Science
YEARS 11 - 13
Corrosion
Year 13 Chemistry students at St Oran’s College were interested to hear how an understanding of chemistry can lead into engineering careers. Beth Coughlan, airworthiness engineer for the Civil Aviation Authority, explained how her job involves ensuring that aircraft in New Zealand are safe to fly. This could be checking for wear and tear, such as corrosion, or testing design modifications.
The students then completed a corrosion experiment using different types of fruit and strips of metal. The aim of the experiment was to find out about the corrosion of metals in an acidic environment. The more acidic the fruit and the more reactive the metals, the stronger the voltage produced. This hands-on approach was very engaging and encouraged the students to ask more questions about what they had learned in class
History of Physics
Vineet from MWH Global gave Year 12 physics students at Kaikorai Valley College an entertaining and fun history lesson on physics. Vineet showed students that the principles crammed into their courses and used in his mechanical engineering job actually took hundreds of years and many gifted minds to discover.
Vineet then explained the physics behind a project he worked on in Australia, strengthening part of a dam.
Radioactivity
Cris, senior scientist from the National Radiation Laboratory, gave a presentation to Marian College’s Year 12 Physics class about his career dealing with radioactivity. He told some great stories about radiation safety incidents and brought in his Geiger counter to let the students test paper, Perspex and lead for different kinds of radiation.
