Hello.
As you all know, Catherine (Katie) Taylor, Emma Carnuccio, Natalie Teh, Hayley Ng, Jingtong (Averlie) Wang, Isabelle (Izzy) Hooton and Madeleine (Maddy) Maloof recently attended the 10th International Student Science Conference at Nankai High School in Tianjin, China, and also Nankai's 110th anniversary celebrations.
First, we traveled to Beijing, where we visited Tiananmen Square and walked through the Forbidden City. Afterwards, we experienced a rickshaw ride in a preserved cultural area in Beijing and looked inside a traditional Chinese home. Then made our way to catch the bullet train to Tianjin.
We had a wonderful stay at Nankai; sleeping the dormitories, eating in the cafeteria, going shopping, getting to know the other students attending the conference and visiting some amazing places including the Tianjin Boeing Composites, the Tianjin Natural History Museum, the Ancient Cultural Street, the Haihe River, the National Wetlands Park and of course, the school itself. But most importantly, we were delegates at the science conference.
On the second day of this event, Emma Carnuccio presented her SRP on the effects of Xenical on the inhibition of lipase, Natalie Teh and Hayley Ng presented Nicole Sung's SRP on grey water, and Katie Taylor and Averlie Wang presented the SMART Tree Project. The conference was outstanding. It was an immensely beneficial experience academically, intellectually, socially and in terms of developing life skills such as public speaking. The standard of the other students' science projects was of a very high standard and we were inspired to push the limits of our own science at PLC Sydney. Some of our favourite presentations include the solar cell batteries from Taiwan and Mexico, the project on BCI (brain computer interfacing) from India, the ecologically sustainable brick from Mexico, stem cell research from Hong Kong, research on the harmful effects of wifi radiation, from Hong Kong, 'The fall of a bullet' from another Australian school Tasmania, 'Tides of the D'entrecasteaux Channel' also from Tasmania, 'The effects of halophilic bacteria on salt-stressed plants' from England, and research into PM 2.5 (particle matter) conducted by Nankai High School which looks at air pollution. All presentations were very impressive.
At the celebration of Nankai's 110th birthday, Cailin Pascoe, our Scottish highland dancer performed a beautiful dance, and our bagpipers Izzy Hooton, Maddy Maloof and Emma Carnuccio performed some lovely Australian and Scottish tunes led by Mr Wishart. We all gave them a standing ovation and we are very proud of them. The Nankai students also performed, showcasing their traditional Chinese dances, instruments, singing and the culture and values of their school. They performed very well and we were all highly entertained (after the one hour and fifteen minutes of speeches in Chinese had finished).
On our way back, we stopped over at Beijing again and climbed the Great Wall of China! The scenery was spectacular and it was an excellent opportunity to move our legs again after sitting through so many speeches and presentations. At Beijing, we also had another opportunity to do a little bit of shopping and eat dinner at a traditional Chinese restaurant. Sadly, our stay couldn't be longer.
Going to China was a fantastic and rewarding experience that none of us will ever forget. We thank our principal Dr Burgis, Mrs Hendriks and Mr Wishart for leading and accompanying us, and the PLC Sydney Foundation for supporting us. Now, we all have amazing friends from overseas and fabulous memories of our time together.
Thank you,
The 2014 PLC team.
Sunday 26 October 2014
Tuesday 30 September 2014
China Presentations
It is the fifth day of the holidays, and we are currently finalising the last few details on our presentations that we deliver in China to suggest various ideas for further research. We are also updating the blog at school. In three weeks, we will be heading off to the findings of all our high level scientific experiments. The presentations we have prepared include information about the Smart Tree Program, the effect of a fat loss drug on lipase as well as the effect of greywater on mung bean sprouts. Personally, it will be my second time in China, and knowing the overcrowding, hopefully, no-one will be lost in the masses of people in the busy streets. This blog will be following our travels and activities, and there will be plenty of photos.
That’s all for now! Keep following us for more posts.
Friday 26 September 2014
Our Presentations
Hi everybody.
Today we are back at school during our Spring holidays! We've come in to finalise the presentations which we will be be using in Tianjin. We have three presentations which we would like to share with the delegates of the 10th International Student Science Conference.
