Illalong Newsletter - 16 June 2022 | A.B. Paterson College

College Musical Production Merchandise

It is A.B. Paterson College Musical Production time and we have something extra special for you!

Our fabulous artworks created by our students for the A.B. Paterson College Musical Production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang are also available on merchandise, so our artists works can be seen everywhere! You can also be helping families in need with proceeds of these sales going to our A.B. Paterson College Foundation.

If you would like to purchase a special keepsake of your choice, please visit:

https://www.redbubble.com/people/jolivier26/shop...

A huge thank you to our talented student artists and to our one and only Mrs Olivier for making all of this possible!

Year 11 Spanish Incursion

Students of Year 11 Spanish have been studying the topic of Travel. In order to explore this area even further, students participated in an authentic learning experience by planning an entire trip to a Spanish-speaking destination from start to finish.

Once they chose their destination and planned their trip, we carried out a Virtual Reality activity, where students explored their chosen destinations and had the opportunity to experience that country or city in a realistic manner. Finally, since students decided to plan a trip to Cancun, Mexico, they had the opportunity to taste authentic Mexican food and eat it with their travel companions.

All students were very enthusiastic and supportive of the planned activities and provided positive feedback. Here are some of their comments.

It was fun to experience what it is like to be in a Spanish-speaking country. I felt like a tourist without having to travel there. It was nice to experience some Mexican cuisine. Abbie Briant

It was unique experience, since it is something that we don’t usually do in class. It felt like I was actually in the country. The food from Mexico was delicious and it was a very good way to end our Travel unit. Ava Young

It felt like a real-life experience. The food brought me closer to the Spanish culture. It was a nice conclusion to our Travel unit. Jake Calver

The Languages Faculty are looking forward to planning further authentic learning experiences to enhance the topics students explore in their language class. It has certainly been a fun and enjoyable unit to study in Year 11 Spanish. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, and that some of you might even be travelling!

¡Buen viaje a todos!

La Profesora Lindeberg
Spanish Teacher

Year 8 Spanish – Cooking Demonstration Incursion

On Tuesday 14 June, Year 8 students of Spanish had the opportunity to participate in a Cooking Demonstration and Tasting. As part of the Spanish Curriculum in Term 2, students learned about Spanish culture and how to order at a restaurant. Therefore, to further enhance students’ knowledge of food in Spanish-speaking countries, they had the opportunity to watch the making of Vegetarian Burrito Bowls using traditional ingredients, spices and techniques. In small groups, they then prepared their own burrito bowls, and enjoyed their meal in class.

All students looked really happy and seemed to appreciate the food preparation and taking risks in tasting a Hispanic meal, something that would not normally make themselves. Below are some of their reflections.

The burrito bowls made a lot of sense after doing the term of work based on learning about Spanish foods. I enjoyed doing it as it was fun compared to normally doing work in a classroom and I like doing something different from normal. The food was yummy and was very enjoyable, and I would like to do other things like this. Madelyne Cox

This year the Year 8 cohort studied Spanish foods and cuisines. Therefore, I believe this incursion tied in very well with the curriculum. I liked the burrito bowl very much as there was a variety of foods and flavours. Even though it was vegetarian it still tasted very nice. It was extremely tasty and I am sure I will make this again another time. Agapetos Lote-Felo

Together, at the Food Tech rooms, our class combined with another to create healthy Mexican Burrito Bowls, as our topic this term was 'Gastronomia Iberoamericana' or 'The Cuisine of Latin America and Spain'. Burrito Bowls are a healthy alternative for mealtimes, as a variation of the traditional Mexican burritos. Our class included a variety of ingredients in our own bowls, such as rice, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and corn, combined with a mixture of sauces, meats and beans. We worked together in small groups under the supervision of our teachers to create our own authentic guacamole, which we paired with sour cream and corn chips. We all assembled the ingredients to make various shapes and arrangements. Not only was the activity fun for the whole class, but also delicious! Miki Qiao

The Burrito Bowls that we made were tasty and vegan, the plant-based meat and beans had a mildly spicy flavour. The guacamole and corn chips mixed well together with the light flavour of the rice. We had fun making this and would like to do it again. Thank you for organising this. Erin Henderson

Today we made and ate a Mexican burrito bowl. This is related to the unit we have been learning this term: La Gastronomia Iberoamericana. All of the ingredients are vegetarian and are very healthy. Overall the Mexican burrito bowl was a great success. Gracias profesora Barriga y profesora Lindeberg. Charli Corkill

Cooking Hispanic food allowed our cohort to recognise the delicious foods that are made all around the world. The Burrito Bowl was an exceptional example of Hispanic foods around the world and the Languages department did a wonderful job of creating this experience. Toby Da Silva

