PLASTIC golf clubs and car racing tracks are not the usual items found in a science lab but if students find classes fun they won’t even realise they are learning.
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That’s the hope for teachers at Trinity Anglican College’s new $1.8 million science centre, which will open tomorrow.
The school’s head of science Ken Larsen hoped the new centre would create an “exuberant atmosphere” to maximise the learning capabilities of students and keep them engaged.
Mr Larsen said the upgrade meant he could incorporate a number of digital elements into his teaching that would interest students.
“We have interactive TVs and smartboards and a lot of other digital resources which change the way we look at experiments,” he said.
“The students will be able to look through microscopes and take images and video and store that on their computers.
“Maximising of the digital world will make the kids more engaged and just step it up another level.”
Mr Larsen said they were not only excited about the technology, but the basics as well.
“There were small working desks and not many of them in the old labs so larger benches will make a big difference,” he said.
“Students will have more opportunities to learn when they are performing investigations or doing group work because of the way the room is set up and that will be a buzz for them.”
The science centre was built with the help of a $700,000 grant administered through the Department of Education’s Block Grant Authority.
Principal Steven O’Connor said the centre was purpose-built unlike the old science rooms which had been converted into labs.
