Science Week

For Science Week this year, the Science Department took the theme of `Bodyworks’ and held a number of events looking at different aspects of how our bodies keep us alive and healthy. Warned that the activities were ‘Not for the squeamish’, in lunchtime sessions, 80 Year 7 and 8 students watched the dissection of an enormous ox heart, then they held and labelled the various parts of a lamb’s heart, looked at human blood cells under a microscope and tested how their hearts responded to exercise.

In our after school event, Year 7 students learned all about Digestion, How we move and the Pulmonary System. This might sound a bit dull but it was great to see the students’ jaws drop as they saw the digestive system of a rat, the inside of a pig’s head and the lungs of a pig being inflated in front of them. The students got `hands-on’ with chicken wings to see how the tendons and muscles worked. They also saw the effect of enzymes in liver, learnt how the pH of the gut varies along its 9 metre length and the ‘making poo’ demonstration of the stages of digestion is always a favourite. Lastly, a big thanks to Mr Vandenberg for hooking himself up to a Tens machine to demonstrate involuntary movement! We normally set fire to things for Science Week but the students’ high degree of fascination and their detailed questions were proof that Biology is amazing too!