TAG 166 - Geological Society of Australia

Year 12 EES students from across WA attend one of the free revisionseminars provided by ESWA.In June, for example, Julia and Jo visited 11 schools in thePilbara region, introducing Earth Science to nearly 800 studentsand more than 30 educators. Primary and secondary students wereable to create their own fossil replicas, take part in hands-onexperiments to demonstrate volcanism and tested their powers ofinvestigation with UV beads. Along the way Julia and Jo droppedoff kits of fossils and minerals, which were full of hands-onmaterials and books of activities thanks to Atlas Iron Limited.Numerous EES schools were supported to take Year 12 studentfield trips to Kalgoorlie for course enrichment and to see theindustry in action. Students were hosted by the West AustralianSchool of Mines, Paddington Gold Mine, KCGM (The Superpit),Daisy Milano Gold Mine (Silverlake Resources) and the Joe LordCore Library, with assistance from Geological Survey of WesternAustralia (GSWA) geologists. Students also undertook fieldwork inthe Kanowna area.In October, we ran four free revision seminars for Year 12 EESstudents, hosted by Curtin University.Our Geoscientists in Schools program was strengthened, with11 volunteer speakers from across the industry now participating.We also assisted with design and staffing of the inauguralResources Pavilion at the Perth Royal Show in September, whichshowcased the gold, iron ore and oil and gas resources of WA.Showgoers were treated to ‘gold’ panning, hands-on ‘mining’ andthe chance to see the ‘Immerse’ exhibit (on loan from the WAMuseum, showcasing underwater technology). Visitors could alsoview equipment, videos and photos and interact with industryprofessionals.School resourcesWe prepared boxes of fossils, crystals and minerals for loan toschools. These kits contain a teacher guide, a student booklet forphotocopying and all of the hands-on resources needed to runmany engaging lessons. The sets have been a huge hit, and theyare now hosted in sevenregional and two metropolitanlocations thanks to generoussupport from BHP Billiton, thePetroleum Exploration Societyof Australia, Scitech and AtlasIron Limited. New funding fromBHP Billiton will enable us toincrease loan pools across WA in 2013, as well as to continue thestudent and teacher support for Years K–10.The Woodside Australian Science Project (WASP) was initiatedas a joint venture between ESWA and Woodside Energy Limited.Its aim is to provide a substantial suite of teaching resources insupport of the Earth and Space Science component of theAustralian Curriculum for Years 6–10. Included in these packagesare hands-on learning experiences for students, together withsupport materials for teachers. The packages will be launched withaccompanying professional development. Loan kits of resourcesand guest classroom presentations are also incorporated into thisproject and the resulting web-based resources will be availableAustralia-wide. Importantly, these resources will also highlight theirrelevance to other science subjects, where appropriate. The Year 7package is already in use with resources for Years 8 and 9 to bereleased through 2013, and Years 6 and 10 in 2014. For moreinformation visit http://www.wasp.edu.au.Professional developmentfor teachersTeacher professional development, together with ongoing supportto teachers, is a large component of our work. Highlights in 2012included the following projects.We ran three sessions at the annual weekend conferencehosted by the Science Teachers’ Association of WA (STAWA). Thesewere a hands-on experience to support the teaching of rocks andminerals; a suite of experiments to enrich the teaching of platetectonics, plus a take home kit of resources for each participant;and a field excursion to Redgate Beach, one of the locations forour upcoming southwest field guide, led by John Bunting.We assisted numerous professional development sessionsdesigned to upskill primary science leaders in preparation for theAustralian Curriculum.We assisted a tour of New Zealand for EES teachers, run byGroup Events. The tour included earthquake-devastatedChristchurch, the Tasman Glacier, Queenstown, volcanic andcultural sites around Auckland and the volcanically active WhiteIsland.34 |TAG March 2013