A Visit To Tamaki College

Today, the year 8's spent a few hours at Tamaki College after our tech, so that we could further understand how a day at college works. This includes switching periods, going around the school, and learning in a different environment. During the day, we had our usual session of tech, although once we were done the year 7's left the school, leaving us with the teachers in Tamaki College. First we headed to the library to eat, following walking to a classroom. In that class, we had a teacher that gave us a maths lesson. In the lesson, we were given a challenge involving co-ordinates. What we needed to do was (With a gridded piece of paper) follow directions that gave us co-ordinations, where we would dot the answer. When we were done, we would rule lines from dot to dot to reveal an image. The image we ended up with was an alien that we could now cut out, and design. I along with the rest of the year 8's really enjoyed the lesson that was given. Once we were done with our first period, we switched to another classroom where we were given a science lesson. In our lesson, we conducted multiple science experiments that all involved dry ice. Dry ice is solid carbon dioxide that does not melt, but rather defrosts into a gas, further returning to a solid. The first experiment we did was to fill and tie off a rubber glove with dry ice. The result turned out to inflate the glove, to the point where it would pop, although that took time. The second experiment was to receive a paper cup with a hole at the bottom, and plastic wrap on the top, and fill it with dry ice, the next step was to fill the cup slightly with water, and slightly tip the cup. Now if you flicked the plastic wrap, it would launch a ring of carbon dioxide. The final step was to put out a flame using the carbon dioxide ring. The next experiment we conducted was to fill a small plastic container with dry ice, fill it with water, put the lid on, tip it over, place it into a plastic bowl standing upright, and the container would launch into the air. The final experiment consisted of filling a bowl with a lot of dry ice, then add a significant amount of water, grab a paper towel soaked in detergent, and slowly slide the paper towel over the rim of the bowl. This would then form a bubble which would expand, and due to the pressure of the carbon dioxide, the bubble would eventually pop. I along with my peers had a lot of fun today, learning, and experiencing. We would like to thank the teachers that taught us, along with Mr Dunn (The deputy principal) for showing us around the school.