Science Day: Food Different By Design

Every year, staff within the Science Department are very excited to hear what the theme will be for National Science week. There is much discussion as the team try to come up with new and innovative ideas to bring Science Day to life for students and staff.  

The school theme for National Science Week this year, is Food: Different by Design. It honours the United Nations International Year of Fruits and Vegetables and the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development. Activities were designed around the theme.

Head of Science, Ailsa Harris said, “We interpreted the theme by bring together a range of different foods that students and staff may not have tried or heard about. We provided the opportunity to taste some bush tucker, or food native to Australia. Australian Aboriginals used the environment around them for generations, living off a diet high in protein, fibre, and micronutrients, and low in sugars. Much of the bush tucker eaten then is still available and eaten today.” 

Land animals such as kangaroos, historically known as being high in protein, and emus whose meat is known to be higher in Vitamin C, and have more protein than beef, are both low in fat. We learnt that 100g serving of stewed crocodile meat contains as much as 46g of protein, which is almost double the serving of a similar portion of chicken.

Samples of crocodile patties, kangaroo sausages, emu fillets, crocodile tail fillets cooked on the BBQ were on offer along with lemon myrtle crackers loaded with tomato chutney, Illawarra plum chutney and apricot and quondong chutney. The escargots (snails) received a mixed reaction. The guess ‘meat or not’ sausages was a fun activity. All of this was then washed down with a sip of Roogenic relaxation blend tea made from lemon myrtle, aniseed myrtle, native lemongrass – a favourite with the girls. 

There were also native edible plants on the menu such as saltbush, native leek and bush cherry.

In line with the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, students participated in a challenge where could choose items for their shopping trolley and calculate the air miles it took to get the food to Australia. They were also encouraged to choose fruit and vegetables which are in season, to limit the air miles.

Science Day was a huge success. Thank you to the Science Department for planning and delivering this event. An even bigger thank you to the amazing technicians for sourcing and cooking the foods and setting up the competitions.

What A Term! So Many Opportunities – Jennifer Oaten

As I look back on the past nine weeks, I am so grateful for who we are as a community and what we have achieved. Through the dedication of our staff and the enthusiasm of our students, we have established new connections, immersed ourselves in opportunities and worked through challenges.

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