SCIOS December 2010 by STAWA

ISSN 0157-6488

SCIOS JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ A SSOCIATION OF WESTERN AUSTR ALIA

SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF W E S T E R N AU S T R A L I A

Volume 46 Number 4 December 2010

inside this issue: • Tributes to the late Emeritus Professor John de Laeter • S-Kids 2010 • STAWA Physics Day 2010 • The Scientific Creative Initiative

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SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF W E S T E R N AU S T R A L I A

The Science Teachers’ Association of Western Australia PO Box 7310 Karawara WA 6152 Head Office Resources and Chemistry Precinct Curtin University of Technology Building 500 Manning Road entrance Bentley WA 6102 Warehouse Address Unit 6, 10 Mallard Way, Cannington WA 6107

Contents

SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF W E S T E R N AU S T R A L I A

Contact details Tel +61 (0) 8 9244 1987 Fax +61 (0) 8 9244 2601 Email info@stawa.net Web www.stawa.net Editor Julie-Anne Smith Perth Zoo Editorial COMMITTEE Frank Dymond Edith Cowan University Rosemary Evans Duncraig SHS Lesley Glass Ballajura Community College Suzi Greenway Perth Zoo Jennifer Pearson Edith Cowan University George Przywolnik Curriculum Council Rachel Sheffield Edith Cowan University David Treagust Curtin University Shelley Yeo Curtin University EDITORIAL correspondence Julie-Anne Smith Perth Zoo Published four times a year by STAWA through

a division of Cambridge Media 10 Walters Drive Osborne Park WA 6017 www.cambridgemedia.com.au Graphic Designer Gordon McDade Advertising enquiries to Tel (08) 9244 1987 Fax (08) 9244 2601 Email jude@stawa.net © 2010 The Science Teachers’ Association of Western Australia. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means without the written permission of The Science Teachers’ Association of Western Australia. Unsolicited material is welcomed by the Editor but no responsibility is taken for the return of copy or photographs unless special arrangements are made. ISSN 0157-6488 This journal aims to promote the teaching of science with a focus on classroom practice. It provides a means of communication between teachers, consultants and other science educators. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the various authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Western Australian Science Teachers’ Association or the editorial committee.

VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

EDITORIAL

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S REPORT

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

TRIBUTES TO JOHN DE LAETER Vale John de Laeter

John de Laeter: His Passion for the Continuing Education of Science and Mathematics Teachers

Doing research with JDL

Dedication to John de Laeter

In memory of Emeritus Professor John de Laeter

Memories of John de Laeter

Dedication to John de Laeter

ARTICLES The Scientific Creativity Initiative

Developing science education and outreach at ChemCentre

Chinese connections: Linking science with literacy in China

NEWS The London International Youth Science Forum

Future Science 2010

STAWA 2010 Physics Day @ Adventure World

2010 S-KIDS (Science for Kids Day 2010)

HEADS UP ON SCIENCE WITH SCIENCENETWORK WA ScienceNetwork WA News

Curtin University

ECU

Murdoch University

University of Western Australia

STAWA COUNCIL 2010-11

Editorial As the last issue of SCIOS went to press we learnt of the passing of Emeritus Professor John de Laeter, the patron of the Science Teachers’ Association of Western Australia (STAWA). Professor John de Laeter was one of the State’s most noted science educators. He made a long-standing contribution as a science teacher, teacher educator and research scientist. For over half a century, he inspired the science community and worked tirelessly as an ambassador for science and science education at both the State and National levels.

would also like to thank Frank Dymond and John Clarke who took the initiative and made a start on this special issue while I was overseas on long service leave. Through the work of our dedicated editorial committee we have proudly produced an issue of SCIOS that celebrates the great achievements of Professor John de Laeter balanced with articles that reflect a standard and diversity of science teaching and learning in Western Australia that we can all be proud of.

This issue of SCIOS is dedicated to Professor John de Laeter, an inspirational man whose passing has filled us with great sadness and moved us to reflect on how he touched our lives. I would like to thank our friends and colleagues in the science community who have kindly contributed to this issue by sharing their memories and experiences. There is much in their recollections to inspire us. I

We wish you all a safe and happy festive season and relaxing holiday over Summer. We look forward to receiving further contributions from members in 2011.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this special issue. Your ongoing support of our journal is very much appreciated. I would also like to thank the members of the editorial committee and the STAWA office staff who always make time in their busy schedules to assist in the production of SCIOS.

Best wishes Julie-Anne Smith

Australian Institute of Physics Physics Teachers’ Conference Fri 18 - Sat 19 February 2011 Monash University, Clayton, VICTORIA This annual conference is organised by the Education Committee of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Institute of Physics and administered by the Science Teachers’ Association of Victoria. The Program includes: • Opening address on 'Exploring student difficulties with mechanics and electricity' by Prof Dick Gunstone, Monash University • The Physics Oration on 'The Physics of the Large Hadron Collider' by Prof Geoffrey Taylor, University of Melbourne • A Saturday tour of the Australian Synchrotron, the Soundhouse and the Space Science Education Centre • 50 workshops over five sessions in Friday’s day and evening program on ICT in Physics, Teaching strategies and Practical activities • Extensive display of texts and equipment Check www.vicphysics.org/confextras.html for information about accommodation and transport from airport.

Online registrations, copies of the application form and a full description of workshops are at www.sciencevictoria.com.au/confVCE.html. www.vicphysics.org/conf2011.html also has copies of the application form and the description of workshops and more details about the event. Conference Fee $160 for ASTA/AIP members, $295 for non members (includes day and evening programs, Friday lunch and excursion. Evening meal and Saturday lunch are not included). Enquiries Program: Dan O’Keeffe (03) 9561 7602, danok@bigpond.com. Registration: STAV: Anne Heard (03) 9385 3999, stav@stav.vic.edu.au More information about the 2011 conference program is at vicphysics.org/conf2011.html

THE JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Chief Executive Officer’s Report In memory of Emeritus Professor John de Laeter This edition of SCIOS has been dedicated to the memory of Emeritus Professor John de Laeter. Professor de Laeter has had an impact on the professional lives of many STAWA members. He was also Patron of STAWA and always spoke of the important role of the science educators. John was a great ambassador, an advocate for science and science education in WA and a role model for scientists and science educators. He will be greatly missed by all who had the privilege to know him and to work with him. John was always working to put science and science education as a government priority. In particular he worked to raise the profile of science in the eyes of the general public by promoting science as exciting and relevant. He was a key player in establishing Scitech, Technology Park, the Gravity Discovery Centre and Earth Science Western Australia (ESWA). I consider myself privileged to have been able to work with John be it only in a small way. John has presented at CONSTAWA as our keynote speaker, and participated in media presentations, usually defending the importance of science to the community. The most recent I recall was engaging STAWA members to work with John and David Blair in the fight for government support to save the Gravity Discovery Centre. Since the inception of the de Laeter Medal, John has been on the selection panel and has presented the medal at our annual Future Science conferences. John would always comment on how magnificent the medal plaque was, saying that he had not seen any better. A highlight of my career was being awarded the de Laeter Medal myself in 2006. Part of the thrill in receiving the award was the fact that Professor John de Laeter himself had read the application and he would gratefully acknowledge your work. Although John is no longer with us his legacies will forever bare witness to his enormous energy and contributions to science and science education in Western Australia.

STAWA News Science Talent Search It is apparent that a lot of effort, thought and hard work went into the production of this year’s STS projects. We had over 600 registrations for the STS, with some 250 selected by schools and submitted into the final judging day on Saturday 4 September. The awards presentation was held in front of a full house at the Lottery West Theatre at Scitech on the afternoon of Saturday 18 September. Thank you to Julie Weber, Chair STS Committee, STAWA Office staff Vinda, Jude and Marly, and the judges – and congratulations to all the winners and their teachers.

VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

Physics Day at Adventure World This was another great success with over 1,000 in attendance, which can only be described as a magnificent sunny spring day. Along with the usual Adventure World fun, presentations and demonstrations added to the activities available to the students.

New Council Since the last SCIOS we have had the AGM. Thank you to outgoing Councillors and congratulations to newly elected Council members. You can view the new STAWA Council online at www.stawa.net/council_members.

CEO on the go In the role of CEO of STAWA I have the privilege to represent members at many events on judging panels and as an exhibitor at the occasional conference. Over September and October I have been a STAWA ambassador/advocate/representative at the Andy Thomas reception at Curtin; WA Primary Principals’ Association (WAPPA) National Conference held in Perth at the Burswood; the opening of the SPIRIT Telescope at SPICE UWA; Reference Group meeting of the Curtin SMEC Collaborative Science Project; launching the book Planting the Seeds of Science; Earth Science WA board meeting; Perth Observatory Strategic Planning Stakeholders Consultation; Scitech Technology Program launch; WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy meeting; UWA Primary Industry Centre for Science Education (PICSE) Reference group meeting; PTCWA Volunteer Awards presentation and the Innovator of the Year Awards presentations. A busy couple of months with many late nights, but most importantly STAWA has a presence. On behalf of STAWA members I aim to present positive support to our science teachers, students and science education in WA. Enjoy the remaining weeks of 2010. Thanks to the 220 teachers who made the 2010 Future Science – our largest yet. Please make yourself known to me at any event we share. Regards Your Chief Executive Officer John Clarke

SCIOS Deadlines for 2010-2011 Issue

Articles and Advertising

March 2011

1 February 2011

June 2011

1 May 2011

September 2011

1 August 2011

December 2011

1 November 2011

President’s Report I would like to begin by thanking everyone for their well wishes and support since my election to President in August. Since then there have been several major activities which STAWA has held or been involved in. One such event was the annual Science Talent Search. We had a wonderful number of entries from across the state which were of a high standard overall. We had a very successful awards presentation ceremony at Scitech on Saturday 18 September 2010 with Alan Brien CEO of Scitech presenting the awards. Those students who were winners of the Investigations category have had their entries submitted to the BHP Billiton Science Awards. Also 6 finalists were selected from the Inventions category and entered into the Innovator of the Year Awards. We wish them every success in these competitions. A special thank you goes to Julie Weber for coordinating the event so capably. Another event was the annual ‘Science for Kids Day’, held at Edith Cowan University Mount Lawley Campus on Saturday 9 October 2010. Approximately 160 primary school children, 40 parents and other community members attended the official opening. S-KIDS Day is now in its sixth year and growing in its popularity. It was an honour to have Western Australia’s Chief Scientist and S-KIDS Patron Professor Lyn Beazley open the day. The S-KIDS project has continued to motivate many primary children and parents regarding the importance of scientific literacy within our community. The success of the project is built upon the strength of the partnership between Science Teachers’ Association of Western Australia, Edith Cowan University and Scitech. Once again STAWA provided essential administrative support for the project. This support added to the success of the fantastic science activities planned by some wonderful science educator presenters and the twenty-five ECU’s pre-service teachers who supported the day’s activities. Future Science was held on Friday 3 December. This one-day conference, where science teachers catch up with old friends, meet new friends and learn about cutting edge science that is happening in our universities and elsewhere, was very successful. Future Science provided a great number of opportunities for participants to learn new science, to discover what others are doing and to network. Networking enables us to both experience and share the load in developing broad and engaging curriculum that is current and at the forefront of innovation. It was with much appreciation that the Science Teachers’ Association of Western Australia, nominated Lance Taylor for a 2010 Outstanding Professional Service Award at the annual Professional Teaching Council of Western Australia awards ceremony. This award is presented to a nominated member

of an association who have made significant contributions to the association in a volunteer capacity. Lance is a very worthy recipient and I congratulate him on receiving this much deserved award. 2011 is shaping up to be a very busy year. The Primary Conference is scheduled for 19 and 20 March and has returned to the popular venue of The Novotel Vines Resort in the Swan Valley. Also, planning is well underway for CONSTAWA which next year will be held in Fremantle on 20-22 May. This promises to be an exciting move and one you should not miss. Make sure you keep your eyes out for the relevant information this December and early next year. In conclusion I would like to thank everyone on the STAWA team for all their hard work and commitment in 2010. I wish all STAWA members a safe and happy festive season and look forward to a year full of activity and innovation in 2011. Sue Doncon STAWA President

Can you contribute? Yes of course you can. So can lab technicians and students…your Year 7 or Year 8 class could write a half page article with a photo that we would love to publish. Here’s how. We are keen to increase the number and variety of types of articles published in SCIOS. So if the answer is YES to any of the following questions, we want to hear from you. • Have you recently conducted a new experiment that worked really well? • Is there a great demonstration that always gets your students’ attention? • Have you tried a new teaching technique that was fun? • Do you have some helpful hints for new teachers (and not-sonew ones)? • Are there some safety hints and tips that you’d like to pass on? • Have you used computers or some other technology really effectively? •

What successes have your students had in science?