Our first presentation will be about the SMART Tree Project, which you are already familiar with from following this blog. What is sap? What is sap flow? Why is it important? What is the research? We hope that the other schools will take an interest in this area of science and enjoy it as much as we have.
For our second presentation, Hayley and Natalie will be analyzing the use of grey-water for domestic and agricultural purposes, for example, growing mung beans. We applaud them for hand-washing their own clothes to create their grey-water. This project was inspired by the research of one of our classmates, Nicole Sung, who came up with the idea.
In our third presentation, Emma will be talking about 'whether the concentration of Xenical affects the inhibition of lipase.' Her project concerns the increasingly growing problem of obesity by looking this diet pill. This is from her own original work from her SRP (Student/Science Research Project) conducted earlier this year.
We have heard that there will be students from many different parts of the world such as Canada! Katie and I (Averlie) are super excited to meet international students and make friends, and we're sure the rest of us are as well. What languages will they speak? We have also heard that we are likely to be the youngest delegates to present at the conference because the other delegates are likely to be in the equivalents of Year 12. However, that just makes everything more exciting because it gives us an opportunity to get a taste of higher levels of scientific work.
It is a privilege to be able to go to China on a tour such as this one and we hope that our audience at Tianjin will enjoy our presentations as much as we have enjoyed putting them together.
Today we are back at school during our Spring holidays! We've come in to finalise the presentations which we will be be using in Tianjin. We have three presentations which we would like to share with the delegates of the 10th International Student Science Conference.
Our first presentation will be about the SMART Tree Project, which you are already familiar with from following this blog. What is sap? What is sap flow? Why is it important? What is the research? We hope that the other schools will take an interest in this area of science and enjoy it as much as we have.
For our second presentation, Hayley and Natalie will be analyzing the use of grey-water for domestic and agricultural purposes, for example, growing mung beans. We applaud them for hand-washing their own clothes to create their grey-water. This project was inspired by the research of one of our classmates, Nicole Sung, who came up with the idea.
In our third presentation, Emma will be talking about 'whether the concentration of Xenical affects the inhibition of lipase.' Her project concerns the increasingly growing problem of obesity by looking this diet pill. This is from her own original work from her SRP (Student/Science Research Project) conducted earlier this year.
We have heard that there will be students from many different parts of the world such as Canada! Katie and I (Averlie) are super excited to meet international students and make friends, and we're sure the rest of us are as well. What languages will they speak? We have also heard that we are likely to be the youngest delegates to present at the conference because the other delegates are likely to be in the equivalents of Year 12. However, that just makes everything more exciting because it gives us an opportunity to get a taste of higher levels of scientific work.
It is a privilege to be able to go to China on a tour such as this one and we hope that our audience at Tianjin will enjoy our presentations as much as we have enjoyed putting them together.
Tuesday 23 September 2014
Our upcoming tour to Nankai High School, Tianjin is fast approaching and I am both excited to widen my global perspectives and cultural awareness but also nervous for our presentation at the International Science Conference.
Myself along with four other Year 10 PLC Science Students have been tirelessly working on our investigations and presentations. But regardless of the time and effort that we have put into our works, our preparations have been enjoyable with our fearless leader Ms Hendriks, baking brownies and meringues for us for our weekly meetings. (I think it is the food that keeps us motivated!)
Keep in touch
How to follow us in China!
Hello.
Did you know that you can follow us through RSS (real simple syndicator), which is the equivalent of subscribing to our blog. This will be very exciting when we go to China. We are all greatly excited to catch the bullet train, climb the Great Wall of China, visit the wetlands, stay at Nankai High School and being involved so many more interesting and scientific activities during our trip.
To receive email alerts about our adventures, proceed to 'feedly Pro'. This is a website which uses RSS linked to your email to let you know when there is a new post on any blog that you wish to follow. Simply link your email address to feedly and then add our blog by searching the URL.
feedly:
https://feedly.com/
Our blog:
http://smarttreeproject.blogspot.com.au/
We all look forward to keeping you up to date during the International Student Science Conference of 2014!
Thanks.