In Spanish class, we made a Mexican burrito bowl. There were many flavours and colours. The bowl was fully vegetarian and had: sour cream, tomatoes, lettuce, vegetarian beef, mayo, cheese and more. The dish was spicy and sour and the flavours balanced out. The dish was a very fun and useful experience that tied in what we learnt this term in a fun and educational way. Thank you Mrs Lindeberg and Ms Barriga for this fun experience. Sumaiya Jamal

I loved our Spanish cooking today, it was wonderful and I really appreciated how much work that the teachers put in to this activity that we all participated in. In Spanish class this term we have been focusing on the topic of Mesoamerican foods, I really liked this topic and I think that everyone else did too. This was a great way to end the term. Teaching us to cook a Burrito Bowl was really fun and we all learnt some new cooking techniques that we will probably use again. The food was delicious and we all enjoyed the food very much. Thank you to all the Spanish teachers that helped with organising this! Eloise Gawlik

All the teachers in the Languages Faculty are delighted to know that the students engaged well with the curriculum throughout the term and thoroughly enjoyed the incursion. It has been a truly fun experience for all involved, including teachers and students. We are fortunate to work with such a fantastic group of students.

Ursula Lindeberg
Spanish Teacher

Year 5 Sphero BattleBots

Last Friday, the Year 5 students participated in a Sphero BattleBot session. Sphero BattleBots is a fun STEAM orientated activity that gives students a number of design challenges. Students can compete against each other by placing a push pin in the end of the straw and attempt to pop the other BattleBots’ balloon. The competition aspect of the project allows students to evaluate and reflect on their BattleBot design and make changes to improve its performance.

What is a Sphero? Sphero robots have many different internal parts that make them work such as motors, LEDs, encoders, processors, a CPU and Bluetooth communication module for connecting to phones and a gyroscope that keeps it oriented. The classic round Sphero shape is similar to a hamster ball but is about the size of a tennis ball. A small, wheeled robot inside the shell climbs up the walls and pushes them forward, causing the ball to roll. Sphero robots are ultimately driven and brought to life by the user, either through Drive mode or through programming in Blocks or Java in the Sphero Edu iPad app. So, when we consider “how Sphero robots work” we have to remember that without a human on the other end providing direction, the robot doesn’t inherently know what to do.

The students had an exciting time and much banter around strategy occurred. We have some very competitive students in Year 5. Go Sphero BattleBot Champions!

Beth Claydon
Head of Digital Literacy & STEAM

Banjo's Science Club

Banjo's Science Club runs every Thursday lunch break in Room O6 for Years 7-12. There is no cost to partake and there is no requirement for students to sign up, they may just come when they can. It is an opportunity for students to challenge themselves, explore science, meet new people and have fun. The activities are facilitated by our Science Ambassadors - Amity Fielding, Harry Huang, Mingqian Zhou and Magdalena Kolarich. Activities either involve a science related teamwork activity, a science challenge or preparation for an external competition.

In Week 7 of Term 1, students were provided with an assortment of materials from which they needed to design and build the most effective insulator. The winner of this challenge was Year 7 student, Muhammad Bin Jemain. In Week 8 Term 1, students created a six-foot wave machine using kebab sticks, duct tape and jellies. The wave machine was useful for demonstrating various properties of waves as relevant to the Rock Concert Generative Topic in Year 9 science. In the final week last term, students competed against one another in a Spaghetti Challenge.

Nine students in Year 11 and 12 competed in the RACI Titration Competition in Week 3 of Term 2. Titration is a compulsory practical in Unit 3 Topic 1 Equilibrium - Volumetric Analysis. Students who prepare for the Titration Competition gain confidence in the laboratory skills necessary to conduct volumetric analyses, and in the analysis of the data obtained. The analysis to be conducted involves preparation of a standard solution of potassium hydrogen phthalate (KHP) which is provided, standardisation of a solution of NaOH, and titration of a second sample of KHP. Judging is on the basis of the values reported for the amount of KHP in the Unknown Sample. Mingqian Zhou received a High Distinction Award for this competition with the concentration of her unknown KHP sample being only 0.2% higher than the actual concentration. It should also be noted that two Year 11 students, Amity Fielding and Jonas Longhurst, although not enrolled in chemistry, also competed in the competition.

In Term 2, students competed against each other to make the biggest and best crystals to enter into the Banjo’s Science Club Crystal Making Competition and the Royal Australian Chemical Institute Crystal Growing Competition. Each week, students made observations and modified their method in order to produce larger better quality copper sulphate and alum crystals.

The winners of the Banjo’s Science Club Competition Crystal Growing Competition this year include:

1st Prize - Hrishi Modi
2nd Prize - Muhammed Bin Jemain
3rd Prize - Magdalena Kolarich

Next semester, weekly activities will continue to run each lunch hour and will be facilitated by the Science Ambassadors in Room O6. If you haven't already tried a session yet, you must add it to your to do list for next semester.

Robyn Dewar
Science Teacher