Science Enhancement Opportunities

Term 3 has started with a bang in Science! On Friday 8 July, two of our Science teachers, Simon Gurowski and Allison Wilding, hosted Science holiday sessions at the SPARK Holiday Program. Primary school students took delight in launching bottle rockets outside and reacting chemicals together in the lab.

On the past two Day 8 afternoons, Louisa Tanner has run a Science activity with Grade 4 students from St Brigid’s Primary School, Mordialloc. Kilbreda was approached to be part of a LitSTEM partnership. In this partnership, the St Brigid’s students participate in STEM activities related to their curriculum and then explore the literacy component of these studies back at school.

A huge thank you to Louisa and to Coralene Crawford for sourcing and testing a range of new experiments to teach the concept of heat in chemical reactions. The students have learnt a lot and developed their skills of observation and measurement.

The University of Melbourne’s Girl Power in Engineering and IT Program

The University of Melbourne’s ‘Girl Power in Engineering and IT program’ gives female students insight into the world of STEM while inspiring them about the possibilities of a career in the industry. The program runs over four years and includes a mentoring program in Years 11 and 12.  With only 40 students accepted into the program each year, we are delighted that Phoebe O’Toole was a successful applicant this year. Here is a short report from Phoebe.

“During the holidays I had the opportunity to attend an Engineering and IT camp at Melbourne University for Women in STEM, with 40 female students from across Victoria. This was the first part of the four-year Engineering and IT program, promoting the work of women and girls in Engineering and IT, and it’s not as scary as it sounds. I went on a four-day camp, staying at University College at the University of Melbourne. I met girls from schools all over Victoria and was mentored by 3rd year university students. We did activities such as coding and wiring robots and attended lectures about the field and careers of Engineering. 

For any students in Years 7 or 8 who might be interested in hearing more about this program, I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about the program or the field of engineering. 

Thank you to Ms Devlin for assisting me with my application. I am really looking forward to the next couple of years in this program.”

Phoebe O’Toole
Year 9

Around the Labs

Our own Science students have had a busy few weeks. The Year 7 students are exploring forces at work and were fascinated to balance a table tennis ball in an airstream from a hairdryer. The Year 8 students are learning about systems of the body and completing pracs about proteins and digestion. The Year 9 students are exploring the world of electricity and circuits. Our Year 10 students have been working through a suite of different types of chemical reactions. The VCE Physics classes have explored the refraction of light through Perspex, and the motion of objects using Smart Carts.

Call out to Kilbreda STEM Alumni

As is mentioned on the Digital Technologies and STEM page, we were delighted to host the inaugural Kilbreda Women in STEM lunch on Tuesday 19 July. 11 past students, currently working or studying in STEM fields were invited back to share their stories and insights with a group of Year 10 to12 students studying STEM subjects. It was wonderful to hear the experiences of our Alumni and for current students to be able to chat and ask questions that are relevant to their pathways.

Please have a look through the profiles of these wonderful 11 Alumni below.

We are so happy to have had responses from some past students, expressing a willingness to be involved in future STEM lunches. One Alumni, Giulia Cinquegrana, graduated in 2013. After leaving Kilbreda, Giulia completed a Bachelor of Science (double major in applied mathematics and astrophysics), honours in astrophysics and is now in her 2nd year PhD of stellar astrophysics. Giulia will soon be applying for post doctorates and fellowships in the US and Europe. Giulia was in Italy at an astronomy conference at the time of the lunch, but in offering to come out and visit us at another time, said that

“ I found there was such a lack of information about what being a ‘physicist’ actually looks like, especially in Australia, so I pursued a lot of my career blindly (which I don’t want the next generation to have to do!)”. Giulia has assisted in the development of a website profiling careers related to physics. The link is found here.

We were also delighted to be contacted by Sarah McConnell (Poynton), who graduated in 2001. Sarah has had a fascinating working life and has also generously offered to visit us.

“I am working in mining and am now in a Global Closure role with BHP, after having a number of roles with different mining companies over the last 13-15 years or so (I completed a Bachelor of Environmental Science). I have lived and worked across many Australian areas (Hunter Valley, Gove, Weipa, Moranbah, Mt Isa) and am now in a Global role based in Brisbane. I would never have imagined that I would end up doing this when I was sitting in the classrooms at Kilbreda.”

If you are a Kilbreda Alumni who is working in a STEM field and willing to be involved, please email Jacinta Devlin on Jacinta.devlin@kilbreda.vic.edu.au (or Adrienne Donoghue or Karen McMullen) as we would love to hear from you!

Jacinta Devlin
Learning Leader: Science