• Are your students involved in a science project outside the school? • Or is there anything else science-related you would like to share with others?

THE JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Tributes to John de Laeter

Vale John de Laeter Hon Dr Mal Bryce AO, Chairman iVEC (Formerly Deputy Premier Western Australian Government) Secondly he played a vital role in helping to turn around the attitude of governments and the understanding of communities of the importance of science.

John de Laeter is remembered with great respect and affection as an accomplished scientist, a leader of Research and Development, a university administrator (Deputy Vice Chancellor) and as a teacher. He was the quintessential teacher. Science was his passion. Most adults can reflect upon the years of their formal education and readily identify a small number of outstanding teachers who had a significant impact on their life. In my case John de Laeter was one of the very best as my physics teacher at Bunbury Senior High School in the late 1950s. I was privileged to subsequently know John as a friend and work with him as someone who shared his zeal for science and technology from the late 1970s until the time of his recent death. To me, as an impressionable young student, he always seemed to have the patience of Job and the wisdom of Solomon. Upon reflection, what is remarkable is that he was only in his late twenties when he taught me. John’s special humanity ensured he would be an outstanding teacher. He had a unique ability to listen. He understood how to leverage the curiosity of others, especially the young, and he was a natural communicator and collaborator. It is easy to recount a list of the projects and initiatives which John was associated with. From my perspective as Minister for Technology and Economic Development in the 1980s, John de Laeter did Western Australia (WA) two very important favours. Firstly he decided not to chase promotion to the top of the university system and leave WA in pursuit of a Vice Chancellor’s position. He would have made an outstanding Vice Chancellor anywhere in the world and I frequently reminded him that he was one of the best Vice Chancellors Australia never had. VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

Until the 1980s there was very little formal recognition of the role of science and the significance of technology by governments anywhere in Australia. There was actually very little in the way of effective contact between universities and industry and there was negligible contact between universities and government departments and agencies. This was despite the fact that the Public Service had always been a traditional source of employment for university graduates. John was a key member of a small team of Western Australians that succeeded in the 1980s in helping to transform this situation. Other members of that team included Prof Don Watts, Sir Laurence Broadie Hall, Dr Peter Newman, Dr Daryl Hull, Simon Fraser, Jim Crawford and John Stokes. During this period the foundations were laid for the WA Technology Park at Bentley, the Institute for Science and Technology Policy and the School of Biotechnology at Murdoch University and Scitech in West Perth. The starting point for the transformation was the establishment of the Science Industry and Technology Council (SITCO) in 1983. The SITCO was charged with the responsibility of formally encouraging and facilitating interaction between universities, government and industry. John de Laeter accepted the government’s invitation to serve as Chairman of this body. The actual proposal for the establishment of Scitech was formulated by SITCO and transmitted to government in 1986. The success of SITCO led to the formation of the Technology and Industry Advisory Council (TIAC) by legislation in 1987. For more than twenty years TIAC enjoyed a reputation as Australia’s most successful state government science and technology advisory body. During that time more than thirty serious investigations were conducted into important future directions for WA’s economy related to science and technology. Although he was not directly responsible he was delighted in 1995 when TIAC and the Department of Industry developed a Western Australian Science Policy for the first time. As with his beloved game of hockey, which he played for more than fifty years, John was the ultimate team man wherever he chose to contribute. He would not want to be remembered as a master mind who took individual responsibility for everything that bears his mark. The John de Laeter I knew and enjoyed working with over so many years would be proud to be remembered as a keen contributor and as a coach who encouraged others to do their creative best. 5

Tributes to John de Laeter

John de Laeter: His Passion for the Continuing Education of Science and Mathematics Teachers David F Treagust and Léonie J. Rennie Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University Originally a science teacher himself, John de Laeter had an enduring passion for the promotion of quality science teaching and learning. The origins of the Science and Mathematics Education Centre at Curtin University are testament to this passion.

colleagues, because all were science teachers with some years of experience. Therefore, the philosophy developed was that the lecturers (in the beginning David Boud and John de Laeter) would learn as much from the group of teachers as, hopefully, the teachers would learn from them.

In the early to mid 1970s, the Commonwealth Government recognised that Australia’s future was dependent on science and thus funds were made available for building new science laboratories in both government and independent schools. At that time, the laboratories in independent schools were in a very poor state. Later, however, following a review of the laboratory program, the improvement in science education was deemed not to be commensurate with the money that had been expended.

So the students – the science teachers – were treated as adults; experienced people with a real knowledge of the field – probably having better knowledge than the lecturers – and together they would learn by creating a combined vision of quality science education. In John’s own words:

A recommendation put forward by John de Laeter and other scientists was that continuing education should be provided for science and mathematics teachers. In 1974, when John became Dean of Science at the then Western Australian Institute of Technology, there already were embryonic physics education, chemistry education, biology education and mathematics education graduate degrees in the different science and mathematics departments; physics education being the most advanced. In addition, and fortunately, a number of lecturers within the staff of these departments were former science and mathematics teachers and so there was a great interest in physics, mathematics, chemistry and biological education. Out of these early developments, John appointed David Boud to be the Director of the newly formed Science Education Centre which later became the Science and Mathematics Education Centre (SMEC) as it is known today. Of central importance to SMEC was its underpinning philosophy, which owed much to John. He believed that science teachers, after they had been teaching for a few years, would gradually lose contact with developments in their area of science, and there should be an opportunity for them to come back and bring themselves up-to-date. John also believed that postgraduate science education should operate in a science faculty rather than an education faculty, and should cater for people on a part-time basis, thus providing them with the opportunity to get up-todate in their science or their mathematics and, at the same time, learn something that would be of value for teaching in their classrooms. So the course was designed to be of practical value, with hands-on experiences, leading to a Graduate Diploma in Science Education (two years part-time) followed by a Masters course including completion of a thesis. This program proved very popular with local science and mathematics teachers. The greatest distinction of this continuing science and mathematics education was that the group of lecturers and teachers were coming together as experienced people and 6

“So we used to sit down with the group at the beginning of semester and say ‘Well, what are the sorts of things that you would like to know?’ And we would go through and work out a syllabus, and we’d decide who was going to teach it; and that meant which students were going to teach, not whether it was Dave Boud or myself. Also, the evaluation of the students involved an assessment by their peers.” The outcome of this vision, the jointly designed and presented course, including the peer assessment, was valued because the people within it were valued; this was a true sharing of experience, of ideas, and of commitment to science and science teaching. During its 30-year history, SMEC has had only three directors. The first was David Boud who left after a couple of years for the University of New South Wales, followed by John Dekkers from Queensland whose greatest contribution to SMEC was that you could do a masters degree by external studies. When John moved back to Queensland in 1983, Barry Fraser, who’d arrived from Macquarie University to the Faculty of Education, was appointed as the third Director of SMEC, a position he holds 25 years later. During Barry’s tenure and entrepreneurship, SMEC’s student population has grown enormously with postgraduate degrees, including doctoral degrees since 1987, offered nationally and internationally. And throughout its history, SMEC has been supported and championed by John, its founder and, although not officially named so, its patron. Over more than three decades, the philosophy of SMEC has remained true to the original goals initiated by John de Laeter, whereby the postgraduate students who are science and mathematics teachers in local schools are treated as professionals in their own right and that the lecturers and the students both make significant contributions to the classes. SMEC has a vastly different group of students from those early days but courses are still taught in this manner. John’s influence about teaching postgraduate classes has been felt in the many countries where SMEC has students. We, as SMEC staff, along with our many past students, remain grateful and appreciative of his legacy.

THE JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Article

Gary Cass, University of Western Australia Background “I am not creative, so I cannot be an artist!” This is the response of myself and many other scientists in the community, young or old, when asked if they are an artist. Why? Why are artists the only ones that are perceived as the creative ones? Why can’t scientists be creative? Actually, I believe that the sciences and arts are both creative and it is collaborations between these two disciplines that will produce the most extraordinary, and visionary outcomes in the future. This will generate critical thinking, originality and creativity, leading to informed decisions that will take us into a future that is fast becoming unpredictable. “In today’s rapidly changing world, people must continually come up with creative solutions to unexpected problems. Success is based not only on what you know or how much you know, but on your ability to think and act creatively” (Resnick 2007). For many years now I have been labelled a scientist because I work in a science lab. I have a science degree and I know a bit about many of the sciences disciplines; therefore I am scientist. Well at least in the world’s eye, I am scientist. But recently I have realised, I think and work differently to many other scientists, in fact, I think and work differently to many other people. Not only do I work in the sciences, I am also lucky to now work in the arts. I have collaborated with many artists in many art spaces, producing and exhibiting creative pieces1. These pieces include everything from converting the DNA code into musical code, humancyborgian interactions and dresses made from the bacterial ferment of wine. One has to question whether these pieces are art or science. What is art? What is science? Can one say that a piece is art if exhibited in an art space or a science piece if exhibited in a science space? Many of the our pieces contain a sizable amount of science and are increasingly being exhibited in public science spaces, e.g. Science Gallery at Trinity College, Ireland; a place where ideas meet and opinions collide2. The sciences – like the arts have been doing for centuries – are finally opening their doors for public scrutiny. When my colleagues and I exhibit our creativity pieces, the public perception is that my artist colleagues are the creative minds and I, the scientist, am just the technician. But this could not be further from the truth – both artist and scientist have an equal input into all facets of the project from original concept to finished product. Therefore much of the creative thinking 1 2

www.bioalloy.org www.sciencegallery.com

VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

about the piece is expressed by the scientist. Almost always when exhibiting our creative pieces, the media requests an interview with the artist, the creative one (?), whom they believe the public wants to read about. It is time for a change; it is time to show the world that scientists are creative too. Society seems to condemn this type of scientific creative thinking, my way of thinking, as an oxymoron, unconventional and too hard to brand with a specific genre. And believe that these radical thinking types of individuals are too unpredictable and too hard to manage in a compartmentalised education system. Our schools, with their cataloguing of students into linear academic trajectories, label individuals as specialists in one area. It is believed those who think with the left hemisphere of the brain fall into the humanities, arts and social sciences speciality and that those who think with the right hemisphere belong to the speciality labelled, sciences, mathematics, engineering and technology. There is no box for the thinkers who combine both hemispheres, who have been unfortunately discarded by a system that until now failed to recognise cross-disciplinary and holistic thinkers. Artists are aware of their feelings and emotions; where scientists, having this ability, are too blinded by intellect to allow it to materialise. These emerging emotional intellectuals may be the creativity thinkers of today that will shape tomorrow. Scientific creativity and diversity are crucial for the future of our educational system. With an exponential increase of technologies such as nano, bio, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, we need to make sense of where we are going. Let’s reform our education system now, before it is too late, allowing for a more organic and diverse model to prevent schools from killing creativity (Robinson 2006).

The Scientific Creativity Initiative The Scientific Creativity Initiative applies boundary spanners to bridge and re-align traditional academic boundaries. It will inspire new thoughts and endeavours through arts/sciences collaborative strategies that embrace and incorporate science, mathematics, engineering and technology, with the humanities, arts and social sciences. Scientific creativity programmes must be specifically designed to encourage the cross pollination of knowledge and creativity amongst various disciplines. Partnerships of people from different disciplines are the very people which give us the most promising outcomes for the future (Metcalfe et al 2006). A possible re-introduction of philosophy and cultural theory into the 7

Article

sciences makes sense, to give the practitioners the opportunity of developing new ways of thinking about the future scientific and social implications of their research. This also provides a dynamic site of exchange and encourages the application of critical thinking, creativity and originality with a multi media approach. This educational philosophy echoes the United Nation’s Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) facilitated by UNESCO3. To integrate the traditional educational scheme with new pedagogical strategies to encourage: • Interdisciplinary and holistic learning rather than subjectbased learning • Values-based learning • Critical thinking rather than memorizing • Risk taking and problem solving • Creative and original thinking • Good communicating • Participatory decision-making • Utilizing multi-method approaches: word, art, drama, debate, etc. The Scientific Creativity Initiative is one way of bridging the gaps between a compartmentalised educational system, allowing future students to become more interdisciplinary with a broader knowledge base. This initiative will expand student’s horizons, engaging with subjects that were thought traditionally not to be complementary. We need students to recognise that there is synergy between academic disciplines, and that too much specialisation may lose sight of the big picture. We become the smallest of branches on an ever-dividing tree. And if we become too specialised we are in danger of snapping off and falling to the ground (Osbourn 2009). To reinforce in society that there are sometimes greys in a world that likes to think in black and white. Our goal is to increase wisdom by being more inclusive and open.

