STAFF

Mr. Taylor (subject head)
Mr. Creed
Mr. Cross

Biology in grade 10 of 2006 changed its name to Life Sciences. The new FET curriculum had to be followed, which meant that old as well as new work had to now be taught. There was a greater emphasis on skills based education than content-based education. Skill such as graph interpretation, analysing and interpretation of data as well as interpretation of case studies have been and will continue to be taught to the new FET students.

With the new FET system, there has been a lot of work to cover, and this meant that the opportunity for outings was not viable with the amount of time in the year. Although many outings happened in 2005, no outings happened this year in 2006 due to time constraints, which was a pity.

The Biology department has decided up to this time not to enter a Biology Olympiad, as they have not found one that they see fitting and applicable to the Biology students of Wynberg. Mr. Taylor, Mr. Creed and Mr. Cross however, are still looking for an Olympiad that is relevant and challenging to the Biology students of Wynberg.

Over the years, not many boys have entered the Biology section of the Expo, but this year, there was one entrant in the Biology section: Ayden Coetzee entered the Expo with a Biology project and received a “Highly Recommended” or “A” aggregate project. This was a memorable achievement. We aim to get more boys entering Biology projects next year.

An interactive whiteboard has been installed in Mr. Taylor’s lab and it is frequently used to enhance lessons and the student’s learning experience. There is more use of computers and Power Point Presentations in conjunction with the interactive whiteboard, which allows the students to attain a greater understanding of the work with the visual aid.