Did you know that you can follow us through RSS (real simple syndicator), which is the equivalent of subscribing to our blog. This will be very exciting when we go to China. We are all greatly excited to catch the bullet train, climb the Great Wall of China, visit the wetlands, stay at Nankai High School and being involved so many more interesting and scientific activities during our trip.
To receive email alerts about our adventures, proceed to 'feedly Pro'. This is a website which uses RSS linked to your email to let you know when there is a new post on any blog that you wish to follow. Simply link your email address to feedly and then add our blog by searching the URL.
feedly:
https://feedly.com/
Our blog:
http://smarttreeproject.blogspot.com.au/
We all look forward to keeping you up to date during the International Student Science Conference of 2014!
Thanks.
Monday 15 September 2014
Our model - Science, Creativity, Life
Hello!
We are excited to announce that we have completed our model of the lemon-scented gum tree. Our school enjoyed this project so much that we chose to extend it beyond Science Week and add more to it. This scientific activity has also been very good for incorporating the theme of this year's International Science Conference, which is 'Science, Creativity, Life'. In the creation of this tree, we have demonstrated all three aspects.
Science:
We asked some students around the school, "What did you learn from making the tree?" The range of answers were wide and varied, covering everything from, "I didn't know that sap flow was triggered by heat and light," to, "I learnt how to create composite graphs on excel." Our favourite response was perhaps, "I didn't know there were mushrooms under the tree." Well, there aren't any because red-spotted mushrooms are not native plants, but the mushrooms that a wonderful Year 5 class made were too cute to go to waste so we included them anyway. It was fun to gain more scientific knowledge and learn more about trees as a part of our SMART Tree Project.
Creativity:
Included in our model, there are native Australian birds singing in the branches, long roots extending into the junior school reading pit, a representation of the solar panel, boxes of leaf litter samples, and much much more. Putting together our tree model involved a lot of artistic effort. The roots used up a great supply of masking tape and the root hairs made use of pipe cleaners. The solar panel is a music stand covered in aluminium foil. The posters surrounding the tree are both decorative and educational. This was a good opportunity for everyone to express their creativity.
Life:
Examples of life can be found everywhere: the birds and possums in the tree, the organisms and worms below the tree, and of course, the tree itself. It is also good to keep in mind that our academic work is part of the 'cutting edge research (which) could well find its way into government policy and scientific papers as the world wrestles with such issues as climate change, drought policy and natural resource management,' showing an impact on our lives.
Here are some photos of our final product!
We are excited to announce that we have completed our model of the lemon-scented gum tree. Our school enjoyed this project so much that we chose to extend it beyond Science Week and add more to it. This scientific activity has also been very good for incorporating the theme of this year's International Science Conference, which is 'Science, Creativity, Life'. In the creation of this tree, we have demonstrated all three aspects.
Science:
We asked some students around the school, "What did you learn from making the tree?" The range of answers were wide and varied, covering everything from, "I didn't know that sap flow was triggered by heat and light," to, "I learnt how to create composite graphs on excel." Our favourite response was perhaps, "I didn't know there were mushrooms under the tree." Well, there aren't any because red-spotted mushrooms are not native plants, but the mushrooms that a wonderful Year 5 class made were too cute to go to waste so we included them anyway. It was fun to gain more scientific knowledge and learn more about trees as a part of our SMART Tree Project.
Creativity:
Included in our model, there are native Australian birds singing in the branches, long roots extending into the junior school reading pit, a representation of the solar panel, boxes of leaf litter samples, and much much more. Putting together our tree model involved a lot of artistic effort. The roots used up a great supply of masking tape and the root hairs made use of pipe cleaners. The solar panel is a music stand covered in aluminium foil. The posters surrounding the tree are both decorative and educational. This was a good opportunity for everyone to express their creativity.
Life:
Examples of life can be found everywhere: the birds and possums in the tree, the organisms and worms below the tree, and of course, the tree itself. It is also good to keep in mind that our academic work is part of the 'cutting edge research (which) could well find its way into government policy and scientific papers as the world wrestles with such issues as climate change, drought policy and natural resource management,' showing an impact on our lives.
