Science is a subject that all primary schools teach. The trouble is they all teach it differently. As a result some students coming into high school will see familiar experiences presented early on, while others can be astonished at this strange new subject. So what is Science really? It is a way of solving problems that gets us as near to the truth as possible. It involves the study of everything we can experience. Sometimes it is the study of things we can only experience with technological equipment. And then we have to communicate that information to other scientists and the world at large.
In Year 7 students learn the basics of Science. This includes how we identify questions to ask, and how we go about getting valid and reliable answers about ... well ... anything and everything. To do this all students have first to be safe. This means not only following strict and special class rules in Science, but also wearing appropriate safe clothing, such as enclosed patent leather shoes (not sports shoes or ballet slippers), and having safety glasses available at all times. But there are lots and lots of exciting experiments in year 7 Science, making this one of the more popular subjects to new students.
Apart from introducing Science and its method, topics this year include Matter (describing the particles of which all substances are made), Separation (how we can split substances apart), Force (why things can move), Cells and Classification (about living things and their basic parts), Earth (rocks, minerals, volcanoes, climate, the Greenhouse Effect and layers of the Earth) and Living interactions (an introduction to basic ecology).
As with other junior Science years, all students get to invent and design their own experiment to carry out and write up at home. This is the Student Research Project. A special award (the Warburton Prize) is provided at the end of the year for the best project .