Year 12 Taronga Zoo excursion
On Friday 2nd March 2012, Year 12 Business Studies, along with Mr. Dalton and Mr. Mohan, attended an excursion to Taronga Zoo; home to thousands of animals. This excursion provided our girls with a great opportunity to gain further resources and case study information for the HSC course in Business Studies. Despite the gloomy and early start to the day, both classes managed to catch the 7:48 train to Circular Quay. We arrived slightly earlier than planned, and with time to spare, were taken for a breakfast/coffee run at the nearby McDonalds.
After our energy boost, we took the ferry across the harbour and caught the bus up to the zoo. Standing at the entrance in the pouring rain, with the wind in our faces, the teachers decided it would be a fantastic idea to take a group photo; and so we did. With a little extra time on our hands, the teachers let us roam free to explore one of the world's leading zoological parks with striking views of Sydney Harbour. We walked around to see a few animals from Taronga's diverse collection including koalas, reptiles, chimpanzees, giraffes, elephants, tigers, hippos, sea lions and gorillas.
Following this mini exploration, we met up with a lecturer named Natasha who allowed us to have a first-hand experience with Pugsley the echidna. Natasha then took us in a classroom and provided a 1-hour educational lecture on the business aspects of the zoo. We were presented with Taronga's marketing report, organisational structure, media relations report, marketing strategies and financial statements; all of which provide a worthy case study material for the future. This lecture offered students an understanding of the nature and role of marketing within the Taronga Conservation Society Australia.
Afterwards, we were again let loose in the rain to continue exploring the grounds of Taronga Zoo with its diverse animal collection. Although it was rainy and muddy, everyone still managed to have great fun wandering around the zoo and snapping photos of the friendly animals. Taronga's vast range of animals ensures it continues to be one of Sydney's and Australia's leading tourist attractions.
At the end of the day, the Year 12 Business Studies classes had an incredible and enjoyable experience at Taronga Zoo. This excursion is one never to be forgotten!
Year 12 IMAX excursion
On Tuesday the 28th of February, the two year 12 Business Studies classes and their teachers Mr Dalton and Mr Mohan went on an excursion to the IMAX. Waking up at 6am and making it on time to the train station at 7.30am was worth it.
When we got to the IMAX theatre we were given a one hour lecture about its business operations, marketing, finance and much more, while we took notes. We learnt about the difficulty of establishing a business and how difficult it was to keep your business in a steady-state or at growth. We learnt about IMAX's target market, their experiences, their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and so much more. We benefited a lot from the lecture, making the IMAX one of our many business case studies to use in the HSC.
After the informative lecture, we experienced the actual IMAX experience by watching a 2D IMAX documentary about Antarctica. We could see the product differentiation throughout our experience, which helped show us how IMAX differentiated from its competitors and had a competitive advantage.
After the IMAX experience, we took a beautiful picture in Darling Harbour and started walking to Pitt Street Mall. We were all given time to eat and shop, and at the same time, learn about the businesses around the area, how they operate, their target markets and much more. We were also given worksheets to answer questions about a business in the area, so that in the future we could use this analysis of a business as a relevant case study. We learnt so much from this day and we all had a wonderful experience!
By Mirvat Abdulkader