Our vision is to excite and engage students in both the sciences and arts, with an outcome of creativity. The Scientific Creativity Initiative has successfully piloted one of its programs, the “Abiogenesis” unit. This initial series of lectures and labs covered the geological and organic formation of the Earth and associated arts, trying to understand the theory of abiogenesis. Two more units will be developed in the future to expand and broaden the combined sciences and arts creativity knowledge base. The second unit, teaching “Evolution” will be designed to cover organic development from single celled, to multi-cellular, to death, with associated arts. The third unit “Cyborgian Systems” will embrace one possible futuristic vision of the Earth, the organic and inorganic as one entity, with associated arts. The three units are designed to engage with the past, present and future of the Earth as a living entity.

THE SCIENTIFIC CREATIVITY INITIATIVE “ABIOGENESIS”

Dana Perksa, Chloe Brittona and Gary Cassb a

Shenton College and bUniversity of Western Australia

Introducing Scientific Creativity The “Abiogenesis” program of the Scientific Creativity Initiative was piloted in early 2010 at Shenton College. The program encompassed a narrative based pedagogy, through scientific and artistic engagement, with one of the theories of abiogenesis. Abiogenesis is the theory and research on how life began on Earth; how the inorganic became organic. Students were exposed to many different cross-disciplinary subject matters and practices, encouraging critical examination. Each student critically and creatively theorised how inorganic rocks became selfmaintaining, autonomous and self-replicating. The generation of life! The outcome of the program was for each student to produce a creative piece, exhibiting their scientific and artistic interpretation of abiogenesis to the public.

Delivering the Abiogenesis Program The schedule of the unit, running over a semester, by means of a series of science lectures and practicals with accompanying art practices, allowed the students to creatively engage with abiogenesis. The sciences associated with this theory included geology, crystallography, molecular biology, bubble/cellular chemistry, microbiology and genetic engineering. The art practices incorporated crystal art, code art, bubble sculpture and painting with living organisms.

“Wisdom first begins with wonder, and it starts young” Socrates

www.unesco.org/en/esd THE JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Article Having immersed themselves in these science ideas, the students then faced the challenge of communicating their own interpretation of these ideas with a creative piece. With reference to some cutting edge examples of arts/science practice around the world, the students were encouraged to question the boundaries of practice in science communication. These creative works spanned the fields of poetry, rock art paintings, sculptures, a dance, living art, music and the aesthetics of life’s mathematical plan!

freely where flexibility and creativity was valued over concrete retention of facts. Using emotional intelligence to understand scientific theories allowed students to connect with the ideas on a different level and translate their understanding with new confidence, the ‘Dancing Crystals, for example “brainstormed the emotions that went with each of the stages of abiogenesis and the movements that would match”. For others the challenge of questioning the label ‘scientist’ and stereotypical ‘scientific’ thinking was the most engaging aspect of the programme.

The project culminated in an exhibition held in the school library. The event was opened by the Chief Scientist of Western Australia, Professor Lyn Beazley. The ‘Dancing Crystals’ performed their dance, the DNA musical pieces were performed live and then the parents, teachers and special invited guests were wowed by the visual arts on display.

The teachers at Shenton College were impressed with the passionate and ongoing commitment of their students to the course. The pilot programme was run outside school hours and students made a significant time commitment to be involved. They arrived each week with new questions and exponential curiosity. Teachers commented that the course had tapped into a well of student enthusiasm that exceeded expectations.

Assessing Student Work The assessment of scientific creativity has been identified as problematic. It is easy to evaluate good science from bad science but how does one judge good art from bad art? (S. Bunt pers. comm.). In an attempt to overcome this problem, each student had to submit a written interpretation about their creative piece (see abbreviated examples at the end of this article). A five minute speech was also presented by each student to help improve their science communication skills. As the course was interdisciplinary and holistic, assessment was based on creativity, rationality and visionary ideas with multimedia approaches. An assessment guide was applied to each project regarding its creativity and originality, risk taking and problem solving, communication skills and the ability of the project to cross disciplinary boundaries. On the basis of these criteria students deliberately chose ideas and media they were less familiar and less confident with, which made their journey a truly rewarding challenge. The ‘Dancing Crystals’, for example chose to communicate their findings via dance because they had considered themselves non-dancers.

Feedback from Students and Teachers For the students involved the novel approach re-invigorated their interest in their science studies. This was an opportunity to think

Resourcing Teachers Future developments of the Scientific Creativity Initiative such as the “Abiogenesis” program will include teaching resources available as a hard copy or online. This will allow teachers to use the resource as a whole, or choose appropriate sections that suit individual teaching requirements. Teachers can then tailor the resources to their own timetable. By using fragments of the programme, teachers can directly target appropriately linked items in the curriculum. Many high schools may find the scientific creativity programmes are a novel way to challenge their students and promote a rich engagement with science and other learning areas.

Further Information The Scientific Creativity “Abiogenesis” program can contribute to senior secondary students’ WACE completion requirement through the Curriculum Council’s generic personal development program Recreational Pursuits. If you would like more information and/or would like to introduce the initiative to your school, please contact Gary Cass at gary.cass@uwa.edu.au.

Student and Teacher Testimonials “It was a challenge to express science artistically, but I loved that you could choose to do it however you wanted.” Year 11 Student “The art bit was a huge challenge for me – it did help me to think differently.” Year 11 Student “I had such a fantastic time because I could combine the two things I’m most passionate about in one elegant response!” Year 11 Student “The course inspired both my intellect and my imagination. It helped me bring a new perspective to some of my class work.” Year 11 Student

VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

Article “The continuing enthusiasm and commitment of the students to

References

the course amid all their many academic and other activities was

Resnick, M. (2007). Sowing the Seeds for a More Creative Society. Learning and Leading with Technology, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) (December/January 2007-8, pp. 18-22). Available at <http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/Learning-Leadingfinal.pdf>. Robinson, K. (2006). Schools Kill Creativity. TED Talks, Ideas worth spreading. Available at www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_ kill_creativity.html. Metcalfe, J., Riedlinger, M., Pisarski, A., and Gardner, J. (2006). Collaborating across the sectors. The relationships between the humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS) and science, technology, engineering and medicine (STEM) sectors. ISBN: 0-9757701-3-6 Available at www.chass.org.au/ papers/pdf/PAP20061101EA.pdf. Osbourn, A. (2009). A meeting place: The Science, Art and Writing initiative. Current Science, Vol. 97, No. 11, 10 December 2009 www.sawtrust.org.

testament to the impact of this course.” Chloe Britton, Teacher, Shenton College “The Scientific Creativity Initiative Abiogenesis Programme has been a magnificent opportunity to support cross-curricular work in the Senior years at Shenton College. It’s important to recognise that creativity is worthwhile across the disciplines.” Chris Hill, Deputy Principal, Head of Gifted and Talented Education, Shenton College Examples of Student’s Scientific Creativity (from 2010 pilot course) Alex Castleden

Musical DNA

Paper, keyboard

The idea for translating genetic coding into music was appealing to me, I have played music from a young age and it has been done numerous times, as shown by the many examples on the internet. Because us humans are what we call “the most evolutionally advanced” species at this particular moment in time, I began to think that it would be interesting to convert both the human and the cyanobacteria’s 16S ribosomal DNA to music and to compare the two musically.

Amy McAlpine

Life is Just Peaches and Cream

Fruit puree, plastic tubing, wood

Our DNA contains the instructions that specify for every part of us and make us who we are. It codes for every breath and every heart beat, and is the source of all life. But what makes up out DNA? Nitrogen, sugars, phosphates, all things that we obtain from food. Food, the basis of all life, giving us nutrients and energy, all the things we couldn’t live without. So if life is from DNA and DNA is essentially from food, then is life literally just peaches and cream?

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Article Kimberley Lamev, Lahra Edwards, Stephanie Lamev and Rebecca Turner

Abiogenesis-a crystal dance

Our art piece uses body movement to convey our ideas responding to the theory of Abiogenesis.

It begins in a world of extreme atmospheric conditions, as fire and ice fight for dominance over the world leaving it an intense 200oC in the sun and minus 200oC in the shade. We symbolised the two extremes with the levels we use to symbolise a power relationship between hot and cold, when one was strong the other was inferior and pushed into a small space low on the ground. ... The DNA entered the bubbles forming the first living cell which is when we each connect at the finale of the crystal dance.

Daena Ho and Chloe Giffard

Living Poetry

Non-pathogenic E. Coli, agar plates, Petri dishes, 50x50 mirror, cardboard boxes

Using poetry we reflect on the key concepts covered throughout this course. This project seeks to use nature as a way to reflect on science. In this project we explore the concept of autopoiesis, when an organism is self-maintaining, autonomous and self-repeating. Autopoiesis literally translates to ‘self-poetry’ or ‘self-making’, and that’s exactly what we’re trying to represent here. The mirror juxtaposes bacteria with human life to convey a biological then-and-now, while the cardboard boxes in different shapes and sizes show the diversity of life on Earth.

VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

Tributes to John de Laeter

Doing research with JDL – some personal reflections Clifton L Smith PhD Hon Professor, Electron Science Research Institute, Edith Cowan University I first met John De Laeter (JDL) when I was in Fifth Year at Bunbury Senior High School. JDL was a young man who had just been posted to Bunbury as Senior Master of Science; he had been lecturing at Perth Technical College and had just completed his PhD. We were delighted to have this young man preparing us for our Leaving Certificate in Physics and Chemistry. We soon became aware that JDL was an A grade hockey player with Old Modernians in Perth, and we in the High School hockey team convinced him to play with us in the men’s hockey competition in Bunbury. Well, he was a fine coach and leader and we won the Grand Final of the men’s hockey competition that year. How lucky was this appointment of JDL to Bunbury SHS for me, as it was the start of twenty five years of close association and friendship with JDL. After the Leaving Certificate, many of us in the High School hockey team came to Perth to attend university and teachers college. As a result, many of us joined the Old Modernians Hockey Club as JDL had transferred back to Perth and was again playing with them. During these next few years I was fortunate to have JDL lecture me in Physics in what was the precursor to the physics degree at Curtin University. These were the heady days for physics, and JDL was at the leading edge of Solar System astrophysics. These were exciting times for JDL and also for us as he would bring us along with the enthusiasm of what seemed like weekly major discoveries in astrophysics. An appointment with JDL in the Physics Department at the Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT) which was to become Curtin University once again re-energised my enthusiasm for astrophysics. JDL was researching hard on the nucleosynthesis of tin (Sn) which was the previous topic of his PhD. His international publications were gaining acknowledgement, and he was developing a strong reputation in the international research community. Having enrolled in the Master of Applied Science degree, much of the advanced coursework that I did was with JDL in astrophysics related topics. These classes were intense, stimulating, energetic, enthusiastic, and fulfilling. It was great to be a mature aged student at post graduate studies. The Masters degree also had a major research component to it, which was to take me through the next five years of association with JDL. Before commencing the research component, I met him in his office where we chatted about things in general and astrophysics in particular. JDL went to his copious library of recent copies of research papers that he kept on a large book shelf in his office. He carefully selected three research papers (from several 12

hundred papers) that had been published in the last two years, and asked that I carefully read them for discussion in a few weeks time. I did not know what I was reading for, but I knew that I would be quizzed on them when we next met! Each of these three papers focussed on what was known about a chemical element in the Solar System. We were not into the chemical properties of the elements, but rather the physical properties with respect to the formation of the Solar System. JDL was always concerned with the big picture, so the element of most interest would be the one that would develop our understanding of the Solar System, the galaxy, and the universe. JDL asked me if I had an interest in any of them, and if so which one. My response was TELLURIUM. This pleased him somewhat as he said that he would have chosen this element also. Elemental tellurium has eight stable isotopes that have been synthesized in three distinct phases of stellar evolution: main sequence stars, red giant stars, and the supernova phase. Hence the appeal of elemental tellurium as a cosmic indicator of major development stages in the life of a star. Cosmic elemental tellurium and astrophysics then became the bond between JDL and me for the next twenty years. With the goal of measuring the cosmic isotopic abundances of tellurium in meteorites and terrestrial samples, the project required two or three nights a week in the of solid source mass spectrometry laboratory. I was extremely fortunate to have two supervisors in JDL and Professor Kevin Rosman both of whom were very well published in international astrophysics journals, and both had completed their PhD’s under the supervision of Dr Peter Jeffrey at UWA. JDL and Kevin were enthusiasts for their trade of mass spectrometry applied to cosmic abundances, and as a result this commitment to astrophysics quickly became part of my character. Just before I joined the team, there was a fire in the mass spectrometry laboratory and it was to be out of action for some time. In order not to lose any momentum in the research group, JDL organised for him and Kevin to conduct an advanced post graduate course for several of us in mass spectrometry design, cosmo-nuclear synthesis, and stable isotope measurement. How fortunate was it for me to be presented by two international experts with all this current information and background at the commencement of my project. JDL had met and frequently corresponded with the international major players in the field, and as such we often received advanced data from other teams before publication. JDL was prominent in the international conference scene, and as a consequence was invited to join international committees, such

