National Chemistry Quiz

In August, Science students participated in the Royal Australian Chemical Institute Australian National Chemistry Quiz. The quiz attracted entries from schools in Australia, Asia, England, Canada and Switzerland. The aims of the quiz are to promote and encourage an awareness of the nature and relevance of chemistry amongst secondary school students. All VCE Chemistry and interested Year 10 students participated in the quiz. Congratulations to the following students for an outstanding effort:

Year 10 Candidates:

• Claire Hayne received a Credit.

Year 11 Candidates        

• Darcy Christie, Celia Cody, Qirui (Cindy) Li, Yu (Monica) Mao, Olivia Soong Zi Yuan and Zi Yuan (Victoria) Wang received a Credit.
• Clementine Aston, Kavina Kalaichelvam and Flynn O’Brien received a Distinction.
• Gabriella Tymms received a High Distinction.

Year 12 Candidates

• Annabel Joubert and Qiling (Sherry) Xu received a Credit.
• Demi Markakis and Lucy Porter received a Distinction.

High Distinction – The top 10% of students in the state.
Distinction – The top 10-25% of students in the state.
Credit – The top 25-40% of students in the state.

Chemistry Olympiad Examination

In August, over 5,000 students registered for the Australian Science Olympiad Examinations in Biology, Earth and Environmental Science, Chemistry and Physics. Designed to challenge top performers, students from schools across Australia registered to sit the two-hour examination. These are the first stages of the selection process for the Australian teams competing at the International Science Olympiads. Congratulations to Olivia Soong Zi Yuan (Year 11) and Gabriella Tymms (Year 11) who received a Credit certificate, placing her in the top 30%. Qirui (Cindy) Li (Year 11) received a Distinction, placing her in the top 20%.

Education Perfect Science Championships

During August, interested students were tested on all elements of science from the Australian curriculum. They gained points by answering questions and as they reached certain thresholds they earned certificates. Congratulations to Caitlin Wang (Year 7) and Paula Chen (Year 8) who both received an Emerald award placing them in the top 1%; Flora Du (Year 7) received a Gold award placing her in the top 2%; Megan Duong (Year 8), India Marner (Year 8), Livia Gowrie (Year 7), Olivia Bogdan (Year 8) and Sophie Simons (Year 8) received a Silver Award placing them in the top 5%; Christina Wu (Year 7), Sophie Boyce (Year 10), Jemima Wilcox (Year 7) and Jasmine Pierides (Year 8) received a Bronze Award placing them in the top 10%; Grace Hayne (Year 8), Lucy Croft (Year 10), Laura Flack (Year 7) and Jo-Jo Patterson (Year 7) received a Credit Award placing them in the top 20% of the competition.

Science Talent Search

Year 7 Science Honours students have been well rewarded for their hard work. With the help of their Science teacher, Miss Megan Vu, they entered the annual Science Talent Search run by the Science Teachers’ Association of Victoria.

The following students received a distinction for their work:

• Christina Wu submitted a creative writing piece on ‘Australian Changes that revolutionised the world’
• Jo-Jo Patterson created a game called ‘Dicing Trivia’ for the Junior Computer Programs Division.
• Flora Du submitted a series of photos of an experiment on ‘Does air pressure inside a soccer ball affect distance?’.
• Ava Colosimo and Livia Gowrie submitted a video that explained the science behind ‘How sound can put out fires’.
• Caitlin Wang and Ellen Vote submitted a video on ‘How we see the world’.

Laura Flack’s scientific poster on Great Australian Change Makers earnt her a minor bursary in the Junior Poster Scientific Wall Charts Section of the Competition. She will attend the presentation day on 29 October 2018 held at La Trobe University. Over 800 winning students will be present to display and explain their entries and to receive their bursary cheques at special presentation ceremonies. All members of the public are invited to attend the exhibition of entries and to view the work that is done by the scientists of the future. The exhibition opens 10.00am in the Union Hall.

National Youth Science Forum

The Science Faculty would like to congratulate Year 11 student Mardi Bray on her selection for the 2019 National Youth Science Forum. Her academic performance and success with several selection panels has now provided her with the opportunity to learn from Australia’s leading scientists when she will attend the Forum in Canberra in January. During the two week program held at The Australian National University, Mardi will visit research and laboratory facilities in an area of scientific interest, will work and talk with practising scientists and engineers about their work and will participate in a range of science forums, debates and seminars.

Science Students @ Work Program

Our Year 10 students completed an engineering project with Umow Lai, as part of the Science Students @ Work Program.

Year 10 students Amber Liong, Lucy Croft, Laura Glaspole, Margaret Handolias, Kaiyue Ren and Jasmyn Jiang completed an engineering project with Umow Lai, South Yarra, as part of the Science Students @ Work Program, during the term break. Students were required to create the most sustainable and accessible library for Melbourne. Students consulted with the engineers at Umow Lai to minimise energy, water and waste by incorporating new materials and innovative systems. Students presented their findings to the staff at Umow Lai at the conclusion of the project.

Year 10 Science Excursion to the Melbourne Museum

On 25 October, all Year 10 students visited the Melbourne Museum as part of St Catherine’s Year 10 Evolution Science unit of study. During this excursion the students were guided through three exhibitions by St Catherine’s Science staff. The exhibitions visited were 600 Million Years: Victoria Evolves, Darwin to DNA and Dynamic Earth.

Amber Liong and Lucy Croft at the Melbourne Museum.

In 600 Million Years: Victoria Evolves, students were taken on a journey through time. They viewed hundreds of fossils, got up close to Australian dinosaurs, viewed live lungfish to find out how vertebrates moved onto land and explored animated interactive timelines. In Darwin to DNA students investigated the roles of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in independently discovering the theory of evolution through natural selection. Mechanisms of evolution, including genetic drift and divergent and convergent evolution, were explored. The final exhibition, Dynamic Earth, use cutting-edge technology and thousands of minerals to tell the story of our incredible living planet. Students were surrounded by an active volcano in Rio Tinto Volcanic 3D in AVIE by iCinema UNSW, a 3D cinema exhibit. They experienced scientifically accurate computer animations of a variety of volcanic activities.

The students also visited The Mind: Enter the Labyrinth exhibition where students were engaged in Psychology related activities.