Happy school holidays!

It seems like last term flew by as we were so busy in the office with the Oliphant Science Awards! We also ran a number of Stage 2 Marking Workshops and Exam Prep Seminars.

We're now on the countdown to end of the year, but there are still plenty of activities to come including the Early Career Teachers Conference, STEM Conference, Designing Tasks for Stage 2 Sciences Workshops, Exam Post Mortems and 2019 resource orders!

Last chance to...

Submit a presentation for the STEM Conference by Friday 5 October.
Register for the Early Career Teachers Conference to be held on Friday 12 October.

EO Retirement

Today we farewell Greg Cole, who has been the Executive Officer at SASTA since 2008. Greg's almost 11 years at SASTA has seen an expansion program incorporating the development of resources including trial exams, workbooks and consultancy services. This has resulted in the purchase of our current premises and an increase to 3.4 full time staff, which has set the organisation up to continue to grow into the future. We wish Greg all the best in his retirement and thank him for his significant contributions!

STEM Conference

Early Career Teachers Conference - program available!

Last chance to submit a workshop presentation!

This Conference will be held at Brighton Secondary School and will provide an excellent opportunity for educators and teachers to exchange ideas about STEM teaching and learning and to maintain and develop valuable networks. If you have something you would like to share please submit a workshop abstract online by Friday 5 October.

Submit a workshop abstract

SASTA would like to welcome Kate Dilger as our new Executive Officer.

Kate has been involved in the science community and science teaching for more than 30 years. She has worked as the Education Officer at SASTA since 2013, with responsibility for delivering teacher professional learning and development of resources. We are confident that with Kates experience and knowledge in the education sector she is well placed to take on this role.

Exam Post Mortems

Free to attend! No booking required.

Biology - 5 November | Roma Mitchell Secondary College
Physics - 12 November | Temple Christian College
Chemistry - 13 November | Nazareth Catholic College

SASTA Blog

Find out what's been happening at SASTA and in schools around SA in our latest blog posts.

Find out how Year 5 teachers at Rosary School used an Engineering Design Challenge to complete their Science unit about light here.

Upcoming Events

Early Career Teachers Conference | Friday 12 October
Designing tests and assignments for SACE Psychology | Monday 5 November
Designing SATs and Investigations Folio tasks for Stage 2 SACE Physics | Friday 16 November
STEM (6-11) Conference | Friday 30 November

Don't forget to check out the Events & News in the Science Community below!

The Oliphant Science Awards Presentation Ceremony was held on Friday 21 September at Brighton Secondary School where over 180 students were recognised for their efforts in achieving 1st, 2nd, 3rd and sponsor prizes.

Congratulations to our 2018 Oliphant Trophy Winner, Sabrina Lin from Glenunga International High School for her 11-12 Scientific Inquiry entry 'Effect of citrus lemon juice on the senescence of Lilium 'Casa Blanca''!

Planning for the 2019 event will be underway soon. If you're interested in being involved please keep an eye on the website for more information.

Resources

SASTA Stage 1 Exams

Newly written for 2018, these exams feature a range of questions with difficulty levels ranging from simple to challenging and are designed to prepare students for examinations at Stage 2. Available for Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Click here order your copies.

Get in early and order your resources for 2019 now!

Stage 1 and 2 Workbooks

These workbooks are written for Biology, Chemistry and Physics to reflect the current SACE curriculum. They contain original questions, worked solutions and review tests. To view sample pages or to order online click here.

Study Guides

Advance bulk orders for the 2019 Study Guides can now be placed with Rebecca via office@sasta.asn.au. Pre-orders will be available for individuals via the SASTA website from January 2019 for delivery in Term 2, 2019.

Order Resources online

New Stage 1 Biology Textbook!

This book was written by Dr Kathy Adams to complement the current Stage 1 Biology SACE Board of South Australia subject content for South Australian students. Teachers will find it an invaluable resource for planning and developing student knowledge as it has comprehensive coverage of the science understandings of the Stage 1 course. Students will have a resource to complement their lessons and with its additional features, such as the “Did you know?” and “SHE Alert” boxes, to develop a broader knowledge of Biology. Click here to find out more and view sample pages.

Events and News in the Science Community

Professional Learning Opportunities

These workshops are designed to support the professional learning of all educators of for whom English is an additional language or dialect

Tuesday 2 October - 10am - 4pm

Multilingual pedagogies across the curriculum - Professor Constant Leung, Professor of Educational Linguistics at King's College, London

Using mobile technologies for language teaching and learning in and out of the classroom - Associate Professor Yu-Chuan Joni Chao, Providence University, Taiwan

For more details click here.

Bush Blitz TeachLive Program

Bush Blitz TeachLive is an exciting professional learning opportunity for teachers who participate as research assistants for leading scientists on Bush Blitz expeditions. You will learn hands on, scientific research skills while helping to document plants and animals and potentially discover new species.

Applications close 5 October! For full details visit the ASTA website.