At Gaayip-Yagila Primary School all students undertake science as a specialist class. Classes combine both theory and practical, hands-on experiments. The four disciplines of science - physical, biological, chemical, earth and space - are all covered in Foundation and then a 2 year cycle from Year 1 – 6 is utilised.
All students will have the opportunity to satisfy their natural curiosity to learn how things work and happen. Complementing the science program will be the development of our outdoor learning spaces, including a vegetable garden. Couched within science is the environmental education (sustainability) program which enables students to investigate how their science learnings and understandings can be directly utilised within their local community and school grounds. For example, when doing Earth Sciences, students investigate erosion or in Biology the conditions a plant needs to grow, and then apply that knowledge in a real world setting within our school grounds.
In alignment with our school expectations (not being afraid of making mistakes), within science students learn that mistakes are okay - in fact, they are often the way scientists learn how something doesn't work and figure out a way that it might! Students are encouraged to broaden their science inquiry skills with explicit teaching of how to: predict (hypothesis), observe (see what happens), record (write down what happens) and evaluate (what did we learn and so what?).
At Gaayip-Yagila Primary School our Design and Technologies curriculum is an integral part of specific units of inquiry which provide the opportunity to develop and explore projects which require:
The Design and Technologies curriculum enables students to plan and manage projects from conception to realisation. They apply design and systems thinking and design processes to investigate ideas, generate and refine ideas, plan and manage, produce and evaluate designed solutions. They develop a sense of pride, satisfaction and enjoyment from their ability to create innovative designed solutions.
Students work collaboratively on projects as they investigate needs and opportunities, generate and evaluate ideas, plan, manage, produce and evaluate designed solutions. They evaluate success by using predetermined criteria that have been co-constructed with the class.
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