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Tributes to John de Laeter as the Atomic Weights Committee, which influenced the science that all engaged in. In turn, JDL was a regular visitor to major mass spectrometry laboratories in USA and Europe. In a sense these laboratories were our competitors in the “measurement stakes” and more often than not had an annual budget ten fold of our budget. But we used to say that our enthusiasm made up for the difference in funding, and our output was taken seriously in the international context. Again, in turn, JDL regularly hosted prominent international researchers to our laboratory. The great treat for me was to be invited for lunch with the visitors, and be part of the intense scientific discussion that occurred between JDL and the researchers. The chemical extraction of trace amounts of tellurium from exotic samples was precise, exacting, tedious, frustrating, and difficult. A few micrograms of tellurium would be extracted from several grams of sample, say a meteorite, over a period of about six weeks. The exactness of the task was sometimes overwhelming, but often late at night a visit to the laboratory by JDL would always place the task in perspective, and the objectives of the research would become clear again. In order to determine the cosmic abundance of tellurium, it was necessary to measure tellurium abundances in a range of terrestrial and meteoritic samples. Although tellurium is not that abundant on Earth there is a large source of it at Kalgoorlie where gold telluride is mined in huge quantities! But the meteorites are the prize specimens for analysis; particularly the carbonaceous chondrite meteorites which are believed to be the original stuff of the Solar System before the planets were formed. JDL had the international reputation to acquire small specimens of carbonaceous chondrite meteorites for destructive analyses. As you can imagine, these specimens are sought by researchers all over the world, but not many are awarded them. The Orgueil C1 carbonaceous chondrite meteorite was the greatest prize of all. JDL was able to be awarded this specimen from the NASA group, and he allowed me 0.1g of Orgueil for destructive analysis. The importance of this analysis was not lost on me, as I divided the tiny sample into two equal pieces of 0.05g each and conducted full parallel analyses for elemental tellurium. JDL and I used these results to modify the current atomic weight of tellurium. The Burbidge, Burbidge, Fowler and Hoyle (1956) paper on astro-nuclear synthesis for the evolution of stars in the universe became JDL’s guiding principle for astrophysics research, and were adopted by me and others in the group. Subsequently, all four authors of the B*2FH paper were awarded Nobel prizes. I, with others, was involved in the moon rock project. JDL and I did the initial planning for the acquiring of a sample of lunar rock for the determination of the environment in our region of the Solar System in terms of stability and eruptiveness of the solar wind from the sun. In the early days of the Solar System after the planets had been formed and the Moon had been spun off the Earth after a major asteroid collision, it has been postulated that the space environment in our region was filled with highly VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

energetic particles from the solar wind. Some of these particles would have been high speed neutrons, and others charged particles which when collided with materials on the surface of the Moon would produce neutrons from nuclear reactions. Hence we believed that there would be a relatively high neutron flux at the Moon’s surface. This thought could be tested by measuring the isotopic abundances of tellurium from surface moon rock and comparing it to cosmic tellurium isotopic abundances. The impact of the high neutron flux on the surface rocks of the Moon would cause some isotopes of tellurium to increase in abundance through neutron capture. JDL acquired a lunar sample for destructive analysis by solid source mass spectrometry. Only five requests for lunar samples were granted from over two hundred applications. But first, simulated Moon rock had to be produced by mixing proportions of terrestrial rocks to achieve a mixture roughly similar to lunar specimens. A tellurium spike was added to the simulated Moon rock in the trace amount that we might expect to detect it. JDL, and I, and others contributed to this project which eventually took about five years to complete. A second phase of the project was not attempted where we postulated that samples at depth from the drill core that was taken from the Moon (we all remember the astronaut pressing down as hard as he could on the electric drill to retrieve a core from a depth of about two metres). Our thinking was that by using isotopic tellurium as the test element, we would expect to demonstrate a reduced neutron flux with depth from the lunar surface. JDL maintained a strong interest in science education throughout his life, with a belief that science was a noble pursuit. I was always encouraged by JDL to share my enthusiasm in science and particularly astrophysics with school groups and the community in general. As a result we would present public talks on aspects of astronomy for community groups that ranged from retirement groups to primary school children. A memorable series of public talks was for Australian Airways in 1986 when I was the onboard commentator for Halley’s Comets flights out of Perth. JDL always argued to me that we should discuss science from first principles rather than as a series of facts. And that when we speculated about future outcomes in astrophysics we were sometimes wrong, but that did not matter as long as the speculation was logical at the time according to known data of the concept. I often had the privilege of discussing a philosophy of the universe with JDL. This would most often occur late at night in the mass spectrometry when data was streaming from the computer as a tellurium sample is being analysed. We talked about expanding universes and steady state universes, the probability of life on other planets, the evolution of stars, and the interaction between time and gravity. I learned a lot about science, and astrophysics, and research with JDL, but most importantly I learned how to conduct oneself as a scientist in the community and to disseminate science to the following generations. JDL always remains a hero of mine. 13

News

The London International Youth Science Forum Jacob Timmerman, Year 12 Student, Saint Stephen’s School Earlier this year, I was selected to attend the London International Youth Science Forum, which took place in late July. The forum is an annual program focussed on providing young people with interest and aptitude in the fields of science and engineering a chance to come together as an international community to learn about what is happening at the forefront of those subjects which interest us, but also to connect and form friendships with other young people all over the world. Being set in London, the forum also provided opportunities to explore the cultural richness of the city and to see all the tourist attractions it has to offer. As one of only six students from Australia selected to attend the forum, and the sole attendee from Western Australia, I had a great opportunity to represent my country at an international level and also to develop my career goals.

The London Eye. Photo courtesy Jacob Timmerman.

I departed from Perth on 26 July, travelling to London via Sydney to meet with the other Australian delegates. We arrived in London and were placed under the guide of Geoff Burchfield, Director of the Australian National Youth Science Forum, which I also attended earlier this year in January. After a short tour of some of London’s attractions, we arrived at Imperial College London in South Kensington. Imperial College was where the 300 forum attendees were accommodated, and also the venue for most of the forum’s activities. The schedule was quite sparsely structured,

with two or three activities or sessions each day. These typically consisted of lectures from keynote speakers, demonstrations from prominent researchers or discussion sessions where the students had the opportunity to talk over various ideas and important global topics. Some sessions of note included a presentation on fusion energy by Professor Steve Cowley, “Engineering a Sustainable Energy Future” by Professor Nigel Brandon, and an interactive lecture on renewable energy sources by Professor Mike Graham.

The CERN Dome. Photo courtesy Jacob Timmerman.

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News parts for satellites and devices for use in space are manufactured. Of special note was the presentation on astrophysics given there.

LINAC 1 accelerator at CERN. Photo courtesy Jacob Timmerman.

Most of the time not spent in these activities was left to us as free time to explore the city and all its touristic attractions. To name a few examples, we visited the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, saw a production of Henry IV at the Globe Theatre, went on a night “flight” on the London Eye, and visited the Tate Modern, the National Gallery, the National Museum and Westminster Abbey. We also sampled some culture by seeing WICKED and Chicago in the West End and went to the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. A number of excursions were offered on weekends, to visit places outside London. On these I visited the centre for geology at Cambridge University, also having a chance to explore the town. Another trip saw us visiting Stone Henge and Salisbury, both very interesting destinations. The last of my visits outside London was to the Mullard Space Science Centre where many

At the culmination of the forum, a group of 36 students went on a week-long extension program to visit the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN). We took the Eurostar to Paris, where we spent the night, before travelling by bus to Switzerland and Geneva, where we stayed for two nights. During our stay, we visited the facilities at CERN, including their data analysis and materials testing areas. We were unable to go underground to see the Large Hadron Collider, for which CERN has become famous, as it is presently running – but we were able to see everything involved with it on the surface. While in Geneva we also visited the United Nations headquarters where we were given a guided tour. Returning to London, we again stopped for the night in Paris, visiting the Louvre and L’Arc de Triomphe, before again catching the Eurostar to what now felt quite like home. As a whole, the forum provided me with countless opportunities to learn about the fields of science that interest me, but probably more importantly, the forum has helped me develop the skills and contacts that are so integral to a career in science. I am sure that the friendships that we have made during the forum will continue for a long time, and many will see strong collaborations in the future. In addition to the scientific part of the forum, the LIYSF has given me the opportunity to experience another culture and travel to the other side of the world. If nothing else, the one thing I have become certain of as a result of attending the forum is that if you take the opportunities you are given, there is no telling how far you will go.

Tower Bridge. Photo courtesy Jacob Timmerman. VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

News

Future Science 2010 David Keigwin STAWA’s ‘Future Science Conference 2010’ was held on Friday

by both Mr Wood and the audience helped teachers with their

3rd December 2010 at the Murdoch University campus. A record

understanding of the changes proposed, the difficulties faced

attendance of 220 teachers of science were welcomed by John

by ACARA and the work that is planned to help teachers with

Clarke, STAWA CEO and Bernie Hunneybun, STAWA President-

implementation.

Elect in the Kim Beazley Lecture Theatre. Professor Philip Payne,

After morning tea the Workshop Sessions were opened. The

Murdoch University’s Faculty Dean of Health Sciences then

concurrent sessions offered a range of theoretical papers and

officially opened the conference.

practical workshops, drawing together new teaching methods,

The introductions were followed by the keynote address, ‘The

techniques and material for the various scientific disciplines.

Future of K-12 Science Education in Australia’, given by David

Future Science 2010 was a great professional learning event. The

Wood, CEO of the Curriculum Council of Western Australia. Mr

drawing of winners of the many sponsor prizes took place at the

Wood spoke about the Australian Curriculum and how these

sundowner in the Murdoch tavern. This concluding session proved

changes will affect the teaching of science in Western Australian

to be a very valuable networking opportunity for all those who

schools. Mr Wood’s address was well received. Questions posed

attended.

The 2010 STAWA ‘de Laeter Medal’ The 2010 STAWA ‘de Laeter Medal’ was presented by Professor de Laeter’s wife, Robin and son Rob to Mr Lance Taylor. Lance accepted the award with a reflective and at times emotional speech, and spoke about Professor de Laeter’s influence on his work. Congratulations, Lance.

Keynote audience Kim Beazley Lecture Theatre. Photo courtesy David Keigwin.

Copper Recover Workshop. Photo courtesy David Keigwin.

Mr Rob de Laeter, Mrs Robin de Laeter, Mr Lance Taylor. Photo courtesy David Keigwin. THE JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Tributes to John de Laeter

Dedication to John de Laeter Dr Annie Duncan* Former CEO and founding staff member of Scitech Discovery Centre I really have to thank John de Laeter for getting me out of bed

visiting on wet weekends and yes, some kids only spent 30

in the mornings! As CEO of Scitech I used to say that the reason

seconds actually concentrating on an exhibit but we actually

I got up in the mornings and came to work was to inspire kids

did have an impact. With John’s persistence we managed to

to take up science as a career. The fact that my workplace was

get two teachers seconded to Scitech from the Education

a Discovery Centre filled with excited kids, exciting exhibits and exceptional staff was really all down to John and his passion for science education. In the mid 1980s he had such a strong vision for setting up a science centre in Perth that he convinced Western Australian Government, sponsors and the heads of Western Australia’s (WA) biggest companies to make the dream a reality. He was always quiet and thoughtful in Board meetings yet so well-respected and so wise that CEOs who, in their workplace, were used to being listened to, really listened to John. We started developing Scitech in August 1987 and then came

Department – a primary teacher and a secondary science teacher. This was pivotal in getting teachers to use and respect what Scitech could offer. At one stage we had John de Laeter on the Board, his erstwhile student Frank Dymond on sabbatical leave from Edith Cowan University, Frank’s ex-student Trevor Henderson as our Education Officer and Trevor’s student doing work experience. John had spawned a Scitech dynasty. Although, I suppose that “spawned” is a bit biological and John as an astrophysicist would probably say “spun off” – or whatever stars do.

the October stock market crash. Amazingly we still managed

John continued his interest in Scitech even after his nine years

to raise millions of dollars and John’s academic reputation

on the Board ended and his legacy remained. The Education

and strong pursuit of excellence gave us great credibility with

Sub-Committee of the Board was, I think, a great meeting

teachers, sponsors and government (well at least those in

place for everyone committed to improving science education

government who realised that WA would benefit from kids

especially in our primary schools.

