Recently, Year 6 students at Century Park Campus participated in the school’s annual Science Fair. To provide an opportunity for students to apply what they learnt in class, the fair involved key concepts from the science curriculum. Previously during the school year, the students had learnt about fair testing in a “Scientific Enquiry” unit, and they acquired knowledge about the “Scientific Process”, and the importance of repeating an experiment more than once to achieve accurate results. Additionally, Year 6 students established their understanding of variables and factors, all important to any scientific experiment.

For the Science Fair, the students were tasked to devise an investigation to answer a scientific question that interested them. Having two weeks and using equipment from home, some very imaginative and thoughtful projects came about, including:

• Does music affect plant growth? 

• Does changing hands affect the reaction time of an experiment? 

• Do types of background noise affect how well we concentrate? 

• What materials block Wi-Fi signals? 


In class, teachers held follow-up conference sessions with each of the students, offering a time for them to ask questions in order to feel confident about the progression of their projects. Ms Catherine Luk, Year 6 Co-Teacher, was impressed by the students’ creativity and enthusiasm throughout the process. She explains, “What started off as science investigations evolved into cross-curricular projects with Information Communication Technology (ICT), using Pages, PowerPoint, Keynote or Microsoft Word, and included analysing and interpreting the data collection using Mathematics. Students were also able to practise their presentation in English, and many brought their trifold boards to life in Art classes through the use of various techniques to decorate their presentations.”

On the day of the fair, Year 6 parents were invited to watch their budding scientists in action. Visits from other Primary and Secondary students were an added bonus for all. Ms Luk adds, “We are very proud of all of our Year 6 students and their efforts in the Science Fair. Great fun was had by everyone, and we anticipate another successful and enjoyable event next academic year!”