Here are some photos of our final product!
 |
| An overview. |
 |
| Scientific graphs. |
 |
| Rainbow Lorikeet sitting on a branch. |
 |
| The solar panel. |
 |
| The roots. |
 |
| Educational books and root hairs. |
 |
| Leaves, oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules, and bug life. |
Wednesday 3 September 2014
Science Week
Hello everyone,
During the National Science Week, PLC Sydney recreated our lemon-scented gum, the tree that we are using in the SMART Tree Project, in our school library. The tree begins on the ground level and continues to the top of the first floor. The construction of our tree is an activity which was orchestrated by the librarians, aided by the Science staff.
As our whole school Science Week activity, every student has contributed to this model in some way. For example, one of the Year 7 classes made oxygen molecules to hang from the ceiling, a Year 10 class made posters to be put up around the tree describing the plant adaptations which enable water retention, a Year 5 class made cute little red mushrooms displayed at the roots of the tree, a Year 8 class made models of glucose molecules and every student in the years 7 to 10 have graphed the sap flow on their birthdays using Microsoft Excel.
Here are some photos of our tree model: the first image depicts the bottom of the tree, including the roots, and the second image portrays a general overview of the entire tree.
During the National Science Week, PLC Sydney recreated our lemon-scented gum, the tree that we are using in the SMART Tree Project, in our school library. The tree begins on the ground level and continues to the top of the first floor. The construction of our tree is an activity which was orchestrated by the librarians, aided by the Science staff.
As our whole school Science Week activity, every student has contributed to this model in some way. For example, one of the Year 7 classes made oxygen molecules to hang from the ceiling, a Year 10 class made posters to be put up around the tree describing the plant adaptations which enable water retention, a Year 5 class made cute little red mushrooms displayed at the roots of the tree, a Year 8 class made models of glucose molecules and every student in the years 7 to 10 have graphed the sap flow on their birthdays using Microsoft Excel.
Here are some photos of our tree model: the first image depicts the bottom of the tree, including the roots, and the second image portrays a general overview of the entire tree.
Wednesday 27 August 2014
Our Abstract
PLC Sydney, PLC Armidale and The Armidale School have taken part in a science pilot
program called the SMART Tree Project. The schools each have a solar powered SAP flow
meter on a tree in their school. These meters measure plant water use, (sap flow). This data
can then be analysed with reference to data obtained on temperature, sunlight, humidity
and wind direction. PLC Sydney has the sap flow meter on a lemon scented gum (Corymbia
citriodara). PLC Armidale has 2 trees with sap flow meters, a Ribbon Gum Tree (Eucalyptus
viminalis) and the introduced, deciduous Poplar (Populus trichocarpa)The Armidale School
monitors Eucalyptus stellulata.
The schools collaborate by sharing data from each of the meters on the trees. Over twelve
months of data have been collected. The sap flow meters use the heat ratio method (HRM)
of measuring the sap flow in xylem tissue. This uses a short pulse of heat as a tracer. By
measuring the rate of heat transferred to two symmetrically placed temperature sensors the
magnitude and direction of water flow can be detected.
PLC Sydney also has an automated weather station which measures wind speed, wind
direction, air temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure. Last year during a week of
prolonged bushfires, the students analysed the data to determine whether higher pollution,
wind speed and temperature had caused a decrease in sap flow; the sap flow in fact
increased.
PLC Armidale has compared the sap flow in Summer and Winter of the deciduous and
native trees. They have noted a significant decrease in sap flow after an extended drought
period. In addition they have noted that the trees reduce sap flow prior to an extreme
temperature day reduced.
This research could provide data when considering issues such as climate change, drought
policy and natural science management. Presbyterian Ladies’ College Sydney would like to
present their findings at the 10th International Student Science Conference.
program called the SMART Tree Project. The schools each have a solar powered SAP flow
meter on a tree in their school. These meters measure plant water use, (sap flow). This data
can then be analysed with reference to data obtained on temperature, sunlight, humidity
and wind direction. PLC Sydney has the sap flow meter on a lemon scented gum (Corymbia
citriodara). PLC Armidale has 2 trees with sap flow meters, a Ribbon Gum Tree (Eucalyptus
viminalis) and the introduced, deciduous Poplar (Populus trichocarpa)The Armidale School
monitors Eucalyptus stellulata.
