on 03/08/2021
What do you have planned for National Science Week this year?
Check out some of the great activities we've come across. Let us know what you have planned to feature on our National Science Week round-up blog!
Plus don't forget to check out the National Science Week website for all upcoming events and the Teacher Resource Book from the Australian Science Teachers Association including the National Science Week Indigenous Resource Book. You can find a collation of events and activities developed by the South Australian community for National Science Week here.
Check out the highlights of what's happening in SA for National Science Week!
The DIY Science series for 2021 includes some delicious activities based on the schools theme: Food Different by design including Boozy Bubbles, Five Serves of Science, Mineral Art, Tempering Chocolate and more! Street Science, Questacon, Scitech and Scienceworks have also put together their own DIY activities.
National Science Quiz
Hosted by Charlie Pickering, of ABC TV’s The Weekly, the National Science Quiz brings together six of Australia’s best scientists & science communicators. This online event is interactive, so you can test your scientific knowledge & reasoning and play along for a chance to win cash & prizes. The panellists:
- Alan Duffy, astronomer
- Alanta Colley, public health practitioner and comedian
- Catriona Nguyen-Robertson, immunologist
- Jen Martin, ecologist & science communicator
- Jared Cole, theoretical physicist
- Norman Do, mathematician
Register online here
The Big Biofilm Hunt
Hunting down a slimy suspect!
There's trouble lurking in the microbial world and we need your help to investigate a mystery! But the only clue we've got....is slime?
Join us for National Science Week and increase your awareness about the wonders of biofilms and microbiology.
Together we'll be able to crack this case and you could win one of our Slime Science Awards!
Check out this video to find out more! The submission deadline is 24 August: https://form.typeform.com/to/JzXWFzy9
Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia (PIEFA) Online Forum: Science Week edition
To celebrate National Science Week, PIEFA is hosting a one-hour online forum on Wednesday 18 August to showcase a number of the resources and programs available to integrate food education into Australian classrooms. Designed for science teachers but relevant to Primary and Secondary teachers more broadly, this forum will take an in-depth look at the Educating Kids to Farms program in Victoria, the Science Week resource on Primezone, Farmer Time and the suite of resources available on Primezone Academy. If you're looking for resources and a greater insight into how to integrate food topics in the classroom, this forum is a must! Find out more at piefa.edu.au/forums.
Stile's immersive Science Week Escape Room
In Stile's latest escape room, students are presented with the scenario where they're researchers developing an extreme weather resistant rice. Suddenly, the rice fields begin to flood. Students must work together and complete a series of food-themed activities to find the codes and save the research. To support remote learning, a remote version of this escape room is also available.
Accompanying this escape room, Stile has also released an engaging science news lesson on genetically modified crops where students consider the grey space of the Mexican GM corn debate.
Ideas from Cool Australia for National Science Week
2040 (Primary & Secondary)
Our 2040 lessons are based on the film which is all about the future we could create if we embraced the best climate solutions available today. Find them all here.
Sugar by Half (Early learning, Primary & Secondary)
Our Sugar by Half lessons help students to identify and understand the science of sugar, its impact on their body and the social and economic influences on their own food choices. Find them here.
Love Food? Love Bees! (Early learning, Primary & Secondary)
Here’s a fact to blow your mind: Bees pollinate a massive TWO-THIRDS of our food production! Here’s another one: by 2050 it’s estimated that the world’s population will reach 9.7 billion people. Our Love Food? Love Bees! lessons raise awareness and inspire action. Find them here.
Global Problem Solvers
Primary Lessons (and PD for Primary and Secondary teachers!)
These lessons are all about finding and understanding problems, and designing solutions to these problems. Students then get to learn about how to put their plans into action in a way that supports local communities. The 2hr online PD focuses on using group work to improve students' learning and engagement.
Many of the global challenges we see today relate to sustainability, so what better way to use these resources than during Science Week! Find them here.
In the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables, this year's scienceXart competition also aligns with the focus of National Science Week.
Encourage your students to consider healthy eating options through the lens of Health and Visual arts.
Curriculum links and lesson ideas are available across Foundation to Year 6.
Entries must consist of a photograph of an artwork created around the theme of a healthy plate of food and include a short written response.
Further details are available at scienceXart: food for thought. Entries close August 31.
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