taking up careers in science, maths and engineering). When we opened in August 1988 we were the first fully-fledged science centre in Australia. Mike Gore had been running Questacon in a Canberra primary school for years but their iconic building was opened some months after our launch. Science education and communication were very strong at Scitech and it is thanks to people like John that this remained a top priority. Yes, we were entertaining, yes families loved

VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

I respected John so much that it was many years before he forced me to call him John. To me he was always Professor de Laeter. Without him WA would never have built one of the most innovative science centres in the world. Personally I thank him for my second career working in science centres – oh and making me love going to work each day. * Formerly Ann Ghisalberti

Tributes to John de Laeter

In memory of Emeritus Professor John de Laeter

THE JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Tributes to John de Laeter

ience Western r for Earth Sc ecutive Office Ex the founding as s of ar e ye on o During my tw 9, John was 00 -2 08 John was a 20 A) in m I reported. Australia (ESW mmittee to who co e education ive nc ut ie ec sc t ex ou e passionate ab members of th so as w d a pleasure an as nal man in WA. It w truly inspiratio Earth Sciences e swers and th an lly ic cia ist al pe looked for re in Australia, es s ay w al un he lly derstood him as re ever yone fu to work with at making su t ep The Earth and ad e. as ev w trying to achi solutions and e er w e w t E course is to e of wha the WA WAC the importanc ) text book for small part, ES (E no e in nc ie e, Sc existence is du Environmental its d an ar eat man, a ye gr later this nce. He was a be published iasm and patie us th en d ue in to John’ s cont rely missed. r and will be so valuable mento mpkins tern Australia Dr Dianne To Science Wes rth Ea r fo r utive Office Former Exec A) (ESW

I was awarded the de Laeter Medal in 2008. This award provided a profound encouragement to me working in science education. I am deeply grateful for Professor John de Laeter’s support. Elaine Lewis Innovation Grant Project Co-ordinator, Coolbinia Primary School

school e primar y t to the sam en came w be I I . ild a ch hn de Laeter When I was at best e son of Jo th th , gs er in et th La e l th as Mark de d we did al ing cubbies. with Mark an ers and build a science ov best friends p ee sl ng vi ed ha rm e fo lik ther, we also friends do, ne as a metha by Mark’s fa w on go d lo re ur ub But, sp b”. Our cl ten year -la r “X ou e to th c d ifi ient club we calle tin incredibly sc trips to Cur hich seemed take us on ld molecule, w ou w er amazed th g fa in s be k’ r ar be M em old minds. days). I rem could count AIT in those c device that ni tro University (W ow ec el a room. I kn owed us an had entered when he sh s it ho 60 w 19 le e th op of pe but back in , ys the number da the e w es sa g special th ed when I that’s nothin lia’s milarly amaz si tra us as A w I rn l. ecia Weste was very sp University of proached ors at the when you ap ed en electronic do op ch science hi w in t, ed en rtm t us interest go ly Physics depa al ve us. re gi at e thing th father would them. But th and that Mark’s s ith al w ic t em en m ch of te to experi lfa su was the bevy us. er on pp d year old co sure worke d Give a ten e for life. It an nc e ie nc sc ie sc in of rested lifelong love y m he’ll be inte of e us er was ca r. John de Laet ience teache became a sc I on as the re l ge Frank Hil Mercy Colle her, Divine ac Te Science

VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

I was in my second year of physics at the Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT). I enjoyed Professor de Laeter’s guest lectures, because he was a real rockstar and because he smiled a lot. I had a huge personal Ah-haa moment when he enlightened me on the clocks within the rocks! Now, he’s having a rest. Stardust to stardust. Ferdinand Nicoletti Science Teacher, Como Secondary College

d the ANZAAS student I attende 12 ar Ye a nt to the as In 1973 dent show and we . I skipped the stu to ask me to up ng Congress in Perth mi ber a professor co em rem I . The m. OK ea es str physics ding the lectur d was I understan was old ar ye 17 t how I was going an an st in an insignific ere int an k too o man wh hn De Laeter. AIT), none other than Jo University (then W cs degree at Curtin my ysi d Ph ge an my ch g e rin Du This cours Astronomy 101. Lancetaylor oid ter John lectured in As d an ulous experiences ssion life. So many fab his igniting my pa happened without ve ha r re made we hy ap gr would neve oto ph first steps into astro ysics Department for astronomy. My take home the Ph to me d ste ). My tru when John s in today’s dollars! (worth $20,000 plu e op esc tel e. ar tim t est Qu since tha has never waned to me. love for telescopes s an inspiration wa hn Christian, Jo entist sci nt ige ell int As a committed d, t a highly respecte tha with ted y tra on ns rm mo ha He de is in perfect ristian faith that others for ern nc co could have a Ch ine nu s humility and ge s legacy is in all good science. Hi s achievements. Hi ou nd me tre his dly. un underpinned ofo pr lives he touched so the people whose Lance Taylor High School , Willeton Senior Head of Science

As a foundation physics student at WAIT (now Curtin University), I attended the lectures in nuclear physics given by John de Laeter. Now towards the end of my career in teaching mainly physics to Western Australian senior secondary students, upon reflection, John’s lectures have now faded into my long term memory. While I don’t remember John’s lectures, what I do remember is John the man, and his personal attributes. My most enduring memory of John was his humility, his calmness, and the great respect that he always showed to his students. My lifetime love of science and science teaching was first inspired by Brother Duffy of Aquinas College. My lifetime love of physics and secondary physics teaching was inspired and nurtured by John de Laeter. My professional heart was very much gladdened to catch up with John at the official opening of Professor Igor Bray’s Institute of Theoretical Physics, at Curtin University, in 2009. On that evening, I saw in Igor’s presentation that same humility that was the hallmark of John’s lectures. Western Australian science teachers and science teaching are very much privileged to have the ongoing and caring support of tertiary physicists, from Curtin University, such as John, Igor and Yarra. John, will live on in our memories. Mike McGarry Head of Science, Morley Senior High School

Tributes to John de Laeter

Memories of John de Laeter Frank Dymond, Edith Cowan University It was Saturday morning at Perth Technical College. It was cold

remarkable. Our equipment was not always reliable (and neither

and wet outside and cold in the lecture theatre as we waited

were we) but John, with the utmost patience, would assist us to

once again for our physics lecturer. This was not unusual as he

make sense of our results.

was often and not always sober. But today was different. Right on time a tall, lanky figure strode in and said, “Good morning. We have a lot of work to do to catch up.” And proceeded to mesmerise us with his presentation. This was John de Laeter. After that I moved from the back of the theatre to the front to

his physics students at the Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), later to become Curtin University. I was witness to this as, by then, I was lecturing at Secondary Teachers’ College where I supported students who were ‘bonded’ to the

ensure that I didn’t miss anything. At the time I was still completing my apprenticeship as a mechanical fitter and studying to gain a Diploma in Mechanical Engineering. Physics was one of the subjects I had chosen as an elective but was soon to become my major as I changed to

Education Department. I often felt redundant, as his students were so confident that they understood their physics. John, in his own inimitable way, had convinced them that they could understand physics.

study for a Diploma of Applied Science. John was responsible

As others will testify, John de Laeter was instrumental in

for inspiring my passion for the subject and for supporting

the creation of Scitech Discovery Centre. It was there that

my decision to go teaching. His encouragement was a turning

I renewed my association with John when, in 1987, I was

point in my life.

granted a year-long sabbatical from Edith Cowan University

It wasn’t a surprise to me that John was such an excellent

to Scitech. John’s encouragement to all the staff at the Centre

teacher (he always regarded himself as a teacher, not a

was one of the reasons for the creativity that emerged during

lecturer). I was fortunate to have been taught by his father,

those formative years. He was still a patient listener and still

‘Pops’ de Laeter at Midland High School. To this day, after

able to draw out the best in those who shared his passion for

some fifty-eight years, I can still describe how Pops introduced

promoting scientific literacy in the community.

himself and geometry to our all boys’ class. After explaining who he was he told us about his parents who were travelling theatre performers. So Pops had travelled all over Europe with them. He had us hooked as he described, when in Spain, he had gone to a bullfight. It wasn’t long before we had a circle drawn on the blackboard (the bull ring) and chords (the fence behind

Professor John de Laeter still displayed this patience with

John was just as patient when I returned to Scitech, this time as Manager of the CSIRO Science Discovery Centre. How he managed to maintain his contact with the many projects he initiated and the committees he chaired but still find time for his family, I was never sure. That he did so, yet was always

which the matador could find safety). Arcs, radii and segments

humble about his many achievements, was a measure of his

quickly followed as we learnt the art of bullfighting survival

greatness. When I discovered he had a planetoid named after

–and geometry.

him, he said, “But it is only a small one.”

John de Laeter had the same gift of taking his class on a

John de Laeter will be missed by the scientific community but

journey – a journey of understanding – through his enthusiasm

will be equally missed by science educators, for he belonged to

for his subject. His patience during our laboratory sessions was

both.

THE JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

News

STAWA 2010 Physics Day @ Adventure World The 2010 Physics Day held at Adventure World was a huge success thanks to the perfect spring sunshine, the enthusiasm and efforts of our exhibitors and of course the hard work of all the Adventure World staff. STAWA would like to thank the following exhibitors: Professor Hans Bachor and his support team for his educational laser show. Hans and his laser show had to compete with all the fun of Adventure World rides, but he drew a crowd of interested physics students and teachers to watch his new green laser bursting balloons. The laser beam trapped in water being the most popular of his experiments. Scitech Thank you to the girls at Scitech for bringing their road show, with experiments involving nitrogen and balloons, and for giving rides and demonstrations on the Sedgeway. Murdoch University Thank you for your time and supporting STAWA.

Professor Hans Bacher demonstrates his new experiments as part of his laser show at Physics Day. Photo courtesy Hans Bacher Support Team.

enjoyed it. The materials and stall were very worthwhile. Once again, thank you.” Jo Watkins, Bullsbrook DHS

UWA Thank you for your time and supporting STAWA.

“Thanks, we had a great day.” Grammar School

ECU and the Police Thanks to Geoff Swan and the accompanying police officers that ran a speed competition down the water slides. Prizes went to the fastest boy and the fastest girl down the slide. The winners were:

“It was a pleasure assisting you. It was the best STAWA day I have seen in my five years at Adventure World. Great to see some new exhibitors this year.” Lee Wright, Adventure World

Boys: 39km/hr Mario Du Plessis, Katanning Senior High School Girls: 36km/hr Georgina Carson, Carine Senior High School. Scientrific Thank you for your time and supporting STAWA. ICRAR New to our Physics Day at Adventure World, thank you for bringing your display along. Here are some quotes from those that took part in the day: “Thank you so much for a wonderful day, the students thoroughly

Damon Angelatos, Geraldton

Tickets sold out in the last few days leading up the 23 September. The perfect weather forecast might have had something to do with that. Thank you to all the schools, teachers and students who took part, had lots of fun and, we hope, learnt something about physics. All students who attended were lucky enough to be given complimentary tickets for the opening weekend of Adventure World by Lee Wright – thanks again Lee! Don’t forget Physics Day will be on 22 September 2011, so put the date in your diary now!

Students and teachers enjoying the laser show presented by Professor Hans Bacher on Physics Day. Photo courtesy Hans Bacher Support Team. VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

News

S-KIDS (Science for Kids Day 2010) Natalie Birrell, Huntingdale Primary School and Jan Mitchell, Edith Cowan University – Mount Lawley Campus Now in its sixth year, S-KIDS Day is growing in popularity. Held at Edith Cowan University’s (ECU) Mount Lawley Campus on Saturday 9 October 2010 in partnership with Scitech and Science Teachers’ Association of WA (STAWA), over 160 primary school children, 40 parents and other community members attended the official opening. It was an honour to have Western Australia’s Chief Scientist and S-KIDS’ Patron Professor Lyn Beazley open the day. Over the past six years more than 960 children have attended. The S-KIDS project has continued to motivate many primary children and parents regarding the importance of scientific literacy within our community. The support of primary and secondary science teachers and guest presenters such as Roger Harris from the Gould League, Brad Whittaker and Peter Wallis from the Gravity Centre and Richard Rennie from the Light and Sound Discovery Centre made the day a wonderful success. It also inspires many of the pre-service teachers, who volunteer on the day, to carry positive experiences into their teaching careers. Registration forms are sent out to ECU and STAWA partnership schools but it is parents who register the children as S-KIDS Day is held on the last Saturday of the October school holidays. This year there was a big contingent from Donnybrook, thanks to their enthusiastic science teacher Phil Gregory promoting the day. There were also students from Margaret River, which shows that the popularity is spreading further afield. Students participated in four different engaging hands-on science workshops over the course of the day. Lower primary workshops included: • Forensic Bear Hunt presented by Christine Howitt (Curtin University) and Rachael Sheffield (ECU) – Children love being part of a mystery. This activity introduced children to forensic science. • Move it! Presented by Natalie Birrell (Huntingdale Primary School) and Julie Belohlawek (Primary Science, DOE) – What forces are at work to make things move? • Paper Properties presented by Michelle Lloyd (Mercedes College) – Investigating how paper can be used in everyday life – folding, tearing and testing strength and absorbency. • Wildlife Warriers presented by Roger Harris (Herdsman Lake Wildlife Centre) – Learning about habitats for water dwelling animals.

