Science Enrichment Program

A Space Dream

Joondalup Primary School offers a science program that aims to inspire young people to be science leaders.

The program is designed to cultivate and pass on a sense of wonderment and scientific curiosity by engaging students in a variety of hands-on investigations that explore all the fields of science as taught in the Australian Curriculum.

Nine students were selected by their classroom teachers to participate in a six-week Science Enrichment Program after school. The selected students embarked on a scientific journey through the solar system, exploring the 8 planets and the dwarf planets that revolve around the Sun. With a STEM focus in mind, each student was asked to design and build a planet so that it was aesthetically correct and would be illuminated at night to show the inner core structure. To further enhance and extend the Science Enrichment Program focus, students participated in the Joondalup Twilight Lantern Festival. The showcase of the JPS planets was an astronomical standout in the festival as they fitted in perfectly with the festival theme ‘A Space Dream’.

Congratulations to the following Year Six students who have successfully completed the program in Term One; Jude, Jaxson, Elizabeth, Adeena, Tia, Lex, Flynn, Rachael, Annabella.

Biology

Term 1 2019 

Biology is the study of living things. Biologists try and understand the natural world and the things that live in it. These include subjects such as plants, animals and micro-organisms.

Throughout Term One, the students have been proactive in the fields of biochemistry (the study of the material substances that make up living things), Botany (the study of plants) and Zoology (the study of animals). The aim of lessons in the lab have been to engage students in inquiry based experiments where they take on the role of a Biologist. Lessons have included living and non-living classification, anatomical study of fruit and vegetables, seed dissections and the exploration of yeast as a micro-organism used in making bread. Many of the students have also taken on a parenting role as they have raised a sunflower from seed or a meal worm from egg in order to understand the life cycle of a plant and animal.

It has been a rewarding term with JPS raising many keen Biologists for the future.

Nerelle Phillips

Science Teacher