The schools collaborate by sharing data from each of the meters on the trees. Over twelve
months of data have been collected. The sap flow meters use the heat ratio method (HRM)
of measuring the sap flow in xylem tissue. This uses a short pulse of heat as a tracer. By
measuring the rate of heat transferred to two symmetrically placed temperature sensors the
magnitude and direction of water flow can be detected.
PLC Sydney also has an automated weather station which measures wind speed, wind
direction, air temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure. Last year during a week of
prolonged bushfires, the students analysed the data to determine whether higher pollution,
wind speed and temperature had caused a decrease in sap flow; the sap flow in fact
increased.
PLC Armidale has compared the sap flow in Summer and Winter of the deciduous and
native trees. They have noted a significant decrease in sap flow after an extended drought
period. In addition they have noted that the trees reduce sap flow prior to an extreme
temperature day reduced.
This research could provide data when considering issues such as climate change, drought
policy and natural science management. Presbyterian Ladies’ College Sydney would like to
present their findings at the 10th International Student Science Conference.
Friday 22 August 2014
At PLC Sydney + Who are we?
Our school is very interested in the SMART Tree Project, and as a side project of our own, we are building a model of the lemon scented gum in our own school library. The junior school will be adding the external structure of the tree and the life found in and around the tree and the senior school will be adding the internal structure, cells xylem phloem and cambium layers. The tree will be built from the ground floor of the library to the second floor.
Currently, we have the scaffold of the tree, some floating oxygen molecules, and various decorations made by Science classes in both the junior and senior schools. Here is a photo of how it looks so far:
And this is the weather station at our school which collects the other data such as temperature, wind speed and humidity. The weather station is located on the roof of our Performing Arts Centre and it sends radio wave signals to the Macindoe Research Centre (our school library) so that the data may be processed.
And who are we? We are five PLC Sydney Year 10 students who are partaking in the SMART Tree Project which we shall be presenting at the 10th International Student Science Conference later this year at Nankai Highschool in Tianjin in China, accompanied by our Principal, Dr Paul Burgis, a member of the Science staff, Ms Hendricks, and some performers. From left to right, our names are Natalie Teh, Jingtong (Averlie) Wang, Catherine (Katie) Taylor, Emma Carnuccio and Hayley Ng.
Wednesday 20 August 2014
Introduction to the SMART Tree Project
Hello everyone,
Welcome to the official blog for the SMART Tree Project. PLC Sydney is participating in a scientific program titled the SMART Tree Project, which involves using a solar powered sap flow meter to measure plant water use, the rising and falling levels of sap flow within a tree on the school grounds. This data lets us analyse it with reference to data obtained on temperature, sunlight, humidity and wind direction; that we collect from the automated weather station at our school. We will use it to investigate the different relationships that sap flow has with each of them. Our school has the sap flow meter installed on a lemon scented gum tree Corymbia citriodara which was planted by our first principal Dr. Marden in approximately 1918.
What is sap?
Sap is the fluid, consisting mainly of water with dissolved sugars and mineral salts, which is found circulating through the vascular system of plants carried by xylem cells.
Sap is the fluid, consisting mainly of water with dissolved sugars and mineral salts, which is found circulating through the vascular system of plants carried by xylem cells.
What is sap flow?
Sap flow is the movement of sap through the plant. It is triggered by heat and light which leads to photosynthesis and transpiration and these two processes cause sap to move inside the plant.
How does the sap flow meter work?
The sap flow meter is an Australian invention which is electrically powered by a solar panel located near the near the tree. The meter takes readings every hour and transmits radio signals to receivers located on the roof of our school library. The data is then further transmitted to the science staff where it can be interpreted and analysed.
Every student in years 7 to 10 is graphing ‘sap flow vs temperature’ and ‘sap flow vs humidity’ for their respective birthdays. This allows us to begin to hypothesise what the relationships between sap flow and these natural phenomenons could be.
For example, take a look at these graphs for the 13th of March in 2013:
From looking at graphs such as these, we hypothesise that as humidity decreases, sap flow increases, and as temperature increases, sap flow also increases. We look forward to obtaining more data and creating more graphs so that we can further analyse our results and test our hypotheses.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)