Second taster day is a huge success
The second of our Catalyst STEM Stream taster days took place on Saturday 25th September, this time on the theme of Science. The pupils attended the taster day as an introduction to the Nova Catalyst STEM Stream which is available for Year 7s joining Nova in September 2022. The STEM Stream will provide a more intensive curriculum for talented students who have a strong interest in the STEM subjects and want to study it in more detail.
In Chemistry, pupils in Years 5 and 6 investigated how acids and bases and react with each other. They demonstrated their understanding of the subject incredibly well; our teachers were very impressed by their knowledge and some very intelligent questions were asked. Working in small groups, they looked at different chemical indicators and were challenged to see how accurately they could neutralise a solution.
In the Biology lab, Miss Dominy explained what DNA is and demonstrated how it can be extracted from fruit. The Year 5s and 6s then did an experiment where they extracted the DNA from a strawberry. At the end of this session, they spent some time thinking about their own DNA and using the four bases as a guide, they each made a personalised keyring to represent their own genetic makeup.
All the staff and students thoroughly enjoyed the taster day and they’re already looking forward to the next one.
For more information about Catalyst please visit: www.novahreodacademy.org.uk/catalyst-stream.
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