What's been happening in Science?
This week in Science Year 10 have been learning about DNA in their genetics topic. Students will apply their understanding of DNA and inheritance to understand the concept of evolution later this term. Classes completed an experiment where they extracted DNA from strawberries. The experiment entailed students completing a series of processes to break down plant cells and extract the DNA from the cell nucleus. A photograph below shows the strawberry solution and the DNA in the alcohol layer above (seen as a white mucous-like substance).
In Year 9 this week, students are learning about basic chemical reactions with a focus on metal and acid reactions. A number of investigations have taken place to determine the most reactive metal to the least reactive.
While in Year 8, students have been working on properties of metals.
Year 7 have been persisting with the challenging concept of ‘density’ in their classes this week. Students learned how to calculate the density of both regular and irregular shapes in their practical lessons. Students then explored how heat can affect the density of liquids in an experiment where they had warm water sit in a layer on top of cold water. The results were great and can be observed in the photograph below.
Up and coming events.
Next week Magdalene is celebrating Science week.
Year 10 have an exam block in week 7- it is a 2hr exam plus an online component known as the PAT-S test. Notifications will be out next week.
Year 11 will be preparing for their exams wk 8-10.