All senior school students were treated to various in class activities during the week or had the chance to attend two lunchtime seminars. We even had our ELC students dissecting kidneys with our Year 11 Biology boys – a great learning experience for all concerned.
Laboratory Technician Mrs Cheryl Turner presented a workshop to all Year 7 students, that centred on sustainable food practices and indigenous foods. The boys sampled various foods as part of the workshop, including soup made from vegetable peelings, kangaroo metwurst, protein rich insect infused chocolate chip cookies and plant-based meatballs to name a few. All boys left the workshop having tasted many things they had not tasted before, but more importantly with a better understanding of how they could source more sustainable foods, use eco-friendly ingredients and avoid food wastage.
Senior Chemistry teacher Mr Nigel Madden made ice cream from liquid nitrogen for our Year 8s and our Year 9s participated in a workshop that saw them work through various scenarios related to potential food shortages in the future.
Over 50 boys attended the two lunchtime seminars offered during the week. The first saw Mr Greg Feutrill from Pernod Riccard Winemakers explain how they are pioneering the use of Artificial Intelligence to predict how best to produce their grapes and improve production processes to make their business more environmentally sustainable and efficient. The second seminar was presented by Professor Matthew Tucker from the University of Adelaide. Professor Tucker challenged the boys views on the use of genetically modified foods and outlined future applications in this field including the use of CRISPR.
In all, eleven different activities occurred across the week, which made for some busy days, but it was a week that enriched the science experience for the boys greatly.
Peter Hopkins
Academic Leader - Science
