A group of Year 12 Bunbury students recently got a glimpse into the inner workings of a Perth research lab.
Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School Year 12 students visited the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research in Perth as part of their Human Biology and Biology studies last month.
Students worked with research scientists using research-grade equipment and the latest technology in an authentic research laboratory setting within the Lotterywest BioDiscovery Centre.
Year 12 student Tharushi Pallegedara said it was good to see things on a practical level.
“Doing it practically helped me to better understand what we’re learning in class,” Tharushi said.
“I already wanted to study oncology, and after gaining insight and seeing the research facility, it helped to reinforce my career choice.
“It was great to see how many people are actually working in research.”
Students explored potentially mutated genes of three melanoma patients, learning first-hand how advances in research directly affect patients with melanoma.
A patient with melanoma spoke to students about her cancer journey, which Year 12 student Milla Curtis said was eye-opening.
“It was confronting to learn how young the age bracket of patients with melanoma is,” Milla said.
The session content links to the Australian Curriculum and WACE courses to give students a firm understanding of how their classroom learning relates to real-world scientific discovery.
The Lotterywest BioDiscovery Laboratory is specially designed for community members to take part in ‘hands-on’ experiments.
