Welcome Year 7's

With the introduction of the new Syllabus there will be three courses in mathematics this year. After Week 4, Term 1, students will be placed in mathematic classes according to their ability.

Outlined below is some of the Topics you will cover in Science in Year 7.

Topics

• You Can Be A Scientist
• Matter
• Cells
• Fizz Whiz Pop
• Tread Lightly on the Earth
• Forces
• Classification

All students must do an Independent Research Project

The year 7 Science experience at Mt St Pats is designed to spark students’ interest and enthusiasm towards Science. The course is designed to build confidence and familiarise you with the scientific process.

Topics studied include:

You Can be a Scientist. Here students learn about the laboratory, its equipment and the various branches of Science.

What is Everything made of? A topic which introduces the study of matter

Cells. Where studrents use microscopes to study the smallest units of life.

Classification. Here students learn why and how plants and animals are placed in groups.

Fizz Whiz Pop. A topic dealing with chemical and physical separations

Tread Lightly on the Earth and Atmosphere. Deals with the consequences of mining and pollution on the planet.

Forces. Is a physics topic introducing the basics of Newton’s Laws.

Assessment

During the year there will be a written Half Yearly and Yearly Examination. Year 7 has a Practical Examination as well as a Classification Assessment Task, an “in class” Research Task as well as an Independent Research project.

As Science is an exacting subject where good record keeping is valued there are two book marks during the year.

The course is delivered with Literacy, Numeracy and IT at the forefront to provide students with a well rounded  and interesting area of study.

Here are some of the interesting themes that you will encounter in English in Year 7

Outlined below is a brief overview of some of the topics you will cover in HSIE. You will find a more detail description if you read on.

Geography      

• Investigating the World (Introduction to Geography)
• Global Environments (Rainforests, Mountains)
• Field Study Excursion – Fleays Fauna Centre

History

• Introduction to History
• A History of Ancient Societies
  - Egypt
  - Greece
  - Rome
• Medieval History
  - An assignment on one aspect of an Ancient or Medieval Society
  -An assignment on one type of Global Environment

So what is HSIE?

Human Society and Its Environment(HSIE) is the Key Learning Area(KLA) that enables students to learn about the world around them, from a social studies perspective. For year 7 students it involves a semester of Geography followed by a semester of History. Students enjoy the subjects as they cover new, interesting and relevant topics.

Geography

All students at Mt St Patrick College study Geography during Years 7 and 8 (Stage 4) and in Year 9 and 10 (Stage 5). The 2005 BOS Syllabus for Geography Stages 4 /5 has been implemented with Year 7 students beginning with the “GLOBAL GEOGRAPHY” course in first Semester. At our school all yr 7 complete Geography in Semester 1.  Students in Year 8  complete Geography in Semester 2.

TOPIC 1 (4G1):       INVESTIGATION OF THE WORLD

This topic is an INTRODUCTION TO GEOGRAPHY. In it students learn about the role of Geography in the world and they develop skills including mapping and gathering information in field work.

TOPIC 2 (4G2):     GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTS

This topic involves a depth study of a Global Environment such as Rainforests. Students undertake a research project on another environment, such as Deserts, Mountains, Antarctica, Coral Reefs or Savannah. There is a strong environmental focus in the way College students study this topic.

History

All students at Mt St Patrick College study World History in Years 7 and 8 (Stage 4), and then carry on with Australian History in Years 9 and 10 (Stage 5). Year 7 complete History in second semester, while year 8 complete History in first semester. The 2005 BOS Syllabus for History Stages 4/5 is followed with the Year 7 cohort doing the mandatory “WORLD HISTORY” course and the yr 8 students continuing with the course that they began last year. The students in Year 9 begin the Stage 5 Course, which studies “AUSTRALIAN HISTORY”.

TOPIC 1:(4H1)      INTRODUCING HISTORY

This topic introduces students to the study of Historical sources and the concept of chronological order. Students enjoy solving “History  mysteries” and using evidence.

TOPIC 2(4H2)   SOCIETIES AND CIVILISATIONS OF THE PAST

A HISTORY OF ANCIENT SOCIETIES

• ANCIENT EGYPT, GREECE and ROME

These interesting topics are studied in chronological order, with more time allocated to Ancient Egypt. Students are often fascinated by this ancient culture and society, and it allows for historical themes such as law and order, beliefs and values, and citizenship to be covered. A depth study of one aspect of an ancient society is the individual research task.

In both Geography and History students use their laptops regularly, however many literacy and numeracy tasks are performed with traditional methods, in preparation for external exams.

In Music in Year 7 you will get an opportunity to develop your musical skills. Topics covered include

• Development of Practical Skills for Keyboard, Guitar, Singing, Drums
• Basics of Reading and Writing Music
• Musical Instruments
• Vocal Music

All students in Year 7 will be invited to consider learning an instrument as part of our extensive extra curricular music programme.

The students rotate through four units in Year 7 and two units in Year 8. In each unit, students are required to design and make a quality product, and document the design process in a Design Folio.

The topics include:

• ‘Basement Blitz’ ( a computer generated graphical representation of a re-designed lower basement for Mt. St. Patrick College)
• ‘Kitchen Kapers’ (a kitchen implement made from plastics)
• ‘Pandora’s Box – Unlock The Mystery’ (a pencil case made from wood and a multimedia presentation communicating the process of making a pencil case)
• ‘In The Bag’(a simple bag to carry an item of their choice, incorporating fabric decoration techniques)
• ‘Kid’s Cooking Adventure’ (a digital photo story presentation to encourage and educate kids to enjoy eating and cooking nutritional foods)
• ‘Out of the Furnace’ (the use of a range of metalworking tools and metals to make an art metal project)

The Visual Arts course integrates art making with historical an critical studies of Australian and International artworks and artists. Students explore a broad range of 2 and 3 dimensional media and techniques in the following units of work:

–       Looking At Me – students produce a series of artworks based on their own image, their feelings and emotions, and people in their life.

The ways in which other artists have approached portraiture throughout history and in contemporary time is examined in students’ art study.

–       Creepy Creatures –  students explore how animals have been depicted in artworks from history and critically examine the ways that relationships between humans and animals are conveyed in artworks.

They record their observations of animals and their behaviour in 2 dimensional artworks and use their imagination to sculpt an imaginary animal from clay.

–       Places and Spaces – students record their observations of natural and built environments. They explore perspective in their drawing and create 3 dimensional representations of architectural sites that they select to research.