YEARS 7–12 IDEAS FOR THE CLASSROOM
High School Students helping Primary Students with Science
By Dr Simon Crook; CrookED Science
After contacting Domremy, Matt, Annie and myself put our heads
together to develop a day-long program for the St Ambrose gifted
science students at Domremy on 4th May, 2018. We decided on
a triumvirate of chemistry, physics and biology activities. After
a tour of the stunning new science laboratories at Domremy,
the primary students learned how to light a Bunsen burner and
evaporate water to reclaim salt crystals from a salt solution,
earning their very own Domremy Bunsen Burner Licence in the
process!
Next, the students created series and parallel electric circuits
using Domremy’s power packs, bulbs, switches, motors, bells
and wires. The Year 4-6 students flourished at what were
essentially Year 11 experiments.
The final event was the highlight of the day. Rebecca Morrice,
Biology teacher at Domremy, demonstrated what happened
after yeast was added to a mixture of warm water and sugar (a
balloon inflated with carbon dioxide). The St Ambrose students
were then invited to place drops of water/ sugar/yeast mixture on
a glass slide and add a cover slip to make a microscope slide
to observe. At this point, the Domremy Year 11 Biology class
took over. The Year 11 girls showed the primary students how
to operate a microscope, place a slide in the housing, focus a
lens and observe the moving yeast cells. Watching and listening
from the sidelines it was wonderful to behold. The Domremy girls
patiently explained the biology they had learned, and imparted
it onto the students of St Ambrose. The girls’ personalities really
shone; the younger students hung on to every word of the older
girls, and the Domremy girls seemed to thoroughly enjoy this
instructive interaction from a strong knowledge base. Just as we
have all experienced through our own teaching, I am convinced
that by teaching the younger students, the Domremy girls also
reinforced their own knowledge and understanding. One hopes
that some of these natural teachers will embrace the vocation
in future. Whichever path they take in their tertiary studies and
beyond, these young women should be highly successful,
given the inter-relational skills they demonstrated with the gifted
science students from St Ambrose on what was a truly enjoyable
and worthwhile day.
Year 11 Domremy students assisting Years 4-6 students
from St. Ambrose Primary School with the sciences, physics,
chemistry and biology.
As a K-12 STEM education consultant, I enjoy a lot of variety in
my work. However, the highlight every year for me is witnessing
high school students helping primary students with their science.
Such an event happened recently when Domremy College, Five
Dock hosted St Ambrose Primary School, Concord West.
For the past couple of years, St Ambrose has been running a
gifted science program for Year 4-6 children (part of Sydney
Catholic Schools’ ‘Newman’ program). Conceived by Principal
Linda McFadden and Science Coordinator Annie McKeating in
conjunction with myself, the gifted science students undertake
a program of STEM activities and collaborative critical thinking;
solving real world problems through a design thinking process.
This year, we thought we should capitalise on the strong
relationship between St Ambrose and Domremy and take up
Domremy’s open offer to use their excellent new science facilities.
Previously, Domremy has been very generous in loaning several
pieces of equipment for me to use at St Ambrose, including a
Van de Graaff generator. The Science Coordinator at Domremy,
Matt Counai, is a fellow physicist and a good mate who in fact
succeeded me several years ago at OLSH College, Kensington
(it’s all about relationships).
Many thanks to Vivienne Awad (Principal), Matt Couani and
Rebecca Morrice from Domremy and Linda McFadden, Annie
McKeating and Romina De Grazia from St Ambrose for making
the special collaboration possible.
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SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 67 NO 2