Science!

Yes, here is some news about what my actual purpose is here in Ecuador. Friday morning the Year 9 students performed the investigations they had each prepared in high-quality inquiry style (totally students' ideas). They were trying to figure out ways to test fitness, so some measured lung capacity by blowing air into an inverted water-filled jar or by measuring the diameter of balloons; they measured strength by making classmates do push ups, sit ups, arm curls, etc; they measured tolerance for carbon dioxide by seeing how long classmates could hold their breath with their heads dunked underwater. Yeah, you can see that some of the investigations were driven by less that scientific accuracy, but it was great to see them all working on projects that they were seriously curious about!

Year 12 later finished their DNA models: many students made theirs out of paper, but two ambitious students made wire models that, after much effort, look pretty accurate! Ah, I do love science!