Weekly Newsletter Friday 27th October 2017 Important Dates: Science Department News 30 Oct – 4 Nov HALF TERM 13 November Next Step Careers Event 16 November Awards Evening (Class of 2017) 23 November STEM Club Year 9 Parents Evening This term we have started our STEM Club for Years 8-10 in collaboration with the 13 December technology department. The aim of this club is to provide a place for the girls in our school to explore their personal strengths and skills and apply their knowledge of scientific Christmas Celebration Concert concepts and technology while developing themselves in logical thinking and teamwork. SMSC We have done several activities and challenges so far, based around solving problems and Question of the week: creative design tasks. We are now moving on to applying these skills to producing an entry to a national engineering competition for girls. KS3 Question: Why should we The competition is called Talent 2030 and is open to girls aged 11-18. remember the lives of “The competition invites girls to solve the major challenges of the 21st century, to get creative, get thinking and most of all – have fun!” soldiers who died in the http://www.talent2030.org/ First and Second World War? Some of the ideas which the girls are already starting to develop are brilliant and we are KS4 Question: really excited to see what they come up with. Over 1 million British soldiers died fighting STEM Club is still open to new members… it is not too late! We meet in Room 36 from during the First and 3.30-4.30pm afterschool on a Monday and is open to Years 8-10. Second World War. Are they properly remembered? 1 Weekly Newsletter Friday 27th October 2017 Science Club PGHS Science Club has returned with a group of keen, young scientists hot on the heels of the master criminal that made off with Mr Coogan’s last chocolate biscuit. So far Mrs Goodwill, Mrs Hall and Mrs Cahill are in the clear, with the remainder of the science staff still firmly in the frame. Science club is held at lunchtimes every Thursday at 12.45pm in room 45. So far, pupils have used microscopes to analyse hair and fibre samples as well as carrying out various flame tests to narrow down the field of suspects. Over the next two weeks pupils will conduct powder analysis and chromatography, as well as looking at fingers prints and handwriting samples in order to wheedle out the wily villain. After half-term science club will be trying a variety of experiments including dissection, making fireworks (safely of course) and preparing, and comparing the quality of, various slimes. Science club is open to all Year 7 and 8 pupils and anyone wanting to attend should come and speak to Mr Coogan, or alternatively, just turn up and get involved. Science Lessons Recently pupils spent the day without using pens. Pupils managed to produce some outstanding work both as part of their lessons and beyond the curriculum. Year 8 have been learning about balanced diet and digestion. They expressed an interest one lesson in the amount of sugar in foods. The following week they were asked to bring in their favourite sugary drink. They spent the lesson exploring the structure of sugar, how it affects the body, how to read nutritional labels, how to reduce their sugar intake and the daily recommended allowance of sugar. They were most surprised to discover that it was only 30g. They then worked out how much sugar was in their choice of drink and weighed out that amount. To help educate others their work has formed part of a display, which is now subject to interesting discussion when viewed. Year 7 have been learning about the structure of the skeleton. To help them remember the different names of the bones and their location they spent their no pens day lesson making models out of pasta. Prior to the lesson they had to decide on a plan and also research the different bones. The amount of planning and detail produced by some of the pupils was exceptional and Head’s breakfasts have been awarded for presentation and effort. As part of their GCSE Biology course Year 10 have recently covered the three methods of transport in cells. To help them summarise and compare the three methods they spent their no pens day lesson producing models of each three methods and applying the correct statement to each method. This really helped them grasp the concepts of diffusion, osmosis and active transport. This work formed part of their notes and revision for their end of topic test. 2 Weekly Newsletter Friday 27th October 2017 This term we have been creative in Science. In Year 8 we have been studying displacement reactions where a more reactive halogen displaces a less reactive halogen from its compound. We used real life examples to create our own displacement disco cartoons. We also looked at the difference between elements, compounds and mixtures. The students used Haribo to model this concept. Year 9 have been studying genetics and how DNA is structured. They made models of DNA using strawberry laces to represent the backbone and a variety of sweets to represent the base pairs. After half term they will be looking at how genetic disorders are inherited and exploring the positives and negatives of embryo screening. In Year 10 Biology we have been looking at organisation of the human body. The girls have written stories to prevent an Alien dissection in which they explain the hierarchy and organisation of the human body. They displayed both excellent Science knowledge and literacy skills. Head’s commendations have been awarded for this work to some of the girls. Year 11 have been looking at photosynthesis. They needed to know the structure of a leaf as seen under a microscope. They made models using materials to showcase their properties. Year 7C have been studying the topic of Organisms. They have looked at the function and importance of the skeleton. To gain further insight into how muscles and bones work together they did a chicken wing dissection. The second part of the topic was on cells; a great opportunity for making models of cells which they did on the recent ‘no pens’ day. A spelling test on the cell parts resulted in some girls being awarded the ‘Terminology Titan’ merit for their spelling and understanding of the cell parts. The students have also used microscopes to look at their own cheek cells and the cells of an onion. 3 Weekly Newsletter Friday 27th October 2017 This half term in Year 7(Sc1) we have learnt about joints and muscles. As part of our class display, we created working models of the arm. We had split pins playing the part of the elbow, a hinge joint, and string acting as the two antagonistic muscles in the arm, the bicep and tricep. This allowed us to visualise what happens to the arm when we perform everyday activities. We learnt that when the bicep contracts (and the tricep relaxes) it pulls on a tendon which pulls on a bone and lifts the lower arm. When straightening your arm, the tricep contracts and the bicep relaxes. This pulls a tendon, which pulls on the lower arm and lowers it again. Muscles that act like this are called antagonistic muscles. Written by: Laura Gillet, Carla Duckett, Hannah Yates, Aisha Wadi Mrs Honeyman Head of Science Head's Breakfast Malaikah Qammar (Year 7): Outstanding attitude to learning and effort both in and out of class Aliya Ismail (Year 7): Excellent effort on no pens day making her model skeleton Grace Shackleton (Year 7): Excellent Oracy in Science Immy Brook (Year 7): Excellent Oracy in Science Freya Holroyd (Year 7): Excellent help on Open Evening Head's Commendations Chloe Forshaw (Year 8): Excellent literacy describing the journey of an oxygen molecule Stella Benke (Year 10): Excellent literacy describing the organisation of an organism Imogen Rose Gregory (Year 10): Excellent literacy describing the organisation of an organism Emily Corry Hamer (Year 11): Excellent workbook and revision Ruby Miller (Year 7): Excellent help on Open Evening 4 Weekly Newsletter Friday 27th October 2017 School Direct Teacher Training Programme Trainee of the Week This week we are introducing Miss Wignall. She is a Maths graduate who has been at Penwortham Girls’ since the start of this academic year. Miss Wignall is training with us as part of her PGCE (Post Graduate Certificate in Education) which she is completing through the Newman College School Direct programme. One love of mine has always been swimming and I voluntarily taught lifesaving skills for 2 years. This enabled me to gain experience of managing children, understanding their needs and the necessity for clear and direct instructions; the idea of teaching definitely became more appealing to me. Due to this and a love of both Maths and learning, I decided I would like to become a Maths teacher and so enrolled on to a PGCE course through Cardinal Newman College. On leaving school I studied A-Levels in Maths, Further Maths, Biology and Chemistry at Winstanley College and then went on to gain a BSc with Honours degree in Mathematics from the University of Liverpool. Whilst studying I also held a job in the Liverpool Football Club store and after graduating took three years out of education to work my way up to a management role. During these three years I also spent time travelling the world to places like South America, India and China; gaining invaluable life experiences.