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June 2023
We're back on schedule and back in your inbox at the beginning of the month! The office has started planning ahead to Term 3...all the Marking & Moderation Workshops and Exam Prep Seminars are now ready for booking! You can see the updated Professional Learning Calendar here.
We're also on the countdown to CONASTA 70...38 days to go! Will you be joining us?
Check out the website for all the details and to register online before Monday 3 July.
SASTA Partnerships
Mary Anning
Art Prize
Will any of your students be entering the Mary Anning Art Prize this year? We're excited to team up with Children's University this year! Get your CU Passport stamped for a 5 hour activity by uploading an image of your artwork through the Children’s University Portal. Or take the image to your CU school coordinator.
The aim of the Mary Anning Art Prize is to have young South Australian artists create an original piece of artwork that tells us something about the prehistoric life of South Australia. To find out what makes a successful entry visit the website here.
Premier's Reading Challenge STEM Competition
We've partnered with the Premier’s Reading Challenge again to challenge students to read about Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) in the lead up to National Science Week. This year there are three additional themes – NATURE IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA, SPACE & GREEN HYDROGEN.
Entries close on Friday 23 June 2023.
As in previous years, there are great prizes to be won. To enter, students need to read a STEM, nature, space or sustainable energy themed book, preferably from the Premier’s Reading Challenge booklist and then use their imagination for their entry. Find out all the details here.
Science Alive!
Will you be taking your school to visit STEM Day Out or Women in STEM this August?
Professional Learning
7-10 Australian Curriculum Science: How can we design and assess differentiated tasks?
9 June 2023
This session will only focus on Australian Curriculum 7-10 Science courses – these are so critical for making sure we are retaining students in Science in the senior years. It is essential that we equipment students in these year levels with confidence and the skills needed to explain, analyse and be critical.
Early Career Teachers Conference
Call for workshops now open!
SASTA is committed to providing opportunities for Early Career Teachers to network and learn with and from each other. In addition, we seek to provide you with access to expert education practitioners and leaders to ensure you have every opportunity to understand and succeed in this important profession.
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.
Stage 2 Marking & Moderation Workshops
These workshops will provide an opportunity for teachers to discuss assessment and the application of the performance standards to samples of work, as well having invaluable professional input with their own student samples. An opportunity to readjust marking standards prior to final moderation.
- Physics & Psychology - 18 August
- Biology - 21 August
- Chemistry & Nutrition - 25 August
Exam Prep Seminars
- Biology - 26 August
- Psychology & Physics - 2 September
- Chemistry - 9 September
All attendees must register to attend the event before the cut off date and bookings must be made via the website. All details are available here.
Oliphant Science Awards
Online Project Submission opens Friday 9 June
Resources for Students
Have you seen our Resources for Students page? There are a range of blog posts with resources, links and ideas for students developing a project for the Oliphant Science Awards.
There are almost 50 posts on this page with more to come from previous Oliphant Science Award winners in the coming months!
Resources
For all resources available from SASTA visit the website.
Study Guides available now. All pre-orders have been shipped
Chapter 1 of Physics, & Biology and Chapter 1 & 2 of Chemistry now available
$15 each per chapter
Stage 2 Topic Videos | NEW
SASTA is excited to present a new product available for teachers and students in 2023! Keeping pace with the way students learn, SASTA is developing a suite of high quality videos covering all topics in SACE Stage 2 Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Each video is between five and ten minutes and covers one or more concepts in the Science Understanding section of the Subject Outline.
For more information and to order visit the website.
Contributions from the science community
WRI Escape Room: Stop the press!
Monday 14 August | 12.00pm - 2.00pm
In our online escape room you will be asked to do a deep dive through scientific publications from Waite Research Institute researchers and try to get the answers as quick as possible - a leader board will show your time and prizes are available for the fastest participant.
The online event will support students in understanding scientific rigour and media coverage of new science, as well as evoke an interest in agricultural research and how it touches on sustainability, development of food and fibre and the natural environment. Students can participate individually or as a group of up to 3 people. Find out all the details here.
Explore AI/ML: Visit AIML for Educators
Wednesday 26 July | 4pm - 5.30pm
High school teachers are invited to join us to explore the work that is being done at the Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML).
During this event, participants will have the opportunity to hear from our team of experts about their work in the field of AI/ML. We will showcase some of the latest technologies that we are using, including chatGPT and language models that generates images from textual descriptions, and explore how these can be used in the classroom to enhance teaching and learning experiences. Find out more here.
2024 National Youth Science Forum
Do you know a Year 11 student passionate about science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM)? Would they like to meet like-minded young people from across Australia? Do they want to learn more about their study and career options? Get them to apply for the 2024 National Youth Science Forum Year 12 Program!
Applications close 31 July - click here.
Use project-based learning to bring your Science classroom to life
Tuesday 8 August | 4.00pm - 5.15pm
Is your school encouraging your faculty to implement more inquiry or project-based learning into your curriculum? Intrigued, but not sure where to start? Cura works with 300+ Australian schools to bring their classrooms to life. We do this by helping them turn theoretical curriculum into enthralling hands-on, real-world learning sequences.
And in this FREE webinar, you'll learn everything we know about how to design a successful Science PBL unit. Register online here.
Here's what we'll cover:
- PBL best practice: the secrets to designing a rigorous PBL unit
- How to combine Science content & geographical inquiry skills in a PBL unit
- How to scaffold a Science PBL unit towards an engaging, real-world end product
First Nations Science Unit
This unit is designed to bring a contemporary understanding of First Nations Peoples and their scientific knowledge into lessons for teachers of Year 10 Science. We hope these lessons will allow teachers to confidently tackle curriculum areas addressing First Nations understandings and perspectives as they appear in V9 of the ACARA curriculum.
These lessons within the First Nations Science Unit have been created to show how First Nations History, Culture and Knowledge overlap with the Australian Science Curriculum and how this knowledge contributes to our modern understanding of Science as well as recognising and respecting the knowledge and history of First Nations Australians. This unit is not designed to be a comprehensive overview of First Nations History, Cultural Practices and knowledge, and are instead snapshots into thousands of years of accumulated knowledge within what can be complex topics. Find out more here.
VR Science Incursion
VR is fast becoming a recognised educational learning technology offering teachers and students new and powerful ways to create, view and interact with curriculum content in highly engaging ways.
We are offering Science Teachers two kinds of VR learning technologies especially tailored for Year 7, 8 and 9 students. Our one day incursion events allow multiple classes and their teachers to actively engage with 2VR technologies in safe, structured and supervised ways - on site in your school.
Find out more 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
