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May 2024
Welcome back for Term 2! It was busy in the office during the school holidays with the Annual Conference and the arrival of the Study Guides. All pre-ordered Study Guides have now been shipped out. They are also available to order online here.
Keep an eye on our socials to stay up to date with what is happening in the office!
April Resources - Our Sense of Place
Did you see the blog posts that went out in April around our Conference Theme - Our Sense of Place? Check them out below:
- First Nation Biological Science at Hewett Primary School
- Exploring our sense of place through Earth and Environmental Science
Plus our member only articles:
Events this month
Inspire & Engage: Crafting Innovative Science Lessons to Engage Young Minds Workshop
Friday 10 May
This course is designed for all teachers to provide the tools and strategies to promote and harness the benefits of engagement, embed immersive, gamified and storytelling strategies to your lessons and create a love of science through innovative practices.
Design and Deconstruct Workshop
Monday 27 May
This workshop is aimed at people who want to further their skills in setting, assessment and providing feedback on the D&D + practical report task. It also will cover the writing and marking of practical questions for tests and exams as well.
Members FREE
Webinar Series
Embedding gamification, innovation, immersion and storytelling into science lessons to engage and inspire
15 May 2024, 1.00 pm – 4.00 pm
Unlock AI's transformative power in your school
29 May 2024, 4.00 pm – 5.30 pm
SASTA News
Science Active Schools
The Science Active School Program is an initiative by SASTA to recognise and promote schools that show a high level of engagement in science education.
We have been featuring articles from our Science Active Schools on our website each month - if you've missed them, you can check them out here.
Do you think your school has what it takes to be a Science Active School? Apply here!
Educators SA Members Advantage Program
SASTA is a member of Educators SA and this entitles all SASTA members to opt in to the Educators SA Member Advantage Program.
Members Advantage offers access to hundreds of lifestyle experiences and shopping discounts. You will access an exclusive rewards platform that is secure and easy to use, with new products and services being added every day.
To take advantage of this program we need you to agree to us supplying Educators SA with your email address. You can opt-in by ticking the box at the bottom of your profile page on the Members Dashboard.
Professional Learning
Early Career Teachers Conference
Call for workshop presenters now open!
This one-day conference provides graduates and teachers in the first few years of their career with an opportunity to share and reflect on their professional identity, professional practice, wellbeing, and to develop connections with other early career educators.
Is there something that's working in your classroom that you'd like to share? Find out more here.
Implementing the Australian Curriculum: Science V9.0
Monday 1 July
AC 9.0 has been released and with that the need to make changes to our sequences/rubrics and curriculum documentation to fit with the new descriptors. This session will take a practical approach and show implementation (which we have done this year) and also cover (more briefly): task design, assessment types and rubrics.
FREE Excursion: SA Water Desalination Plant
Monday 8 July
The Adelaide Desalination Plant at Lonsdale is the state’s largest desalination plant able to produce 100 gigalitres a year. As metropolitan Adelaide’s only climate-independent source of drinking water, it has been delivering drinking water since 2011. Join a guided tour to see how we turn seawater into fresh clean drinking water, and how important desalination is to South Australia’s water security.
Oliphant Science Awards
Project Registrations close on
Friday 17 May!
Have you registered as a coordinator for 2024? And submitted all your student project registration forms? Find out all the details on the website here.
Judging Registrations
We're still looking for more judges to be involved! We have a number of new judges this year, so we're looking for our experienced judges to sign up again to help them through the process. Register here.
Resources
SASTA is excited to make available sets of Topic Tests that may be used as formative or summative Skills and Applications Tasks (SATs) in Stage 1 & 2 Biology, Chemistry and Physics. These tests are of the highest quality and feature a comprehensive range of questions including science understanding, science inquiry skills and science as a human endeavour.
You can also bundle your Stage 1 & 2 Topic Tests with Trial Exams! All trial exams are new for 2024.
Contributions from the science community
Challenge your students with the Junior Science Olympiad Exam. Start their journey as future scientists!
The Junior Science Olympiad (JSO) is a staged science enrichment program for highly motivated students in Australian high schools in Years 7 to 10.
