Year 7
Semester 1
This semester students will develop the skills needed to conduct scientific investigations, focusing on the Earth and Space Sciences, and Biological Sciences strands of the Australian Curriculum. In Earth and Space Sciences, students investigate the southern seasons, the Moon and its interactions with Earth, and comets, asteroids and meteors. The Biological Sciences unit is based on classification systems, differences between groups of organisms and food webs.
Semester 2
During Term Three, students will be conducting experiments to learn about forces, and renewable energy sources, as part of our Physical Sciences unit. In Term Four, students will develop the skills needed to use Bunsen burners and conduct experiments using separation techniques in Chemical Sciences unit. They will also investigate various processes involved in the water cycle.
Year 8
Semester 1
During Semester 1, the topics covered are Biology and Physics. The semester work involves expanding students’ Science Inquiry Skills which includes developing hypotheses, analysing data, evaluating validity and reliability and constructing evidence based arguments to communicate scientific purposes. In the Biology unit of work, students are introduced to microscopes, cells and their structures and body systems, whilst the Physics unit investigate energy types, transfers and transformations, simple machines and electrical circuits.
Semester 2
Semester 2 sees students continuing to extend the skills needed to carry out Scientific Investigations. The topics covered in this semester are Chemistry and Earth Sciences. In Chemistry, the students investigate the structure and property of elements, compounds and mixtures, as well as the composition, behaviour, structure and properties of Matter, and the changes it undergoes during Chemical and Physical Reactions. The Earth Science unit traces the history of the formation of the Earth, Earth’s Structure, the Theory of Continental Drift and Rock Types, which includes studies of Earthquakes and Volcanoes.
Year 9
Semester 1
In Semester One, topics covered are Chemistry & Biology. Students are introduced to the notion of the atom as a system of protons, electrons and neutrons, and how this system can change through nuclear decay. They learn that matter can be rearranged through chemical change and that these changes play an important role in many systems. Students will explore ways in which the human body as a system responds to its external environment and the interdependencies between biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems.
Semester 2
During Semester Two, the students will investigate through inquiry learning the Earth and Beyond, and Energy and Change strands of the NTFC and Earth and Space Science, Physical Science and Science as a Human Endeavour in the Australian Curriculum. They will investigate concepts associated with renewable energy with particular emphasis wind and solar and their role in the future, light and sound and discoveries associated with it and pursue the concept of space travel and its implications.