School excursions and presentations

 

 

 

The Institute is an excellent venue for school excursions, both primary and secondary. We offer a flexible and interactive school excursion program for students aged 8 to 15 years.

Students have the opportunity to:

• Examine dust mites and learn more about asthma and allergies in children.
• Look at cancer cells under a powerful microscope.
• Conduct basic science experiments such as extracting DNA from split peas or take a swab from inside their cheek and stain and view their own cheek cells.

Schools can book a guest speaker to come to your school and talk to students about topics such as asthma, allergies, leukaemia, Aboriginal child health, birth defects and infectious diseases.  Presentations can be individually tailored to suit the school syllabus and the needs of each class or group.

Presentation topics can include:

• Professor Fiona Stanley AC and the history of the Institute
• The Institute's areas of research such as leaukaemia and cancer, asthma and allergies, Aboriginal child health or infectious diseases
• The Institute's latest child health breakthroughs
• Fundraising for the Institute
• Careers in medical research

For more information, or to book a speaker or excursion, contact the Public
Relations Office on 08 9489 7777 or email pr@ichr.uwa.edu.au.

	PLC student Carter performs a DNA extraction experiment with the help of researcher Rebecca Taylor.

One of the Institute’s aims is to teach the next generation of researchers. This includes provoking an interest in science in today’s primary school children, who are potentially our researchers of tomorrow.

Around 60 Year 5 students from PLC gained an unique insight into the world of medical research when they visited the Institute for a school excursion.

Teacher Larni Retallack said that PLC’s visit to the Telethon Institute was an exciting experience for staff, students and parents. In particular, they were amazed at the large number of women working in a scientific environment.

“We thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to work in a real laboratory with so many wonderful women who are role models in the area of science,” Ms Retallack said.

“The girls appreciated the opportunity to extract DNA from split peas, and looking inside a human ear was a new experience for most of us.

“It was a privilege to be welcomed into such an inviting environment where everyone is passionate about helping children,” Ms Retallack said.

Whilst at the Institute, the girls also learned about indoor allergens that cause asthma and were able to look under the microscope at the most common indoor allergen - house dust mites!