Lively Science!

Ruth and David team teach combined Life Sciences classes - and it's very lively!

This year the combined classes have been on several science trips. Describing the expedition to Snake Island (pics below) on 17th March one student wrote:

"Different groups in the class chose a particular object or creature they wanted to observe and study. Some of the things chosen included crabs, birds, spiders, plants and salinity levels. Due to the lack of time we could spend on the island we didn't get as much information as we would have liked but it was still a joyful experience."

Maria Island was the classroom from 9th-11th May. From a student report:

"The Maria Island was a three day trip to look at the marine wildlife creatures and fossils on the island. When we arrived we put our stuff into giant trolleys and took them down to our cabins. After we had set up our rooms we went on a walk to the fossil cliffs... On the walk home we saw a lot of different animal bones and different rock formations along the cliffs. The rest of the day we just relaxed, cooked some tea and listened to the possums all night.

On the second day we went to the painted caves. I liked all the different colours in the rocks and the creatures in the rock pools were pretty interesting. Then we went down to Darlington and tested the water - very boring. After that we walked back to the cabins and relaxed and cooked tea.

The last day of camp we cleaned our cabins, packed up our stuff, and put it back into the trolleys to go back to the wharf. We had one last thing to do before we had to go - a survey of the creatures living under the wharf. We found a few different types of fish, some rays and a few other little creatures living on the wood under the wharf. Then the boat arrived and we packed all our stuff on and left. I think it was a good camp."

The class has also been to the Hobart Wharf to sample plankton; Blackmans Bay; the Marine Discovery Centre dredge; a Primary Industry Tour of Fleurties, Trial Bay Orchards and Grandview Cheeses; Ralphs Bay - once to study geology and a second time to study birds with two Ornithologists...

According to one student:

"The excursion to Ralphs Bay was to explore the different geology. The first thing we did was collect five shells from the shoreline and five from about 4m away. This was to see how the ground was pushed up. The second thing we did was to go along to an area of sedimentary rock where we collected different fossils using geology picks. By doing this we proved that the rock was once at the bottom of the bay and over many years it has slowly been pushed up to the point where it is now.

This was a very educational and enjoyable trip and helped all of us understand the geological cycle better. "