CSI – Curious science investigators discovering the wonders of science!

St Francis of Assisi College (SFoAC) Year 8 students celebrated National Science Week 2024 on Wednesday 14 August with St Joseph’s School Renmark (SJSR) Year 3 students by igniting their curiosity and creativity. A morning of fun and hands-on science experiments was enjoyed by over 60 students who came together in the new Science Labs to explore the chemistry and physics outcomes of the experiments.

SFoAC Year 8 students spent time leading up to National Science Week researching, planning, preparing, and trialling their experiments. This enabled the students to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding in the planning and set up of STEM experiments, as well as the scientific reasonings for outcomes of their experiments. Students worked through the process of researching including detailed instructions, setting up stations with all equipment and ingredients needed, how to present and share information, preparing questions and prompters to ask the Year 3 students, then an evaluation of how things went following the event.

Excitement levels were high as the day arrived and so did the Year 3 students from SJSR. Demonstrations were held both outdoors and indoors, with the Year 8 students sharing information about the experiments as they were carrying them out, asking for input from the Year 3 students predicting what may happen such as “what do you think is going to happen when I pour the vinegar into the bicarb soda?”, “once the mentos falls into the bottle of Coke, do you think there will be a chemical or physical reaction?” and “why do you think the egg shell breaks away after sitting in the vinegar for days?”. Many hands were raised when helpers were required, engaging the younger students in the hands-on steps of the experiments. Explosions, erupting volcanos and big bangs from the Glow in the Dark Volcano, Exploding Bags, Balloon Pop/Not, Elephant Toothpaste and Mentos and Coke experiments were met with gasps and shrieks of surprise and joy! Another popular element of the showcase was sharing the outcome of some of the experiments that students were able to touch and try. This included students feeling the textures of Snow Fluff and Oobleck, and the sensation in their mouths of the Orange Fizz experiment. Other experiments shared, included storm in a glass, surface tension art, tie dye milk, burning cups, flying teabags, balloon rockets and water fireworks. Following the experiments, the students evaluated the outcomes of the experiments as a group, discussing why things did or didn’t happen.

Finishing off the morning, all of the students came together to experiment with the College’s Van de Graaff generator, discovering the science behind what creates the build-up of static electricity in the machine, and what happens when we experiment with touching it or holding the specialised equipment close by. Sparks flew and hair was raised much to the delight of the students!

By providing this hands-on experience for students to get excited about STEM programs, we hope that it has encouraged them to want to further develop their skills and knowledge, and consider taking their learning further with study options in STEM such as high school (science, physics, chemistry) or university and beyond school in STEM-based careers.

Lastly, thank you to the Australian Science Teachers Association for providing a grant towards our National Science Week activity.

Natalie Meuert, Leader of Learning
St Francis of Assisi College Renmark