March 2020

SASTA members are eligible to be nominated for a SASTA Award which are recognised at the Annual Conference. Have you considered nominating yourself or a colleague for a SASTA Award?

There are many great teachers out there that SASTA would like to acknowledge, but often they don’t get nominated for Awards.

Credit Union SA / SASTA Outstanding Contribution to the Teaching of Science Award
The Outstanding Contribution to the Teaching of Science Awards recognise teachers’ contributions to the science education of students in junior primary (R–2), primary (3–6), middle years (7–9) and senior secondary (10–12).

Helen Castle Memorial Scholarship
Two (2) scholarships of $500 plus a complimentary conference registration are awarded to enable country based science teachers to attend the SASTA Annual Conference on 23−24 April.

Through membership of SASTA, members receive the ASTA journal Teaching Science. In an effort to address the growing number of requests from readers, as well as our focus of on sustainability, ASTA has commenced a project to take the journal online. The decision was further supported by feedback received as part of a survey undertaken late last year, with 96% of respondents stating they wanted the journal online.

The project has commenced and ASTA is currently exploring options to ensure that they are able to provide you with a high quality online publication. ASTA is also looking into incorporating a print-on-demand service to enable printing of the journal should that still be your choice. ASTA hopes to have the journal online in the second half of 2020 and looks forward to providing you with greater options to access the journal as you desire. Putting the journal online will also help ASTA to increase the readership and expand the content, as well as support its aspirations to be a more environmentally sustainable organisation.

A webinar outlining all the relevant information for School Coordinators was held late last month. A recording of the webinar is available along with other information for Coordinators on the SASTA Oliphant Science Awards website.

Remember: each school can only have ONE Coordinator!

Congratulations to Prathicksha Venkatesan from Walford Anglican School for Girls whose 2019 Oliphant Science Awards entry Are there any harmful bacteria on healthcare workers' mobile phones? was a finalist in the BHP Foundation Science & Engineering Awards.

You can find out more about Prathicksha's entry and watch her interview video online.

An outline of the conference program along with information about the keynote and Cutting Edge presenters is available on the conference page of the SASTA website.

The workshop program will be available later this month.

Registration is now open! Early bird pricing is available until 20 March so get in quick!

The workshop is aimed at resourcing teachers of Years R–6 science. The Australian Curriculum: Science emphasises inquiry-based teaching and learning. Scientific inquiry promotes critical and creative thinking by encouraging flexibility and open-mindedness as students speculate about their observations of the world. In an inquiry classroom, students are able to challenge themselves to identify questions and draw evidence-based conclusions using scientific methods.

In this workshop teachers will investigate the process and practicalities of inquiry learning in the Science classroom. They will engage in hands-on activities that will inform their understanding of the types of inquiry and how to implement them in their teaching program.

Try this idea with your class! ABC science's Surfing Scientist has a great lesson plan from for smarties diffusion. It is a nice way for teachers to involve students in inquiry. The surprising result demonstrates the role of prior knowledge in making predictions and fosters positive attitudes to unexpected outcomes. Download the PDF from  www.abc.net.au/science/surfingscientist/pdf/lesson_plan15.pdf

Teachers will find these texts an invaluable resource for planning and developing student knowledge as they have comprehensive coverage of the science understandings of the SACE courses. 

Students will find them a great resource to complement lessons and by referring to its additional features such as the “Did you know?” and “SHE Alert” breakout boxes, will develop a broader knowledge of Biology across many different contexts.

See the SASTA website for more information.

• Biology • Chemistry • Nutrition
• Physics • Psychology

2020 Study Guides are currently being prepared for publication. Pre-order your copies now for immediate delivery when ready.

SASTA Board member Anthea Ponte was recently announced as the 2020 National Winner of the BHP Foundation Science and Engineering Teacher Awards.

Anthea is the STEM Coordinator at Hawthorndene Primary School.

Read more at www.scienceawards.org.au/Teacher-awards/2020.

Each year, ASTA receives federal funding for grants to schools of $100 to $500, to stage school events to promote and encourage science. The grant money available for SA schools will be about $15 000.

Grant applications are now open and will close on Friday 27 March.

This year, National Science Week is 15–23 August.

Australia’s Women in STEM Ambassador and Questacon, the National Science and Technology Centre, are collaborating on two exciting events this year!

On the evening of 7 May, educators will hear from Women in STEM Ambassador, Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith, participate in a hands-on workshop, meet women with exciting and diverse careers in STEM and share strategies and resources to increase girls’ participation
in STEM. Scholarships will be available to support teachers from across Australia to attend this event.

On 8 October, children and their parents/carers will embark on a live streamed astrophysics adventure with Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith – complete with science experiments for kids – while learning how to support girls’ interest and build their STEM confidence.

For more information, see womeninstem.org.au/wistemxq

Questacon will be visiting South Australia in May to deliver a free two-day professional development program called Engineering is Elementary for primary school teachers. EiE is a curricular program that integrates principles of engineering with science, mathematics and technology.

The interactive workshop will provide teachers with effective strategies for teaching and assessing STEM, as well as classroom ready resources to implement a specific unit of work.

• Berri Primary School, 4–5 May
• Hincks Avenue Primary School (Whyalla), 4–5 May
• Woodcroft College (Morphett Vale), 7–8 May
• Port Lincoln Hotel, 7–8 May

Register at  http://bit.ly/EiE_2020

Adolescent Success (Middle Years Teaching Association) has partnered with Latitude Group Travel to run two PD tours:

• High Tech High and University of California Berkeley - Delve into re-imaging schools with a focus on equity, deeper learning and shared leadership at High Tech High then explore student-centered learning pedagogy in teaching climate science and innovation through science in a custom program at UC, Berkeley.
• Green School, Bali - Unpack the pedagogy and fundamental design principles of Green School’s holistic, student-centered and nature-based curriculum.

Both trips are in September 2020. For more information, go to: https://latitudegrouptravel.com.au/teacher-professional-development-tours/adolescent-success-professional-development-tour-2/

The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science are Australia’s most prestigious awards for outstanding achievements in scientific research, research-based innovation, and excellence in science teaching. Nominations close 12 March 2020. See www.industry.gov.au/funding-and-incentives/prime-ministers-prizes-for-science

South Australian Science Teachers Association
249 Henley Beach Road Torrensville SA 5031
P 08 8354 0006  F 08 8354 0008  E office@sasta.asn.au
www.sasta.asn.au