CONASTA 59, Sydney July 2010
Celebrating Diversity & Good Science Teaching
Jane Hall-Dadson, Exeter High School
CONASTA is the annual conference of the Australian Science Teachers Association. In 2010 it ran from July
4 to 7 at the University of Technology, Sydney and in nearby venues. I was proud and grateful to have NEAT
support my attendance with a conference scholarship.
The welcome function was held at The Australia Museum and allowed delegates to view exhibitions before
the formalities. The Carnivores meet Herbivores exhibit on Australian Dinosaurs and Extinction Theories was
fascinating, allowing me to take enough photos to produce a useful PowerPoint on my return. This will be fit
well in my school’s Big Changes on Planet Earth unit that looks at extinctions and the possible causes. There
were opportunities later in the conference that allowed us to return and purchase resources like Australia’s
Four-Billion-Year Diary, a lovely summary of geological changes from the earth’s formation to modern
Australia.
Other interesting exhibits (and photos) included clothing
made from recycled plastics, flora, fauna and skeletons
and the mineral collection.
Colleagues looking at the costumes
made from recycled materials
Keynote speakers included Professor Tanya Monroe,(who recently won a Eureka award) who outlined her
team’s work on the use of Light and Photonics in telecommunications, medical therapeutics and industrial
machining. Karl Kruszelnicki shared his amusing insights into the oil crisis near Florida and other scientific
phenomena. Kathy Belov (a 2009 Eureka winner) explained her work with Devil Facial Tumour Disease and
the Devil Rock fundraising campaign. Larry Bencze has been working on self directed student inquiry for
some years and he explained how his focus has shifted to how students might use their discoveries, or selfgenerated knowledge for the common good. This focus on applications of learning, rather than just the
implications I have asked for in the past, was one of the significant “changers of practice” that I try to take
away from every conference or professional learning opportunity I attend.
The final day’s program began with Barry Bruce, the man
whom Bruce the shark in Finding Nemo was named after.
Barry spoke about his work on shark nurseries and how
understanding the breeding patterns of this often
misunderstood creatures is vital in fishery management and
preventing their extinction.
Barry tagging a white shark
A delightful excursion to the Museum of Human Disease allowed participants to view a number of
pathological examples at the University of New South Wales. We began with an explanation of the
museum’s history and purposes, and exhibits relating to some of the more common diseases like cancers,
strokes and cardio-vascular disease that are included in the museum. Time to explore allowed us to see
more samples and read detailed explanations of how the body changes in diseases like neonatal Syphilis,
brain aneurysms, teratomas etc. Seeing how our bodies respond to compound fractures, infections,
arthritis, emphysema, cirrhosis, ulcers etc was also fascinating if you have the stomach for it!
http://medicalsciences.med.unsw.edu.au/somsweb.nsf/page/MoHD+Teaching+Resources has a number of
useful links and http://web.med.unsw.edu.au/pathmus/pathmus.htm#InteractiveImages has images of diseased
organs and interactive activities that the public, educators and students can access.
Section of a brain showing the effects
of a stroke, from
http://web.med.unsw.edu.au/pathmus
/m1047012.htm
My first workshop was Annie Temaat’s session on Human Endeavour in Contextual Teaching of Science.
Annie gave a number relevant and applicable examples that will allow us to embed this essential strand of the
Australian Curriculum – Science in our content based units. Practicing a role play that delved into Darwin and
Wallace’s race to publish a theory of natural selection was a pleasurable way to learn. Annie provided a
resource pack to registrants, with the script for the role play and a number of examples of historical events
and resources for teaching human endeavour.
Margaret Watts’ workshop on Literacy in Science began with an analysis of the words of Science and how
students can be confused. She gave us strategies to help students overcome this confusion and begin to be
scientifically literate. The use of diagrams and flow charts was also discussed.
My presentation gave some background from my Spaceward Bound experience, encouraged teachers to use
their contributions, experiences and skills to make successful applications themselves and shared an
experiment I have developed to model the growth of stromatolites similar to those I saw fossilised in the
hills of Death Valley.
Fossilised stromatolites
Algae with calcium carbonate depositing
around them – simulating the formation of
stromatolites in lakes.
Nicolette Hilton also attended a Spaceward Bound camp, travelling to the Arkaroola Region of South
Australia in 2009. Her workshop shared similar positive experiences to mine and showed us how to embed
earth science experiments in a cross curricular program. It was lovely to find Nicki had developed a similar
fascination with desert formations to mine, and she went home to develop an experiment allowing students
to see the formation of structures similar to dendrites. Nicki also sent participants away with a resource
pack including instructions for her experiments.
Overall CONASTA 59 in Sydney was full of positive experiences and well worth the effort to get there. I
would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to attend to cross the water or wait another 5 years ‘til
its back in Tasmania. Next year CONASTA 60 will be in Darwin from July 10 - 13 though, so if you like
warm weather.....
Sincere thanks go to NEAT who supported my attendance at the conference with one of their annual
scholarships.