It's nearly semester break time!
But don't let that stop you from planning for Term 3 – there's lots happening!
Member/subscriber competitions
Thanks to everyone who voted in SASTA's July sustainability poll – 80% want to see a reduction in single-use items, so this is our aim for the month. Congratulations to Fleur Fotheringham who won tickets to see the movie 2040 by voting in the poll.
The winner of the July monthly member prize is Caroline O’Halloran from St Davids Parish School – a set of three new R2 Primary Connections Units.
Oliphant Science Awards:
Important deadlines
All entries in the Games category must be delivered to the SASTA office at 249 Henley Beach Road, Torrensville by Friday 12 July.
Also due Friday 12 July are all Scientific Enquiry, Science Writing and Multimedia entries which must be submitted online.
Computer Programming and Robotics entries must book a judging appointment before Tuesday 6 August.
Don't forget: Open Day is Sunday 25 August, 12–4 pm.
Survey on social media use
The SASTA office would like to know if and how you use social media for professional learning and what sort of content you might like to see from SASTA on social platforms in the future.
It would greatly help if you could take about 1 minute to complete a short anonymous survey.
Term 3 professional learning
A professional learning workshop for R-10 teachers, aimed at building a common understanding of STEM teaching and learning. Explore tasks that
- illustrate a problem-based learning approach
- will challenge your students to seek solutions to open-ended, real-world problems
- incorporate the engineering design process.
This hands-on workshop that will give you the experience and support you need to plan and deliver STEM-focussed lessons that highlight the design thinking required in engineering.
Stage 2 marking and moderation workshops
An opportunity for teachers to discuss assessment and the application of the performance standards to samples of work, as well as to have invaluable professional input with their own student samples. An opportunity to readjust marking standards prior to final moderation
- Stage 2 Chemistry Marking & Moderation Workshop, Friday 30 August 2019
- Stage 2 Psychology Marking & Moderation Workshop, Friday 6 September
- Stage 2 Biology Marking & Moderation Workshop, Friday 6 September
- Stage 2 Physics Marking & Moderation Workshop, Friday 13 September
Call for conference workshops
2019 Early Career Teachers Conference, 11 October
Workshops are sought from teachers with all levels of experience that will exemplify best practice in supporting students to develop science understanding and skills that build capability in STEM. You need is a working title and a brief description of what you propose to cover.
Find out more…
2019 STEM Conference (Years 6–11), 29 November
The conference is currently seeking presentations that address a range of the content and pedagogies of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics, Science, Design & Technology and ICT.
Presentations should be 60 minutes long and actively involve participants in the professional learning through a practical and investigative approach.
Sessions that relate to real-world examples of contemporary STEM are encouraged.
Find out more…
Resources
2019 Study Guides
Study Guide stocks are running low so make sure you purchase your copies now! Chemistry has already sold out, but don’t panic, we are doing another print run, so order your copies online.
Stage 2 trial exams
The SASTA SACE Stage 2 Trial Exams are a 'must have' resource, developed by leading teachers. This resource will familiarise teachers and students with the SACE Stage 2 exam format and teachers will be able to use the resource as a stand-alone assessment tool or to develop exam preparation skills.
Copies can only be ordered by emailing Rebecca at office@sasta.asn.au
Trial exams will be delivered via email as a Word document early in Term 3.
Exam prep seminars
Students can now book for exam prep seminars:
Stage 2 Biology, Saturday 31 August
Stage 2 Physics, Saturday 7 September
Stage 2 Psychology, Saturday 7 September
Stage 2 Chemistry, Saturday 14 September
Bookings at www.sasta.asn.au/student_activities/exam_prep_seminars
Events and news in the science community
Applications for South Australian Space School 2019
are now open.
Please encourage your Year 10 students to apply to attend the 3 day residential conference 9–11 October in the school holidays.
Resident astronaut will be former NASA Astronaut Dan Tani.
Application forms can be found at https://www.spaceschool.com/apply
Due date 30 August 30 2019.
National Science Week
10–18 August
Start planning your school's involvement with National Science Week. You'll find lots of ideas on the website.
SASTA would love to know what you're doing for the Week! Let us know what you've got planned so we can help share your activities with others – email office@sasta.asn.au.
In Class With… Dr Karl
The Royal Institution of Australia is bringing TV presenter, radio reporter, (Ig) Nobel Prize winning and science communicator, Dr Karl, directly into classrooms around Australia. He will answer students’ burning questions about anything even slightly science related (and probably leave them asking many more) at the latest 'In Class With…' event.
Register your class and submit your questions for Dr Karl by Friday 2 August 2019. This unique event will stream Dr Karl directly into your classroom on Wednesday 14 August 2019.
Astro Quest
AstroQuest is an online citizen science project undertaken by the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, WA. This project follows on from Galaxy Explorer, a collaboration between ICRAR and ABC Science.
By participating, teachers and students will not only gain an insight into galaxies that populate our Universe, they will assist astronomers in examining images to check on the results provided by the computer. The astronomers will use the results to refine the computer models used in the AstroQuest project leading to improved models of star formation and galaxy evolution. The evidence gathered will allow astronomers to further refine the story of the origin and formation of the Universe from the Big Bang to the present day.
For more information go to https://astroquest.net.au
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249 Henley Beach Rd
TORRENSVILLE SA 5031
08 8354 0006
office@sasta.asn.au