Science
Wyong High School provides a great depth and varying curriculum in the Science KLA. Science is ably supported by a diverse Agriculture faculty which offers a range of learning opportunities for all students. The Science KLA provides educational opportunities in years 7-10 Science along with Years 9 and 10 Agriculture and Marine Studies. In the Senior Years (11 and 12) Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Science, Marine Studies, Physics Primary Industries and Senior Science are offered.
Programs and units of work are designed to provide many educational opportunities Some of which are:
- engage and challenge all students to maximise their individual talents and capabilities for lifelong learning
- enable all students to develop positive self-concepts and their capacity to establish and maintain safe, healthy and rewarding lives
- encourage and enable all students to enjoy learning, and to be self-motivated, reflective, competent learners who will be able to take part in further study, work or training
- understand, develop and communicate ideas and information
- access, analyse, evaluate and use information from a variety of sources
- work collaboratively with others to achieve individual and collective goals
- possess the knowledge and skills necessary to maintain a safe and healthy lifestyle
- understand and appreciate the physical, biological and technological world and make responsible and informed decisions in relation to their world
- understand and apply a variety of analytical and creative techniques to solve problems
- understand, interpret and apply concepts related to numerical and spatial patterns, structures and relationships
- be productive, creative and confident in the use of technology and understand the impact of technology on society
- understand the work environment and be equipped with the knowledge, understanding and skills to evaluate potential career options and pathways
- develop a system of personal values based on their understanding of moral, ethical and spiritual matters.
Science and Agriculture provide a distinctive view and way of thinking about the world. The study has led to an evolving body of knowledge organised as an interrelated set of models, theories, laws, systems, structures and interactions.
Through the study of science, students investigate phenomena that occur over a range of scales, from the subatomic to the cosmological, from events that take place almost instantaneously to processes occurring over billions of years, from the origins of the universe to contemporary phenomena. As an important part of their science education students examine the historical and ongoing contributions of Australian scientists to international scientific research. The study of science provides students with the opportunity to examine the impact on their lives of scientific knowledge and its application to their communities and surroundings. This study provides opportunities for students to become independent learners and promotes their development of informed attitudes towards science and the environment.
The study of science provides opportunities for students to develop the skills of working scientifically by engaging them in thinking critically and creatively in problem-solving processes. Students work individually and in teams in planning and conducting investigations. They are encouraged to critically analyse data and information, evaluate issues and problems, develop questions for inquiry and investigation, and draw evidence-based conclusions. Students are called on to apply and communicate their findings, understanding and viewpoints in a scientifically literate way when making decisions about the environment, the natural and technological world.
By engaging students in a range of learning experiences that build on prior learning and are set in meaningful and relevant contexts, they are led to a more scientific understanding of their world and the way that scientists work. It is through this inquiry and investigation that students develop a deeper appreciation of scientific endeavour, of science as an evolving body of knowledge, of the provisional nature of scientific explanations and of the complex relationship between evidence and ideas.