Primary students conducting an experiment at S-KIDS. Photo courtesy Natalie Birrell.

Upper primary workshops included: • Good vibrations presented by Richard Rennie (Light and Sound Discovery Centre) – investigating sound. • Gravity – Rocket Science made easy presented by Brad Whittaker and Peter Wallis (Gravity Discovery Centre) – Students were introduced to various rockets and the science behind them. • Balloon Rockets presented by Fiona Anthony (Murdoch College) – How does changing the balloon size, shape, distance make for so much fun? • Cluedo, a murder mystery presented by Lesley Glass and Alana Lyons (Ballajura Community College) – This activity introduced the older students to forensics also, while looking at the various jobs open to scientists involved in forensics. Scitech Roadshow entertained and educated the students on the many uses of liquid nitrogen while they enjoyed lunch and the presenters and pre-service teachers had a well-earned rest. A new inclusion to the program this year was a talk about promoting science at home especially tailored for parents, provided by Professor Mark Hackling (Associate Dean Research and Higher Degrees) and Lyn Beazley (Chief Scientist of Western Australia). Juanita Herbert from Scitech also spoke about the role of Scitech and CSIRO Double Helix Club in engaging children in science outside the school environment.

Students at S-KIDS with Professor Lyn Beazley, Western Australia’s Chief Scientist. Photo courtesy Natalie Birrell.

Scitech Roadshow at S-KIDS. Photo courtesy Natalie Birrell. THE JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Tributes to John de Laeter

Dedication to John de Laeter David Wood Chief Executive Officer, Curriculum Council

Professor John de Laeter was one of the Science Teachers’

State of Western Australia and the good of young people – then

Association of Western Australia’s (STAWA) longest serving

I tended to follow it whether it was a popular idea or not.”

members and he made a great contribution to our Association and science education in Western Australia throughout his long and distinguished career.

John saw the importance of science education from both personal fulfilment and human capital perspectives. He was passionate about the need for a community in which all citizens

John was always prepared to do whatever he could to promote

had a solid understanding of basic science and an appreciation

and improve science education. Nothing was ever too much

of the impact that it has on our lives. Equally, he was concerned

trouble from sessions at CONSTAWA to keynote presentations

about the need for accountants, lawyers and artists to have a

for CONASTA and articles for ASTJ.

strong appreciation for science and technology.

When it came to science, mathematics and technology

Finally, he was determined that we should work to ensure

education, he was always concerned with the longer term,

that science and mathematics education in schools delivered

bigger picture.

the best, brightest and most switched on students to science,

Together with Professor John Dekkers, the head of the Science

engineering and technology-based courses at university.

and Mathematics Education Centre (SMEC) at Curtin University

It will be important that this work is carried on, particularly as

and now at Central Queensland University, and Emeritus

we move into an era of national curriculum.

Professor John Malone, John monitored science, mathematics and technology senior secondary enrolments across Australia for more than three decades. John’s views were captured in an obituary reported in Science Network WA (Tony Malkovic, 19 August 2010): “I believe in the importance of inspiring young people into science and that was one way to do it”, is how he explained his passion for science. “Whatever has taken my fancy, if you like, or challenged me or what I see can be done better – mainly for the good of the

VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

Article

Developing science education and outreach at ChemCentre Sarah Lau Media and Communications Coordinator, ChemCentre ChemCentre is the Western Australian Government statutory authority responsible for delivering essential scientific services to the community in three core areas: forensic science, emergency response and public and environmental health. Around these three core areas is a suite of expertise covering many diverse areas of chemistry and forensic science – everything from the dismantling of clandestine drug laboratories to the use of waste products in environmental remediation.

working laboratory, replete with scientists hard at work. Besides a chance to see science in action, a visit to ChemCentre is an opportunity to show students that chemistry, and science in general, is:

The organisation has a long history in the Western Australian community and can trace its origin back to the appointment of the first Government Chemist in the 1890s.

Science is relevant

In recent years, ChemCentre has experienced two significant changes – first, the passing of the Chemistry Centre (WA) Act 2007 which established it as a statutory authority and second, the relocation of ChemCentre to the Resources and Chemistry Precinct on Curtin University’s Bentley Campus (the same premises as STAWA). The Act defines one of ChemCentre’s functions as ‘to promote, and assist in the provision of, chemistry based education and training’. This function, in combination with a new location and facilities, has seen ChemCentre enter into the process of defining and clarifying its educational and outreach activities in a new setting.

Creating ‘authentic’ experiences

relevant; exciting; and a rewarding career path.

Although the gleam of the new laboratories in the Resources and Chemistry Precinct may look unfamiliar to school students, the practices and principles being utilised are similar to those that students learn about in the science classroom. ChemCentre’s operations allow students to see scientific principles being put to use firsthand. For example, the Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscope (ICP-AES) is an instrument used to detect and measure normal and trace levels of metals in samples (e.g. soils, blood, water). The ICP-AES has a viewing panel which allows a clear view of the instrument’s torch. When a sample is passed through the instrument, the torch’s flame changes colour as a result of the emission spectra of the different elements in the sample. This allows students to see a real-life application of a classic science demonstration – the flame test.

A visit to ChemCentre allows students to experience a ‘real-life’

The new ChemCentre building at Curtin University’s Bentley Campus. Photo courtesy ChemCentre.

The ICP-AES torch. Photo courtesy ChemCentre. THE JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Article Science is exciting

Science is a rewarding career path

Inevitably, the forensic science side of its operations fascinates most students visiting ChemCentre, with some even demanding to see ‘dead bodies’! Forensic science at ChemCentre holds an inherent attraction, whether it’s the ‘gross factor’ of discussing toxicology samples (including stomach contents) or the drama of clandestine drug laboratory explosions.

ChemCentre hires a number of graduate chemists every year, who work throughout the organisation’s various operations. Visits from high school students often include the opportunity for students to quiz one of ChemCentre’s early career scientists and hear about their experiences so far. Topics are wide ranging and include areas such as university studies, career highlights, ‘a day in the life’ of a chemist and, on some occasions, entry levels of pay.

Other areas within ChemCentre also give students an opportunity to experience the excitement of applying chemistry knowledge. ChemCentre’s Emergency Response team is responsible for identifying unknown chemicals and assessing possible chemical threats in the community, with scenarios ranging from factory fires to identifying unknown ‘white powders’. In a recent visit from a Year 5 class, students had to ‘neutralise’ an unknown chemical (vinegar) by using sodium bicarbonate, pH strips and an actual Emergency Response instrument – a handheld gas detector programmed to detect carbon dioxide. This simple experiment reflected real Emergency Response practices – onsite analysis and neutralisation of unknown chemicals – and allowed students to experience the challenge ChemCentre’s Emergency Response scientists face whilst out in the field Feedback from these students was very positive and this experiment is likely to become a staple of future school visits.

Challenges and rewards In the past, education and outreach activities at ChemCentre have been created and managed by an informal group of scientists, who faced the problem of balancing such events with their scientific workloads. Although there is now a Communications Coordinator to manage education activities, a larger pool of scientists who are willing to communicate still needs to be developed in order to share the load. It can be difficult, however, convincing scientists (both within ChemCentre and the wider scientific community) to become involved with these activities. Reasons can range from a lack of experience in working in such situations through to a failure to see the value in communicating with the non-scientific community. Another significant challenge is the fact that ChemCentre’s laboratories must stay operational during tours. Although this is part of the attraction for many of ChemCentre’s visitors, it also means that there are further logistical and safety considerations to account for when leading groups through the facilities. However, visits and tours present scientists with an opportunity to expand their own skill sets and gain experience in explaining their work to audiences of different ages. Scientists involved with these events also interact with appreciative students ready to ask probing and thought-provoking questions. Feedback from ChemCentre scientists after recent school group visits indicates that these experiences are often personally rewarding. Such events are also critical in informing the community of ChemCentre’s work and its role in Western Australia. Over the next few months, ChemCentre will determine the format and frequency of its education and outreach activities for 2011/2012. The proximity to both STAWA and Curtin University’s Science Outreach group has opened up a number of opportunities for collaboration and possible new directions for ChemCentre in science education.

ChemCentre scientists demonstrating emergency response equipment to high school students. Photo courtesy ChemCentre. VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

ChemCentre will have a limited number of educational opportunities available in 2011. More information will be made available via ChemCentre’s website (www.chemcentre.wa.gov.au) in February 2011. 25

Article

Chinese connections: Linking science with literacy in China Dr Coral Pepper and Associate Prof Robyn McCarron Edith Cowan University, South West Campus Introduction In July 2010, 13 teachers from Edith Cowan University’s (ECU) South West Campus (Bunbury) spent two weeks teaching oral English to students at Jaixing Number 1 High School in the city of Jaixing, Zheijiang Province, China. This fifth annual teaching opportunity arose as a result of a sister city relationship established in 2000 to develop trade between the two cities being extended in 2005 to include education. The teaching group comprised six third year Education students, four academic staff, two teachers from partner schools, and one recently graduated teacher. This annual China Australia English Summer Camp held at the school was attended by 1400 students. Students studied Chinese, Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics classes, in addition to their English classes. The ECU contingent had five staff who participated in previous years, including two participating in their third summer camp. For the authors, this was a first experience of teaching in China and teaching English as a foreign language. Dr Coral Pepper lectures in primary and secondary science, and Associate Professor Robyn McCarron lectures in English language and literature to students at ECU South West. Although we were briefed on many aspects of the experience prior to leaving Australia, planning was challenging. We knew that the average class size would be 50 students and that they would be aged between 15 and 16. Coral Pepper was to teach first year students who were new to the summer camp experience and Robyn McCarron was to teach second year students who had attended the previous summer camp. We knew the students had

Coral, Claire and Mushroom (teaching assistants) in the classroom. Photo courtesy Robyn McCarron.

Class working on barrier game. Photo courtesy Coral Pepper.

studied English in junior high school and that their reading and writing skills should be sound. During our preparatory sessions we learnt of the Communicative Language Teaching model often used in teaching English as a second language programs (Nicholson, 2010; Rao, 2002). We understood that many Chinese students’ learning strategies for language study involve; concentrating on reading, painstaking attention to grammatical structure, memorisation and rote learning and, translation exercises, rather than communicative skills (Rao, 2002). The aim of the Australian teachers’ visit was to strengthen students’ speaking and listening skills and we wondered how we would do this with such large groups in a limited time.

Students working in groups to construct sentences. Photo courtesy Coral Pepper. THE JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Article We knew that our classroom would have a digital projector and that we would each have two teaching assistants, graduates from the school, who had participated in the Summer Camp the previous year. Any print materials we required we needed to take with us, but luggage restrictions and the sheer number of students, meant that we only took materials that were recyclable. On the advice of those who had taught in previous Summer Camps, we all prepared a set of themed ‘placemats’ to indicate seating groups. To avoid overlaps the themes were determined in conjunction with other members of the ECU team. Due to limited time with each class group, any attempt to communicate by name with students was deemed impossible so a combination of placemat ‘group name’ and seating position was proposed to locate individual students. We aimed to give each student the chance to speak in English during each class. Coral’s brief was to prepare two 80 minute sessions. Over the two week period the first lesson was to be delivered to 18 different classes and the second lesson was to be delivered to the first nine classes on a second rotation. This meant the second nine classes received a modified version of the first and second lessons combined during one lesson. The focus of the first year program was to inform students about Western Australia and to increase their motivation to learn English. Robyn’s brief was to prepare three 80 minute sessions which were then repeated to eight separate classes throughout the two week period. The second year program was to focus on speaking and listening skills as this group of students were preparing for a Listening Test at the end of second year.

