The Year 5 students went to Dufan as part of a provocation under the transtheme, ‘How the World Works’. Our Central Idea is“Human’s apply their understanding of scientific forces to create and problem solve.” We inquired through a variety of rides and roller coasters in order to draw conclusions and connections about scientific forces we use in our daily lives. During the trip, we learned how both the kinetic energy and potential energy work together to create an enthusiastic experience. We learned how friction makes the wheels of the roller coaster move and how gravity pulls the coaster down as it accelerates. We also discovered that when a roller coaster climbs up the track it is called inertia, but momentum is what pulls it down.

At Dufan, we were given the choice of which rides we wanted to do based on our interest. We were grouped as ‘Extreme’, ‘Mixed’, ‘ Medium’ riders in order to get the most out of our time there. Because we were given the freedom to choose our own rides, we searched for the ones we could learn from- the most extreme!

We were Risk-Takers because we acted with courage in unfamiliar situations and Inquirers as we became more knowledgeable through our experiences about scientific forces. We were Reflective when we used our own ideas and experiences to create new understandings of how the world works.

During the school holidays, one of our Primary students, Darren Akbar Fibisono (Year 5B), took his learning to a new level!

In June, Darren participated in an event called 'International Science and Invention Fair'. It was held in Bali by the Indonesian Young Scientist Association. During the event, Darren presented his project titled, 'The Trash Manager' and was honoured with the 'Best Presentation' award.

As a result of his achievements in Bali, Darren was invited to participate in the 'International Young Scientist Innovation Exhibition' in Malaysia. Darren again successfully presented his project and received a Gold Award!

We are very proud of Darren’s efforts and achievement and hope this will lead to further opportunities in the future. We also hope that his achievements inspire others to take their learning to a new level.