Science in the city, 2011

The Australian MuseumWednesday, 10th August

2011

On Wednesday, 10th August, some budding scientists from St Monica’s school travelled to the city to attend the Science in the city expo at The

Australian Museum.

Water bugs

We were trying to find water bugs. They were in the water under some

leaves. When we found them, we put them into ice cube trays. We had to identify them using a chart and a magnifying glass. There were also some shrimp larvae. Most of them

were dead, but we caught them and identified them anyway!

Sydney Water model

This model showed how different substances like petrol, soap from

washing cars, pesticides which have run into the stormwater and sewerage effect

our waterways and wildlife. We simulated rain and watched where the

substances flowed. They went into rivers and dams. It taught us why we should stop pollution and how we do actually

pollute our waterways.

The Bearded Dragon The first thing we saw was a massive

Pterodactyl hanging from the ceiling. Wow! Next we saw two lizards, I had the Bearded dragon placed on my head. I was scared and I thought that it was going to fall off my head but it was actually crawling down towards my back! This was my favourite part of a busy trip to the museum. Bessie.

Komodo dragon

The next thing I did was patting the komodo dragon. Its skin was very rough and a little bit spiky. Its tongue licked my jacket! (I probably had some crumbs on my jacket or had just brushed them off.) This was probably my favourite part but I can’t decide because it was all great. Julian =)

LEGO Mindstormers

We went and saw the lego mindstormers. They were lego models that we programed on the computer and downloaded on to it. There was a lady that showed us how to use the model. We each had an idea of what we wanted it to do and one by one we programed and tested it to see if it would work. In the end some of the things we wanted it to do didn’t work but we had great fun anyway!!!!! Ed J

Birds - Kookaburras

The second thing my group did was to visit the birds and insects Exhibition. On the outside of the room were the birds and on the inside were the insects. All the

birds were models. I saw many birds and insects. My favourite bird was the

kookaburra. Sometimes at home in the backyard a kookaburra comes and sits

on the top of our clothesline!Bernard

The baby crocodile

In the beginning I saw a crocodile, his name was Snappy. The man there showed us how the crocodiles breathe under water. Crocodiles have narrow throats that allow them to have a wall to stop wide food like fish from blocking their throat so they can breath under water. When I was holding it I was a bit scared. The man there opened Snappy’s mouth and didn’t let go until we left that location. Martin

Dinosaur Exhibition

At the science in the city expo we went to the dinosaur exhibition and saw lots of fossils and dinosaur skeletons. The T-rex was pretty cool. So was the dinosaur egg collection. One was the size of a bowling ball! We saw a short movie of a scene that actually occurred I think 75 million years ago. We got to be paleontologists and dig up some triceratops fossils out of some dirt. Daniel

FossilsWe looked at fossils and identified

them using charts and magnifying glasses. This helped us to understand what creatures lived millions of years ago. It was

very interesting to study bone patterns and structure which

helped us to identify the fossils.

Skeletons The skeletons exhibition was an

awesome exhibition with some layouts with a man skeleton on a horse skeleton which you will see soon, there was the endoskeleton and exoskeleton of a of an armadillo, a python skeleton with it’s many ribs and lots more. Robin B

The Shingle Back lizard

When we arrived at the museum, the first things I saw were the bearded dragon and the Shingle Back lizard! Everyone got to hold the dragon, but I got to hold both lizards at the same time. I enjoyed the lizards and the volcanoes the best. I would like to visit the museum again and spend time in the skeleton exhibition. Ruby

Science in the cityWe had a wonderful experience. It was very interesting and we learned many things. We saw a variety of exhibitions including dinosaurs, skeletons, Lego

mindstorms, insects and birds, volcanoes, marine life and the Aboriginal display. We would LOVE to go again and

recommend it to everyone!!The budding St Monica’s scientists.