Teaching the first year students – Coral Pepper ‘What an opportunity, of course I’ll go!’ was my immediate reaction when invited to join the group of ECU-SW teachers travelling to China. On reflection, I acknowledged my teaching experience, though lengthy, was in the area of Science, not teaching English as a second language. Because the focus was to be on spoken English I chose to teach my English lessons in the context of Science. I looked for a theme to create interest and

Robyn, with her teaching assistants Freedom and Joanne. Photo courtesy Coral Pepper. VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

stimulate curiosity about Western Australia and Bunbury among the Chinese students, assuming they had little knowledge of the sister city partnership. Both Jaixing and Bunbury are regional cities located on coastlines similar distances from large cities so my lesson ideas percolated into a series of spoken activities centred on map interpretation, measurement and descriptions. Prior to travelling to Jaixing I prepared a class set of laminated maps, laminated words to develop a word wall and PowerPoint slides. It was no surprise on arrival at my Jaixing classroom to see 50 desks and chairs arranged in rows for class. Anecdotally I knew Chinese English lessons to be based on memorisation and rote learning with Chinese students often described as ‘obedient listeners’ (Littlewood, 2000). With assistance from my two teaching assistants I rearranged the desks into groups of four in readiness for English class group work. While some students were clearly surprised and a little unsettled on entering the classroom the first morning, other students quickly settled into the new seating arrangement during the day. On entry into the classroom all conversation was conducted in English, with occasional translation assistance through my teacher assistants, known by their chosen English names, Claire and Mushroom. To engage the students I began my first lesson with an introduction about myself, my homes and their location in Bunbury and Perth. I used this approach to illustrate some cultural differences and similarities anticipating they were of interest to Chinese teenagers. My photographs of the Bunbury beaches, university campus, homes and general lifestyle drew audible gasps from the students. I saw students’ interest captured while also providing them with time to settle into class without initial pressure to contribute. I wanted to gauge what students knew about Western Australia (WA) so invited them to ask me questions about life in WA. During the first morning a few brave students responded with their own questions. As the sessions progressed and the students completed different English classes they became more adventurous. After a brief description of the purpose of the placemats on each group of desks students responded to my requests to repeat the names of the flora and fauna pictured on them. I used this chanting strategy at the outset expecting it to be familiar to students, though allocated less time to the activity as the days passed. While most were familiar with kangaroo paws and kangaroos, they were delighted to learn of marri, chuditch and woylie. I questioned the students about the flora and fauna on their placemats and encouraged them to discuss and describe their observations in their group before sharing their responses with the class. Next, I introduced maps of WA and Zheijiang Province then asked students to describe the similarities and differences between the maps. Students demonstrated strong listening skills and I received some impressive, articulate responses. At this point in the first lesson I introduced my laminated maps of a celebrated walk around the estuary in Bunbury. Using my pre-prepared PowerPoint slides I asked students to follow my instructions 27

Article to ‘walk around’ the site to note specific landmarks and some additional photographs. I reminded students to speak in English with others in their group, and answer questions such as ‘Where have you seen trees like these before?’ ‘What do you see in this picture?’ ‘Talk about the activities you could do at this site.’ By using the placemats to request students share their responses I ensured different students answered questions during our class discussion. As students ‘walked around’ the site, I introduced them to the map legend and asked them to talk about their observations, estimate the distances walked between named landmarks, and to give directions. In their groups students discussed questions such as ‘What can you see from this point?’ ‘How do think the area might smell?’ ‘Tell me what colours you can see’. ‘How is this site different from the previous site?’

Teaching the second year students – Robyn McCarron Apart from the initial nervousness of addressing 50 adolescents with no idea whether I would be understood, my overwhelming experience was one of familiarity. This was a high school classroom like most I had encountered as a secondary teacher – the desks, dusty chalky atmosphere, slightly clunky ceiling fans and noisy, mostly cheerful young people. What was different was the immediate attention when class started, a reluctance to answer questions that were directed to the whole class but a prompt answer when asked individually.

For those students I met a second time (the first nine classes) I introduced a barrier game to consolidate the mapping exercise and assess student understanding of the task. Students worked in pairs with one student guiding a partner around a second Bunbury walk. I explained that there was no correct pathway to follow or destination to reach. One student in each pair was to guide the other around the walk using landmarks, distances and direction with their own copy of the map provided, before swapping roles. All discussion was conducted in English and students were encouraged to answer questions such as ‘What directions did you give?’ ‘How well did you follow your partners’ directions?’ ‘How could you improve your directions next time?’ ‘What did you learn?’ These classes also worked enthusiastically in their groups to compose sentences from a given set of laminated words linked to the class placemats and the walk trails.

My prepared content was based around an introduction to myself and my family, an introduction to the student experience at an Australian university and an introduction to an Australian writer, Tim Winton. Until I met my first classes, I had no idea whether this content would prove engaging and whether it would enable us to explore linked themes and issues. As I knew the students were entering their final year of high school and that some might have an opportunity to study abroad, I thought that discussions about career expectations and university might prove interesting. The topic of my family enabled discussions about the mining industry, family celebrations and travel within and from Australia. Tim Winton is a Western Australian and much of his writing is about the Western Australian coast and surfing culture. This enabled me to show a video clip of a surfer riding an enormous wave which brought gasps from the classes every time I showed it. On one occasion, a concerned student asked ‘Did he die?’

The nine classes I met with only once worked through a shorter, modified version of the introductory lesson and the barrier game session. I believe the different versions of my lessons were effective in engaging Chinese students in listening and speaking in English as I constantly monitored and adjusted the pace and presentation in each lesson for the different levels of English skill the students demonstrated. It will be no surprise that such flexibility and constant tweaking of my questions was required

My first realisation was that the students had well developed English reading and writing skills. Their knowledge of grammar and vocabulary was excellent and their use of electronic dictionaries lightning fast. If asked to write an answer, this was done quickly and with considerable originality. The students seemed pleased that they could mostly understand my oral delivery and although I occasionally needed my teaching assistants to translate, we

Joanne (teacher assistant) working with students. Photo courtesy Robyn McCarron.

to cater for the different levels of student responses during the 27 lessons I delivered. Over the two weeks student confidence increased and most became increasingly enthusiastic to practice their English speaking publicly.

Robyn working with students. Photo courtesy Coral Pepper. THE JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Article managed quite well. Several students queried whether I was actually a British English speaker rather than an Australian English speaker and commented on my clear delivery. I found it interesting that their listening skills were attuned to dialect differences. After my first lesson, I re-evaluated and modified my content as I felt that I had underestimated the students’ English competence and general knowledge. After consultation with the Jaixing No 1 High School English teacher and coordinator of the Summer School I was given a set of the English texts used in the school: New senior English for China. Planning for our Jaixing visit would have been better informed with access to these texts prior to leaving Australia as they not only indicated the levels of English language knowledge and skills the students were expected to achieve, but also the wide range of topics on which the language lessons were based. For example, comprehension passages based on western art, English poetry, American song lyrics, climate change and HIV/Aids are all to be found in these texts. They will now provide a resource for the next cohort of teachers who travel from Bunbury. I also realised that students were proficient at discussing literary analysis and concepts such as metaphor due to their academic curriculum. I combined visual images with oral explanations plus questions to determine comprehension. I would elaborate further on the content if I gauged an interest from the class though, as I needed to cover the same content for each group, this required careful timing and recall of what each group had covered. For example, with some groups the discussion about potential career choices elicited lively discussion with a broad range of careers proposed. Some students were keen to find out the English titles for various roles in the media industries and I explained carefully the meanings of phrases such as ‘talk show host’ or ‘television presenter’. The students were seated in groups of four or five and requested to discuss the questions or topics given. When oral answers were required, individual students were called upon to answer. Asking for answers to be volunteered meant that the same confident voices predominated and the majority of students missed out. By working from a seating plan my teaching assistants and I attempted to obtain a verbal answer or comment from every student in the class each session. Most students were able to answer promptly with good comprehension of the question. Where they lacked confidence was in pronunciation, enunciation and some grammatical constructions. My challenge was to hear the answer without having to ask for it to be repeated. Whilst the desk groups facilitated discussion, movement around the classroom was difficult and was mainly restricted to my teaching assistants (Freedom and Joanne) and myself. I experimented with asking individuals to come to the front of the room but this was time consuming and physically awkward. If I return to Jaixing, I may consider leaving the seating in rows with groups of three working together. VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

Discussion On reflection we consider our preparation for our first exposure to teaching English to Chinese students at Jaixing Number 1 High School appropriate. On the one hand, as experienced secondary and tertiary teachers our classroom management and teaching skills are strong and we adapted comfortably to the Chinese setting. On the other hand, there was much we learnt from this experience about teaching English as a second language, and in particular our own misconceptions about teaching Chinese students. Chinese students and their families value education highly: evident by the large number of students enrolled in the English Summer Camp during the school mid-year break. Facing 50 students crowded into one classroom per session was initially disconcerting for us. However, our planning prior to travelling to Jaixing served us well and we consider our strategies to encourage group work and discussion among the students successful. While students clearly engaged with our lesson topics we understood well the need for lesson flexibility and as our teaching sessions unfolded we regularly updated our teaching schedules as appropriate. Our prior knowledge of teaching in Jaixing was confined to the information sessions, including a fleeting introduction to Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), presented by experienced participants on ECU-SW campus. With hindsight perhaps we were remiss in not paying closer attention to CLT to gain a deeper understanding of developing learners’ communicative competence (Rao, 2002). We found that in concentrating on reading, grammar and translation exercises during their regular English lessons the students, in the main, demonstrated good understanding of English as spoken by native English speakers. This meant that to some extent we underestimated the students’ competence. Nevertheless, our strategies to engage the students in meaningful and authentic use of the English language were successful with both the first and second year students. Having gained access to the English texts used in the school we will encourage teachers to become familiar with them in future planning. We both look forward to returning to Jaixing No 1 High School during 2011 to renew our friendships with Chinese teachers and students, to strengthen our expertise in teaching English communicative skills, and to provide engaging and stimulating lessons to these students.

References Academy of Science (2005). PrimaryConnections: Linking science with literacy. Canberra: Australian Academy of Science. Littlewood, W. (2000). Do Asian students really want to listen and obey? ELT Journal, 54 (1), 31-35. Nicholson, R. (2010). Verbal presentation, May, 2010. Rao, Z. (2002). Chinese students’ perceptions of communicative and noncommunicative activities in EFL classroom. System 30, (2002) 85-105.

Heads up on Science with ScienceNetwork WA

Welcome to Heads Up on Science with ScienceNetwork WA! While

Dr Trinajstic and her research team discovered the mother fish

bringing you the latest research and development stories out of

during their examination of fossilised soft tissue preserved more

Western Australian Universities, ScienceNetwork WA would also

than 380 million years ago in rocks from the Kimberley Ranges.

like to invite you to www.sciencewa.net.au to stay up to date with what’s happening in Western Australian science!

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idea of what the original structure of this species looked like.

Gogo mother fish with its umbilical cord still intact has helped

“Importantly, it has completely changed our idea of the

a Curtin University palaeontologist take out the 2010 Malcolm

reproductive cycle of the primitive fish – we once believed that

McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year at the Prime

the fish laid eggs external to its body, but we know now it was

Minister’s Prizes for Science.

actually a process of internal fertilisation and live birth.

Curtin School of Science research fellow Dr Katherine Trinajstic,

“The umbilical cord means that the mother was carrying an

who is also based at the Western Australian Museum, received the

embryo and providing some degree of nutrition to it as well.

fossil that is not squashed or flattened, and gives us a really good

prestigious award in Canberra last week from Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Minister for Innovation Kim Carr for her work in the preservation of three-dimensional fossils that are helping change scientific views on evolution and extinction.

“The fact that this reproduction was very complex is starting to give us ideas into how things changed and how we as a species might have managed to get off the sea and onto the land.” Dr Trinajstic says three-dimensional fossils are a rare find in palaeontological circles. “Fossils are usually thought of as two-dimensional versions,” she says. “One of the wonderful things about our site in the Kimberleys is that the fossils are three-dimensional – when we remove them from the rock, they are practically whole and we put them together in the same way that you would build a model aeroplane. “Two-dimensional specimens require interpretation to recreate what the animal looked like and that can sometimes be open to dispute.

Curtin School of Science research fellow Dr Katherine Trinajstic. Photo courtesy Curtin University.

“We do not have to interpret information at our site – what we see is what we get.”

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Dr Trinajstic says the $50,000 prize money will be used to further

Australasian industry with new and in some cases unimagined

her fossil research program over the next two years.

technologies.

“The first fossils were taken from the Kimberley area in the 1950s and today, each time we return, we find something new,” she says.

“SKA is a model for the future of global ICT,” Mr Humphreys said.

“Anything we could glean as to why a complete ecosystem

“Data rates made possible by the computing capacity SKA requires

like this (fish) should become extinct is very important to our

will redefine ICT technologies globally.”

understanding of the world we live in. “If we can understand why animals become extinct in the first place, perhaps we can help protect the animals and the earth that

New industries and new jobs could be created in the mid-west and local communities are gearing up to take advantage of them.

we have now.”

