Science

Science aims to stimulate, respond and nourish students’ curiosity about the world in which they live. Through investigations, students explore the relationships between science, technology and society now and in the future. Science provides programs that encourage students to develop their understanding of key concepts through the application of scientific techniques.

Students are given the opportunity to:

  • Explore similarities between, and diversity of, living things and their sustainable relationships with each other and their environment.
  • Identify concepts related to matter, including properties and uses and the production of substances through chemical change.
  • Use concepts linked to energy and force to explain physical phenomena.
  • Appreciate the place of Earth in time and space and interactions between Earth and its atmosphere.
  • Use scientific understanding and processes to find answers to their questions.
  • Analyse and interpret ideas, linking them with existing understanding.
  • Explain concepts through the use of scientific models.
  • Communicate findings and ideas to others.

Years 7 and 8

Students are introduced to the scientific method which is used to observe, record and explain fundamental principles.

Years 9 and 10

Students demonstrate their understanding of key concepts through self-design experiments and the critical analysis of scientific procedures.

Years 11 and 12

Students may select elective VCE studies from:

  • Biology is the study of living things. It is a study of the dynamic relationships between living organisms, their interdependence, their interactions with the non-living environment, and the processes that maintain life and ensure its continuity. Biology enables students to understand that despite the diverse ways of meeting the challenges of survival, all living things have many structural and functional characteristics in common.
  • Chemistry is a key science in explaining the workings of our universe through an understanding of the properties and interaction of substances that make up matter. Most processes, from the formation of molecules in outer space to the complex biological interactions occurring in cells, can be described by chemical theories. Although there are no sharp boundaries between sciences such as chemistry, physics and biology, chemistry is used to explain natural phenomena at the molecular level, as well as create new materials such as medicines and polymers.
  • Environmental Science provides the opportunity for students to understand the structure, function and diversity of natural ecosystems on this planet and evaluate the impacts of human activities on them. Students examine strategies to maintain and protect the ecological health of the environment while meeting the needs and desires of human populations.
  • Physics is a theoretical and empirical science, which contributes to our understanding of the physical universe from the minute building blocks of matter to the unimaginably broad expanses of the Universe. This understanding has significance for the way we understand our place in the Universe.
  • Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes and behaviour in humans. Biological, behavioural, cognitive and socio-cultural perspectives inform the way psychologists approach their research into the human condition.