Belong. Believe. Become. - Whitefriars

Belong. Believe. Become.T e r m 1M a r c h 2 0 1 3G'day fellas,For those who don't know, Iam James Santamaria, theScience Captain for this year,and will be promoting sciencearound Whitefriars. We havesome really good programsrunning this year including theScience Club, during lunchtimeon Fridays, and theenrichment program.As many of you would alreadyknow, there was a meteoritethat landed in Russia onFriday, February 15. This wasnot related to the asteroidthat passed by Earth on thesame day, and is a rareoccurrence - expected onceevery 100 years. Themeteorite was around 17metres wide, and its sonicboom was strong enough toshatter windows far from thestrike. I will be sure to keepyou up to date on this andother science-related events.I look forward to working withyou all this year, in makingscience fun and interesting.2013 Science CaptainJames Santamaria2012 Enrichment guest speakerOn Friday 15 th February a meteor streaked through the skies above thetown of Chelyabinsk, which is about 1,500 km east of Moscow, inRussia.Described by NASA as a "tiny asteroid," the meteor's explosioncreated a blast equivalent to 300,000 tons of TNT. The space agency'sofficials said that the incident was a once-in-100-years event.The meteorite, which weighed about 10 metric tons and may have been made ofiron, entered Earth's atmosphere and broke apart 30-50 km above ground. Thefireball, travelling at a speed of 30 km per second blazed across the horizon,leaving a long white trail that could be seen as far as 200 km away.The sonic boom caused a shock wave that smashed windows, damaged buildingsand injured 1,200 people; however background radiation levels were normal.The meteorite struck just as an asteroid known as ‘2012 DA14’, about 46 m indiameter, was due to pass closer to Earth, at a distance of 27,520 km, than anyother known object of its size since scientists began routinely monitoring asteroidsabout 15 years ago. The two asteroids were not related.If you would like to view footage of the asteroid in Russia click the following links,Sonic Boom: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1x8MPKrdtTcUK News Report: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=36MEsWC1PzcYou Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w2AsGazCcg

T e r m 1 Belong. Believe. Become.M a r c h 2 0 1 3What is the Whitefriars ScienceEnrichment Program?The Whitefriars ScienceEnrichment Program is designedto extend and motivate capablestudents in the areas of analysis,application and critical thinking. Itis run in conjunction with thestandard core science programand does not replace existingclass work.How are students identified?Prospective students will beidentified by their subject teachersaccording to school-basedindicators of ability. Students willthen receive a formal invitation tobe involved in the EnrichmentProgram which will commence inTerm Two.What is involved in theEnrichment Program?Although the EnrichmentProgram will vary for each yearlevel, the core expectations forEnrichment students include:* Completion of EnrichmentBooklet work (Year 7, 8 and 9only)* School-funded compulsoryentry into National ScienceCompetitions and Challenges(including Rio Tinto BigScience Competition, ICASScience Competition andScience and EngineeringChallenge (Year 9 & 10 only).In 2013 Year 7 Enrichmentstudents will also be enteredinto the National ScienceTalent Search.* Involvement in Science Club(Year 7, 8 and 9 only)* Primary School MentoringProgram – Students who havedemonstrated a genuine commitmentto their involvement in the ScienceEnrichment Program will also be invitedto attend Primary School visitations,whereby Whitefriars students assist DrStephen Goodall in demonstratingscience experiments to Primary-agedstudents.Throughout the year ScienceEnrichment students will also be invitedto attend Enrichment lunches hostedby Head of Science, Mr Kristan Heightand Whitefriars Science Captain JamesSantamaria. Guest Speakers fromvarious fields of Science will deliver aninformative presentation relating totheir specific field of Science.More information on the WhitefriarsScience Enrichment Program can beobtained by contacting Mrs Jo Stevens.Science Club is back for 2013with lots of fun and engagingactivities on offer. Year 7, 8 and9 students are encouraged toget involved in the weeklysessions. Science Club runseach Friday at lunchtime.Venues will change dependingupon the activity being run,however, the main venue is theChemistry lab. 2013 has kickedoff with the unit, ‘Robotics’ andit was fantastic to see in excessof 20 boys taking part in ourfirst session for the year.For more information onScience Club, pleasecontact Dr StephenGoodall:sgoodall@whitefriars.vic.edu.au or just turn up on theday. We look forward toseeing you!

T e r m 1 M a r c h 2 0 1 3Belong. Believe. Become.Promotional poster winner:Patrick WestLast week the Science Faculty held acompetition for all year 7, 8 and 9 students.Students had to design a poster that theCollege can use to promote ‘The ScienceClub’. The poster needed to be fun, eyecatchingand encouraging to promote theactivities on offer at Science Club (eg:robotics, bridge-building, marble run, scienceof flight, fire writing, chemical reactions etc.)We received some excellent posters with thestandout being Patrick West, from Year 8,who will receive a free canteen lunch fromMr Height. Well done Patrick.Thanks to all of those who entered. Keep aneye out for further competitions (like theconundrum on the last page of this magazine)for your chance to win a free lunch from MrHeight.Commendable Effort:Sam Scales (above) & Nathan Pinto (below)

T e r m 1 Belong. Believe. Become.M a r c h 2 0 1 3At the end of each year, year 8 students participatein the Year 8 Immersion Program. The ImmersionProgram has been designed to allow students oppurtuntiyto work on specific projects that theywould find interesting and enjoyable. Last year theScience Faculty offered a new Immersion program“Shipwrecked’. In this activity students were to research,design and construct a vessel that would,first of all float and secondly hold weight. Almost 50students participated in the project over the twodays with some excellent work being presented.Two different sized candles are covered by aglass jar.Which of the following would occur and why?A) The tall candle will go out firstB) The small candle will go out firstC) They will both go out at the same time