Teaching and Learning - Science

Science Scene @ JPC

The Science Scene @ JPC is not just surviving, but THRIVING, having just completed NATIONAL SCIENCE WEEK and a celebratory whole school assembly where we applauded all things Science!

40 Years of Science Weeks in Australia…

This year’s NATIONAL SCIENCE WEEK marked 40 years since the Australian Science Teachers’ Association (ASTA) and the Australian Government (through CSIRO) launched an ambitious, school-based science event called Australian Science in Schools Week. The event was so successful that, in 1997, the Australian Government expanded the program from its schools-only origin to its current form as a nation-wide celebration that encourages Australians of all ages to engage with science.

The Hon Ed Husic MP, Minister for Industry and Science, launched the theme "Species Survival: More than just sustainability” which centres around some of the critical challenges impacting Earth’s human, animal and plant habitation and how we care for all living things, especially here in Australia.

Of all the developed nations on Earth, Australia is one of the most biodiverse. “We share our island home with more than 224,000 animal and plant species.” Our custodianship comes with a great responsibility to protect their long-term survival” said Mr Husic in his opening address for Science Week.

Catholic Social Teaching & Stewardship of Creation - not just a Science Week slogan!

As Catholics, we are called to show our respect and love for the Creator by our stewardship of creation. This is not just a Science Week slogan, it is a requirement of our faith. We are called to protect the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation.

Humans are commanded to care for God’s creation (Genesis 2:15 )

This environmental challenge has fundamental moral and ethical dimensions that have been explored by our Church leaders at the highest level:

We human beings are not only the beneficiaries but also the stewards of other creatures. God has joined us so closely to the world around us that we can feel the desertification of the soil almost as a physical ailment, and the extinction of a species as a painful disfigurement. Let us not leave in our wake a swathe of destruction and death which will affect our own lives and those of future generations. (Pope Francis 2013, The Joy of the Gospel Evangelii Guadium, no. 215)

Our own patron, St John Paul II, wrote in his 1987 encyclical On Social Concerns (Sollicitudo rei Socialis, no. 34):

The dominion granted to man by the Creator is not an absolute power, nor can one speak of a freedom to 'use and misuse,' or to dispose of things as one pleases.

SO – with this in mind, Science Week at JPC did just that – explored species – the animals, plants and how we can care for them.

Science Week @ JPC

Day 1: Skeletons, Skin and Survival

Thanks to our lab Techs – Mardi and Marg for setting up the specimens on display.

Day 2: Myrtle the Turtle

Thanks to Mr Holloway and Myrtle for your joint presentation.

Day 3 Saving our Bees - The Plight of Pollinators

Guest speakers from Odd Acres Apiary, Pete Czeti and Kim Martin, shared with us background into the plight of the pollinators, in particular, bees. Pete and Kim run a family-owned and operated beekeeping services business based in the ACT and Southern NSW.

https://www.oddacres.io/

Their focus is queen bee rearing and breeding, using technology and data-driven, scientific approaches to track the performance of their queen breeding program.

This helps them understand the many pressures upon our pollinators from environmental effects such as floral degradation, agricultural practices, pests and disease.

Day 4 Minecraft - "Species Survival” Game

Thanks to Ms Goggin for running the Minecraft Science Week themed game.