Post Science Week fun continued on Wednesday 23rd August, when the Year 5 students visited Scitech. They were excited to extend their understanding of our Solar System with a trip to the Planetarium. Students demonstrated their knowledge of astro-navigation and the major constellations of Perth’s night sky. An amazing tour of hemisphere’s sky was followed by an incredibly interesting documentary entitled “Dark Universe”. This explored the most recent scientific hypotheses about the expanding Solar System and the role dark matter plays in the universe. Then it was time for ‘hands on’ exploration.
Students touched, pulled, pushed, balanced, thought, watched, laughed and amazed at the scientific marvels of Scitech. They were then asked to pause and think as they enterred the Rio Tinto Innovation Centre. The Year 5 students considered technological innovation and its application in the real world. Students were challenged to fly paper cups, build earthquake resistant towers and think laterally to solve real world problems.
There was just enough time to visit the Scitech special feature area, based on Crime Scene Investigation Science and Technology. Students were asked to solve a “Whodunnit” mystery involving a missing rhinoceros. They used their inferring and investigative skills to solve the crime. By day’s end, everyone’s brain was full to capacity of Scientific fun and facts. We hope to apply our newly gained understandings to our Rube Goldberg Machine Projects in Term 4.