YEAR 9 STEAM EXPO

On Thursday 25 May, 2023 Year 9 students had the opportunity, at the 12^th Annual STEAM Expo, to talk to a variety of the 35 STEAM Gurus present who are working or studying in the areas of in Science, Technology, Allied Health, Medicine, Engineering, Maths and the Visual and Performing Arts. Students rotated amongst speakers, where they listened, talked, interacted with visuals, asked questions and completed a worksheet on their experience.

This event provided Year 9 students with an opportunity to learn more about the career opportunities available when students study STEAM subjects in high school and enable them to consider these disciplines when choosing electives and VCE subjects when heading into Year 10 and their senior years.

It is fantastic to see past students and members of the Damascus College, Ballarat and Deakin communities come to Damascus to speak to current students about their occupations and studies. Their passion and enthusiasm for their job are contagious, and the students walked away with a greater understanding and appreciation for the breadth of career options available to them.

STEAM Gurus this year included Nurses, Midwives, Environmental Scientists, Forensic Scientist, Occupational Therapists, Speech Pathologists, Mechanical engineers, Physiotherapists, Psychotherapist, Exercise and Sport Science, Construction Managers, Program Managers, STEM Educators, Technical Consultant, Software Engineers, Graphic Designers, Cyber security, Shearer and Pilot, Pharmacists, Prosthetics and Orthotics, and current university students studying Psychology, Medicine, Architecture, Environmental Engineering.

Reflection on Expo from Year 9 student, Archie Staley:

I enjoyed the STEAM expo because of the people and what was on offer. There were so many people with loads of advice, and the variety of areas I gathered knowledge on was extensive.

A few people I spoke to included:

• Holly Brettle, Prosthetics/Orthodontics
• Alanah Orr, Medical Student
• Jamal Thaheem, Construction Management

All of these people and more offered great advice, including:

• Get to know your tastes in what you want to do
• Pick subjects at school that you enjoy doing
• While uni education is good, you need to know where you want to go

RACI ICQ (Royal Australian Chemical Institute International Chemistry Quiz).

Students have the opportunity to show off their Chemistry knowledge in the RACI ICQ (Royal Australian Chemical Institute International Chemistry Quiz). The quiz comprises of 30 multiple choice questions.

Year 11 and 12 Chemistry students are automatically entered in the Quiz due to their enrolment in semester 2 Chemistry. Students. Year 7-10 students are encouraged to participate. The quiz for them costs $5, refundable when they do the quiz. Students are asked to give their $5 to their Science teacher before the end of term.

YEAR 7 SCIENCE

As part of their assessment, Year 7 students have been designing and conducting an experiment to separate a mixture of marbles, iron filing, nails, sand, sawdust and salt using a variety of separation techniques and skills that they have learnt and are developing a spart of their Year 7 Chemistry unit.