10 June 2021
One of the best ways of learning is by ‘doing and seeing’ and here in the Biology department we have focused on giving our students every chance to see how organs look and function.
This past term, students across almost all Senior Years have been discovering the science of Biology, with Year 7 students looking at the topic Renewable Resources and Climate Change and students in Years 8 and 12 looking at how the systems of the human body work.
Year 8 students have seen their teachers dissect porcine lungs and have practised dissecting ovine kidneys, bovine eyes, and galline wings. Students will put their skills to the test in a few weeks by dissecting medical grade porcine hearts for their Body Systems assessment.
Year 12 students have been dissecting larger bovine hearts and intestines as well as porcine lungs. Most of the students who have participated in these dissections in Year 12 have expressed a desire to work in the field of medicine, and these dissections provide the type of training they will undertake when they reach university.
Our Year 10 students trialed Biology in the “IB for a Day” program last week were fortunate to have the Year 12 students show them how to dissect a Cane Toad (see images below). It was fantastic to see the interactions between the older and younger students as they worked together to carefully dissect an entire organism. The passion shown by the Year 12s encouraged a number of the Year 10s to consider studying Biology in the senior years.
John Wright
Biology Coordinator