The first step is sitting the challenging but rewarding annual online exam, which includes topics such as biology, chemistry, Earth and environmental science, and physics. This is a great way to enhance their scientific interest and knowledge.
Sitting the JSO Exam could lead to selection in our staged enrichment programs, such as Spring School, Training Squad or Academy. Your students could even be selected to represent Australia in the International Junior Science Olympiad overseas!
Together we can inspire young science enthusiasts and build the future of Australian science. More details about the JSO Program can be found here.
Mars Program: The Andy Thomas Space Foundation School Challenge coordinated by Hamilton Secondary College
South Australian schools (Catholic, Independent or Public) are invited to participate in the Andy Thomas Space
Foundation Challenge. Students in Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 will be competing for ten prizes of $4,000 each: (assigned
spots available for metropolitan schools, rural schools and low socio-economic schools).
The 10 selected schools will use the prizes to implement their Challenge Proposals. This will involve developing and implementing a project that describes how Space Technology and the Buzz Aldrin Foundation ‘Giant Mars Map’ can
be utilised to link to the Australian Curriculum and stimulate student interest in Space. Schools are encouraged to
choose topics relevant to their interests and Australian Curriculum subject links.
Applications close 17 May 2024. Find out all the details here.
International Chemistry Quiz
20 - 22 August 2024
Don't miss your opportunity to join over 100,000 students from over 20 countries in this unique chemistry educational quiz.
Secondary school students (ages 12-18) can test their Chemistry knowledge and have fun at the same time, with the quiz providing teachers a helpful tool to gauge their student's understanding of the subject. The Quiz consists of 30 multiple choice questions to be answered in 60 minutes, either in paper format or online. Find out more & register online here.
Cultivating the Next Generation
AgriFutures Australia has dropped a range of new resources to help teachers and advisors encourage young people to consider a career in Australia’s agriculture industry!
The resources make up the second part of the Cultivating the Next Generation project, delivered by AgriFutures Australia and Central Queensland University, with funding from the Australian Government.
Click here to find out more.
2024 STEM Reading and Design Challenge
The Premier’s Reading Challenge and partners are teaming up again to challenge students to read about Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) in the lead up to National Science Week. The reading and design competition started in 2016 and last year 3,300 entries were received! Entries close on Friday, 21 June 2024
This year there will be 4 categories: STEM, Nature in South Australia, Space & Green Hydrogen.
A list of all the books for each age group in the included categories can be downloaded here. Just click on the tab for each age group to see the included books. Find out all the details here.
Don't forget to keep an eye on our School Projects page for some exciting competitions and projects coming up! And we've created a PL from the Science Community page to keep track of any additional PL events.
National Science Week: Teacher Resource Book
The school theme for National Science Week in 2024 is Species Survival - More than just sustainability. The theme aims to highlight the importance of science and innovation in ensuring the survival and thriving of different species in an ever-changing world.
Download the free Species Survival teacher resource book (17.5 MB, pdf) and the companion student journal (4.8MB, pdf). There is also a flipbook version of the resource book. A listing of the web links in the book is also available if you are using a printed copy of the book.
Pint of Science
Pint of Science is coming to Adelaide from 13 - 15 May, with science-savvy presenters ready to share their innovative research and projects with you in the comfort of the pub!
We aim to knock down stereotypes, build science appreciation and highlight the amazing science brewing in your own backyard through interesting and relevant talks on the latest science research that's accessible to all.
It's time to treat yourself, family, friends, or colleagues to a night of science fun and fascination.
Join our celebrations at The Wheatsheaf Hotel or Suburban Brew 13 - 15 May for a series of thirst quenching science topics
Tickets are less than the price of a pint ($8). Find out more here.
The Science of Wine
A Royal Society of South Australia (RSSA) event, supported by Inspiring South Australia. Thursday 23 May.
Come drink up some knowledge about the science of wine and winemaking.
Three experts will impart their expertise on an aspect of how soil science, vineyard management, and innovative industry solutions are influencing how the Nectar of the Gods is produced and enjoyed.
A guided tasting of a selection of Patritti wines is included by Senior Winemaker James Mungall. Food available for purchase on the night. Find out more and register here.
Contact SASTA
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
