8 Opal Science – Visiting Seismologists

 8 Opal Science – Visiting Seismologists (that’s Earthquake scientists)

 Three scientists visited the 8 Opal Science class on Thursday 17 as part of our Term 3 study of Earthquakes and Volcanoes. Dr Michelle Salmon from the Australian National University, Joel Tatpudi and Rajesh Erigela who are based at the Warramunga Seismic Array situated in the Barkly region.  They set up an active seismograph machine in the classroom on the floor and had an old one that the students could look at and touch.

 

Dr Salmon explained about the array and what it was designed to do. We saw a photo of one of the shafts that the equipment is placed in.

Dr Salmon explained about where earthquakes occur and tectonic plates.  She showed us where they occur, and the frequency that they occur. The pattern of the quakes shows where the boundaries of the plates are, and students were able to explain the different types when quizzed.

Dr Salmon also explained how the Richter scale works and how the magnitudes of the earthquakes is measured.

With questions from students, she also talked about the scientific data that came from the 1988 earthquake that rocked Tennant Creek as well as the recent one this year. The students found it all fascinating. They asked many questions and were impressed with the answers.

Dr Salmon showed the class the seismic wave charts from both earthquakes as well, and the students could see the patterns that were registered. She explained and showed us examples of P, S, Love and Raleigh waves, and how they move through the earth.  At this point the class were asked to stand, and on the count of three, we were all asked to jump. We set off the seismograph, and could see on the screen how the machine showed our impact, our own mini quake. We did this a couple times more to see if we could beat our previous one.

Finally we talked about movies and how they aren’t always scientifically accurate, but some do have good science information in them. We also talked about types of buildings that are safer to build, and structural tricks to keep buildings safer as well as safety procedures should we find ourselves in a severe earthquake. 

Dr Salmon showed us what happened in some famous earthquakes from around the world and even some in Australia and New Zealand.

Guest Blogger:    KSQ

Da Vinci Exhibition

From Saturday 2nd April through to Sunday 1st May, the 
DA VINCI MACHINES EXHIBITION will be open to the community.

"Delve into the mind of a genius with an award-winning interactive exhibition for all ages. More than 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci conceived of possibilities beyond the understanding of others - and now replicas of his amazing machines will be brought to life at the Civic Centre.  Visitors can explore these interactive exhibits and working machines, and be inspired by Leonardo's vision.  Who knows?
Maybe you will be the one to crack the Da Vinci code??
Opening hours are Monday to Sunday from 8am through to 4pm."


This exhibition has been sponsored by local businesses and individuals - and Tennant Creek is one of the few places in the NT where it will be seen. 

Sounds like something too good to miss! What a great opportunity for a small remote town such as ours.

R.E.D. Book Awards

The RED Book Award is an initiative by Falkirk Council in Scotland to promote reading by raising awareness of new titles and encouraging teenagers to read, enjoy and debate (R.E.D) good books. This year is a celebration of 10 years, and ten secondary classes from different countries across the world were selected to participate with Falkirk schools. Students in Mrs Spina’s year 8/9 English class, in Tennant Creek, Northern Territory, were the lucky Australians chosen. 

Students enjoying the books

This week we received our lot of books. There are four different titles ‘Beneath’, ‘Inflicted’, ‘Salvaged’ and ‘Mind Blind’ all specifically chosen for 13 – 15 year olds. Students have already begun reading their first book in silent reading, and we have already had several requests to take the books home to continue reading!

Enjoyment and choice is at the heart of pupils’ experiences as well as the opportunity to develop listening and talking, reading and writing skills. 

Students with Dion

As participants, we have been teamed up with a sister school in Denny and we will be communicating and sharing our thoughts and views on the books. Some of our responsibilities as participants is to provide some fabric that represents us/Australia that will be added to a patchwork quilt that represents the selected schools and countries. Fortunately, after discussions with Mrs Boulter, she was able to organise our local artist Dion Beasley to provide a fabric piece featuring Dion’s Cheeky Dogs. Further to this, Dion very generously donated a copy of the book he illustrated ‘Too Many Cheeky Dogs’ for us to send to Scotland. Our librarian, Mrs Walsh is making a special bookplate and has also donated some other beautiful Australiana fabric featuring platypuses, kangaroos, koalas and Aboriginal artwork. Students in photography classes have also begun planning the visual images they wish to create and send, while others are planning a sleep over in order to Skype our new Scottish friends. 

If any blog readers have further suggestions or items to donate, please contact our wonderful librarian Shelagh Walsh, who first introduced us to the RED Book Awards.

It is a wonderful opportunity to read some fantastic short-listed books, as well as talk to students on the other side of the world. 

Massive thanks to Yvonne Manning and the Falkirk Council for including us in this exciting experience. 

Stay Tuned for book reviews and More!
(Guest Blogger this week is Mrs Spina)

New magazines

We have changed some of the subscriptions to the magazines in the Library.  There are a few new ones coming in and a few that were not being used have been deleted. Doing our best here to keep the collection current and interesting for everyone.

Added to the collection is:  'Hyper', which is a gaming magazine along with "Histricool', 'Vegie Patch' and also 'Wacky but True'. 
Amazingly, Tennant Creek even gets a mention in the 'Wacky but True' magazine - come and check it out!