Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 2016

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SCIENTISTS OF THE FUTURE

ON FRIDAY 11 MARCH, NINE YEAR 7 STUDENTS AND TWO TEACHERS ATTENDED THE BRISBANE SCIENCE FESTIVAL GREEN HEART SCHOOLS FUTURE BNE WATER SECURITY CHALLENGE. THE GROUP WERE EXPOSED TO A NUMBER OF ACTIVITIES AND DISPLAYS REGARDING WATER USAGE, SAFETY AND EDUCATION AND THEN EMBARKED ON A CHALLENGE REGARDING WATER SECURITY IN THE FUTURE.

The girls came together as a productive team throughout the day, listened to each other’s ideas and were very innovative with their design process. The benefit of being exposed to such interesting information and then undergoing such a team-driven innovation process was invaluable and very enjoyable for the whole group. They also got to meet Australian science communicator and champion, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki. Four hundred Year 7 students were involved in the challenge which was run by Brisbane City Council in partnership with Queensland Museum as part of the World Science Festival, held for the first time in Brisbane in 2015. Exposure to external activities such as this challenge provides practical opportunities to extend student learning beyond the classroom and for girls to indulge their interests in a new and stimulating environment.

AUTHOR Mrs Sally Callie Science faculty

AUTHOR Mrs Anna O’Gorman Science faculty

The girls brainstormed a solution to a future water shortage crisis and were then set a number of challenges to present their design. Students Portia Cowan (7G) and Rabiya Abro (7G) reflect on their day. First off we had time to go around to the stalls and do the activities; we made fake snow and figured out how many litres of water different parts of the household use per day. We then sat down and had a talk from Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Graham Quirk and a show from Street Science. We split into our school groups and sat at our allocated table where we had a supervisor who helped our team complete the activity. We then had to build a model of our plan. We built our toilet and that had a filter that the water goes through before going through a pipe and coming out a sprinkler that goes onto the garden. Then the team had to make a two minute video explaining our design and how it would help with recycling.

GRAMMAR GAZETTE