit nicely on the chair, collectively the dotts weigh SIX kilograms; the chair must be made out of string. popsicle sticks, balsa wood and masking tape. and all the materials and the shipping space have to be 'bought' while still making a profit for your company Our team won this challenge The next charrenge to come was in Term 11. where girls competed In the Maths Challenges for Young Australians Try to answer this, 'construct the sequence of derived strings that start with the beginning string 77377573677407172087777 ' This question was taken from-the-intermediates tage booklet-and-each-girl was given sixteen questions similar in complexity to this one Each question consisted of three parts. and every girl had four weeks to complete them But this was only the Intermediate stage. 11 would be like trying to solve I land make it reall to finish the senior stage. On top of this. girls could also compete in the sixteen-week Maths Challenge for Young Australians. which was extremely complicated with each question taking SIX hours to solve I I

was a rewarding experience ELLEN VISSCHER 111Lj

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Over a ten week time frame. eleven of the Year 11 Biology students trained for the Nation at Qualifying Biology Olympiad Examination. which was hetd in Id-August Training for this rigorous examination 15 an extension opportunity that covers topics not normalty studied by students until they are in Year 12 or undertaking tertiary studies Based on these examination results. students may be selected to attend a summer school from which members of the Australian 810to9y Olympiad Team are then selected Biology Olympiad was a fantastic opportunity to extend our knowledge and learn about biology in more depth - ANNA MEEHAN 111Gl The information we were taught has already come Into use In class. and next year it will be incredibly helpful It was very rewarding and expanded the parameters of my biological knowledge - 1

During Term 111. the fantastic Maths Camp was held. where twenty girls travelted to Marrapatta to filltheir heads with the most complicated maths concepts. Some of the topics covered were patterns in algebra. where the girls learned all about different types of sets and how to find and use them We also

looked at linear and quadratic graphs. learning the y = ax2 + by + c formula. what each component of the formula meant and how it attered the graphs; and combinatorics. understanding how many choices you make from a certain number of objects Each girl had heaps of fun and definitely took a tot away from the camp it's been a busy and challenging year and we are looking forward to solving more challenges. To get You thinking: show and explain how you can create a right-angled triangle out of 24 whole matches MIETTA DUNGLISON 19Gl

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