S P R I N G 2 0 1 6 / C urriculum
Experience Encourages Action Year 9 students visit Crossroads Despite all the injustices and inequalities of the world we live in, as Discovery College students, we are often in a bubble. The small, contained and wealthy community in which we live is actually a novelty in a world of poverty and inequality. Many of us often cannot see beyond the constraints of our bubble, nor can we begin to imagine the life that well over half the world’s population is dealing with right now. Crossroads provided us with a window—an insight—into just a little bit of that life. The simulation that took place on our visit to Crossroads led us through the plight of less fortunate people, exposing us—at least for an hour or so—to the cruelties and hardships faced by those living in extreme poverty. The simulation involved working in groups to create paper bags to sell to merchants and shopkeepers. Using the relatively minuscule amount of money that each grouped received from the shopkeepers, each group had to be able to pay for food, water and rent. Very often groups would fall short and have to pay collateral to the landlord of the “slums” they lived in, very often giving anything from watches to one of our group’s hand in marriage. Education was a luxury that only the extremely successful groups could afford. Of course all of this was pretend, but the struggles within the lifestyle it exposed made the image of poverty—previously to many nothing more than figures and photographs—very real and very
vivid. It made us think of those who live the game we played every day. The trip didn’t merely teach us about poverty, it left a longlasting impression on us as students and gave us an incentive to bring about change. Ryan Krysinski Year 9 Student
Physics Fun Collecting data at Ocean Park The piercing shrieks and joyous screams of the roller coaster riders filled the air on a slightly chilly and rainy Friday in January. The Year 10 students enviously gazed up at the magnificent roller coaster rides of Ocean Park, wishing to be able to enjoy the thrill of those rides. However, since we had come to Ocean Park for our Physics Unit trip to collect specific data, we used our desire to go on those rides as our motivation to quickly complete the data collection booklet, allowing us enough free time to experience as much as possible. The booklet included four activities at different locations—the notable Ocean Park Cable Car, the Ocean Park Tower, the Abyss, and the Dragon. Activity 1 measured the velocity of the cable car and the distance travelled, requiring basic trigonometry knowledge to calculate displacement. Activity 2 observed the motion and velocity of the Ocean Park Tower. The booklet wasn’t all work and no play, since it 16
included riding the Abyss in order to answer the questions in Activity 3, which were about motion and Newton’s Second Law. Unfortunately, the infamous roller coaster, the Dragon, was closed for maintenance; however, Activity 4 could still be completed as it was just calculations of velocity that only required using maths. Students were able to understand physics principles better by applying them to reallife situations. Since the purpose of this excursion was to learn more about motion and forces, Ocean Park was the perfect destination. Though the weather was gloomy and some people got drenched, we made the best out of our visit and had a wonderful time! Jocelyn Chan Year 10 Student