With science and science funding at its core, the region’s focus is

All eyes on Geraldton for the Mid-West Science Summit

on education, employment and sustainability.

PRESENTERS at the annual Mid-West Science Summit in Geraldton last week confirmed the region’s isolation and hot dry climate

WA’s Chief Scientist Professor Lyn Beazley spoke of the region’s status as a land-based and marine international biodiversity

were major drawcards for international science research and

hotspot and of the importance of biodiversity for human and

collaboration for the 21st century.

economic well-being.

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) international radio astronomy

Eco-education in the face of changing climate and other

project had short-listed bids from two continents to host it – one from Africa and the other centred on WA’s mid-west region. The final decision is expected in 2012. A 36 radio antenna project called the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) is already being developed as a demonstration project at the arid, radio-quiet Murchison Radio Astronomy Observatory inland from Geraldton. When ASKAP becomes operational next year, it will produce more data in its first six hours of operation than has been collected in the entire history of radio astronomy. In another world first, an exascale computing centre will be built at Technology Park in Bentley to process the data first from ASKAP, and if the Australia/New Zealand bid is successful, from SKA. Dr Michelle Storey, CSIRO’s SKA Executive Officer told the summit audience SKA’s massive infrastructure meant relationships developed as a result had the potential to extend over centuries.

environmental threats could help conserve the mid-west’s special biodiversity status, with citizen and school-based science having roles to play. Sophisticated e-health applications, especially for remote areas, were also planned. Local projects included Australia’s first solar farm at Walkaway near Geraldton, marine industry research aimed at replacing the region’s declining lobster industry with a kingfish industry, and ongoing research benefiting arid area farming. A longitudinal skin cancer study in Geraldton had created interest from multi-national drug companies. The aim was to have a commercially viable, international research effort into skin cancer treatments based in Geraldton.

Australian SKA International Consortium CEO, John Humphreys

A flat-pack housing system suitable for remote areas provided

said the ICT necessary for SKA to operate would connect

another area of interest.

VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

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Atomic collisions seek to answer energy efficiency problem A Curtin University physicist has been awarded a Future Fellowship to continue his work investigating atomic collisions, in particular improving the energy efficiency of fluorescent light sources. Associate Professor Dmitry Fursa, of Curtin’s Department of Imaging and Applied Physics and the Institute of Theoretical Physics, received the Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship from the Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Minister Kim Carr in Canberra last week. Director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics, Professor Igor Bray said Associate Professor Fursa’s research group are world leaders in calculating how particles interact on an atomic scale. “The group is studying the interactions which are going on everywhere around us – those between electrons and atoms, and photons and atoms. We currently know very little about these processes,” Professor Bray said. Associate Professor Fursa is investigating the interactions occurring in fluorescent lamps and has developed the world’s best computer code for modelling the collisions between electron and mercury atoms that occur in these lamps. “Knowing more about these interactions will contribute towards producing more energy efficient lighting,” Associate Professor Fursa said. “There is also a move to replace mercury in fluorescent lamps with more environmentally friendly materials, and so we are also participating in the development of new mercury-free fluorescent lamp designs that can be used by the lighting industry.” Alternatives that are being considered include zinc and gallium. “Although we are working on a very small particle scale, the applications for this work are on a very large scale,” Professor Bray said. “We will also advance the field of atomic collisions in hot, dense plasmas which are of great importance for fusion energy research and the understanding of astrophysical plasmas.”

Future Fellowships The Future Fellowships scheme started in 2008 in order to promote research in areas of critical national importance by giving outstanding researchers incentives to conduct their research in Australia. This prestigious scheme is designed to attract and retain the best and brightest mid-career researchers and will significantly boost Australia’s research and innovation capacity in areas of national importance. Contacts Associate Professor Dmitry Fursa, Department of Imaging and Applied Physics, Curtin University d.fursa@curtin.edu.au (08) 9266 4257 / 0410 628 942

Contacts: Associate Professor Ron Watkins; Director; EIGG R.Watkins@curtin.edu.au (08) 9266 3577 Dr Augustine Doronila, Adjunct Fellow; EIGG/University of Melbourne adoro@unimelb.edu.au (03) 8344 6813 / Mob: 0427 531 226

Professor Igor Bray, Director, Institute of Theoretical Physics, Curtin University i.bray@curtin.edu.au (08) 9266 4416 / 0404 892 862

Research revitalises mine waste An eight-year research project by Curtin University of Technology and the University of Melbourne has shed light on how areas impacted by mining can be made safe for human use. 32

Curtin’s Associate Professor Ron Watkins, Director of the WA School of Mines Environmental Inorganic Geochemistry Group (EIGG), said the project ¾ undertaken for Stawell Gold Mine, Victoria ¾ showed that planting the correct types of vegetation on tailings dams could be an effective way to store mine waste and enable the land to be used productively in future. Mine tailings – the fine residue from the processing of ore – normally occupy the largest area of the mine site. “Mining is vital to Australia’s future, but we must work to ensure that it is sustainable and that environmental impacts are minimal,” he said. “Mine tailings frequently contain sulphide minerals that produce acidic drainage if exposed to air and water. “A standard approach is to isolate tailings by covering them with an impermeable material, such as clay and topsoil, but this can be expensive and severely limits the utility of the land after mine closure. “Our research has shown that in many cases the impermeable cover is unnecessary and can be replaced by a shallow soil developed directly upon the sulphide-bearing tailings. “Such an approach can ensure that acid drainage does not develop, while allowing the land to be used for a productive purpose, such as the growing of eucalypt trees for essential oils and firewood and the creation of native seed farms.” Both of these ideas have been trialled at Stawell in country Victoria. The Curtin and University of Melbourne team established a research program at Stawell Gold Mine in 2002 to test the viability of the use of shallow covers as a cost-effective means of storing mine tailings and providing economically sustainable end-use for tailings dams. Curtin EIGG Adjunct Fellow and University of Melbourne Research Fellow, Dr Augustine Doronila, said the project had been successful with the trees growing more than 12 metres in eight years. “The test site has shown that the tailings dams at many gold mines can be successfully stabilised and revegetated, making them safe for human use,” he said. “By transpiring away excess moisture, the trees will stabilise the tailings and aid in reducing the formation of acidic drainage. “This method is a model for how the tailings at Stawell can be dealt with, and is also a model for similar gold mines across Australia and elsewhere in the world.” The Stawell Gold Mine has been in operation on and off since 1859. During its recent mine life, around 20 million tonnes of waste tailings have been produced which are stored in a tailings dam occupying about 100 hectares at the mine. The project was commissioned by the operators of Stawell Gold Mine and conducted independently by researchers from Curtin and the University of Melbourne.

Media Contact Teresa Belcher, Public Relations, Curtin University teresa.belcher@curtin.edu.au (08) 9266 9085 / 0401 103 755 http://curtin.edu.au

THE JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Heads up on Science with ScienceNetwork WA ECU taking the lead in mental health simulated learning ECU has been working on a new national project entitled ‘The

Edith Cowen University-led robotics team receives international acclaim The 2010 Multi Autonomous Ground-Robotic International Challenge (MAGIC), sponsored by the Australian Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) and US Department of

Use of Simulated Learning Environments in Clinical Psychology Curricula’ following the recent report by Health Workforce Australia (HWA) which examined the need to train healthcare professionals more efficiently and effectively through the adoption of new and innovative training techniques.

Defence, officially came to an end on Friday, 12 November with

Led by ECU’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Health Advancement) and Chair

the ECU-led MAGICian team receiving fourth place in the overall

in Mental Health, Professor Cobie Rudd, and funded by HWA, the

competition. The MAGIC challenge, which commenced last year, aimed to attract the most innovative solutions from around the world to address a technology gap faced by coalition forces operating in

project will see an expert team working together to examine the validity and application of simulated learning environments in clinical psychology education.

urban combat zones.

Professor Rudd believes the program will give students realistic

The ECU team worked with researchers from the University of WA,

learning experiences, which will play a key role in ensuring they

Flinders University and primary sponsor Thales Australia, to create

have the confidence and competence to enter the workforce after

a robotic prototype called WAMBOT.

graduation.

The WAMBOT team was the only Australian team in the international competition to make the finals, which were held in South Australia from the Sunday 7 to Friday 12 November. The final challenge saw 5 international finalists compete in 2 main tasks; accurately and completely exploring and mapping the

“An advantage of simulated learning environments is that they help provide education and training experiences to grow a future workforce that understands issues within a larger context, beyond clinical roles.”

challenge area and correctly locating, classifying and recognising

“The project will work towards a national consensus on which

all simulated threats, with both tasks to be completed within a

aspects of clinical psychology programs can be delivered via

three-and–a-half-hour period.

simulated learning, and then provide recommendations on how

Their ability to complete theses tasks was then assessed by judges

to implement these programs on a national basis,” said Professor

from both the DSTO and the US Department of Defence. WA team coordinator and adjunct Senior Lecturer at ECU’s School of Computing and Security Science, Dr Adrian Boeing,

Rudd. ECU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Kerry Cox says the funding is

congratulated the team on their efforts over the past 12-months.

tangible evidence of the strong national reputation of ECU’s

“We had a great experience and the competition really pushed the

research into the field of simulated learning.

boundaries of autonomous robotics and broke new ground. The

“We are keen to use research as a springboard to launch solution-

results we achieved demonstrated how autonomous robots can

based proposals for change in mental health – and this project

enhance the capabilities of a soldier on the ground today.” “This is the Olympics of robotics, and we are very happy to place

affords us that opportunity.”

fourth and represent Australia at this inaugural event,” said Dr

This is the third simulated learning win for ECU, who in the past

Boeing.

four months have won the lead for two other national projects,

For more information on the challenge to view the full list of

entitled; ‘The Use of Simulated Learning Environments in Nursing

winners visit the MAGIC 2010 website -

Curricula’ and ‘The Use of Simulated Learning Environments in

www.dsto.defence.gov.au/MAGIC2010/

Paramedicine Curricula’.

VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

Heads up on Science with ScienceNetwork WA

Murdoch receives $100,000 to develop a contraceptive for third world Murdoch University’s advanced nanotechnology group led by Dr Gérrard Poinern has just received a US$100,000 Grand Challenges Explorations grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant, the only one given in Western Australia, will support an innovative ‘inject and forget’ contraceptive drug delivery device for the third world. Dr Poinern’s project is one of 65 grants announced by the Gates Foundation in the fifth funding round of Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative to help scientists around the world explore bold and largely unproven ways to improve health in developing countries. The ‘inject and forget’ delivery system uses a novel biosynthetic bone-like material, which once injected under the skin, slowly releases a controlled dosage of drugs. “The first application of this new novel biomedical device will be for the delivery of contraceptive drugs in many of the world’s least developed countries, which are the focus of the Gates Foundation’s Global Health program,” Dr Poinern said. “However the device we will develop, which will be placed just under the outer layer of skin, will regulate the controlled release of therapeutic drugs into the body and could be used for a variety of clinical applications.” Dr Tachi Yamada, president of the Gates Foundation’s Global Health Program said: “These are bold ideas from innovative thinkers, which is exactly what we need in global health research right now. I’m excited to see some of these daring projects develop into life-saving breakthroughs for those who need them the most.” The research capitalises on Murdoch’s extensive experience in developing new biosynthetic composite materials for biomedical devices and implants. The grant will fund phase one which will allow the team to spend 18 months developing a feasible technology. If successful, the group will then work with a thirdparty drug company on human trials for the new drug delivery method.

Media Contact Hayley Mayne, Media & Communications Coordinator h.mayne@murdoch.edu.au (08) 9360 2474 / 0402 288 815 You can now find a range of Murdoch University’s experts online at www.murdoch.edu.au/News/Find-an-expert

Whale sharks do the math to avoid that sinking feeling How the world’s largest fish uses geometry and energy conservation to stay afloat They are the largest fish species in the ocean but the majestic gliding motion of the whale shark is, scientists argue, an 34

astonishing feat of mathematics and energy conservation. In new research published today in Functional Ecology, marine scientists reveal how these massive sharks use geometry to enhance their natural negative buoyancy and stay afloat. For most animals movement is crucial for survival, both for finding food and for evading predators. However, movement costs substantial amounts of energy and while this is true of land based animals it is even more complex for birds and marine animals which travel in three dimensions. Unsurprisingly this has a profound impact on their movement patterns. “The key factor for animal movement is travel speed, which governs how much energy an animal uses, the distance it will travel and how often resources are encountered,” said lead author Adrian Gleiss from Swansea University. “However, oceanic animals not only have to consider their travel speed, but also how vertical movement will affect their energy expenditure, which changes the whole perspective.” For the past four years, Gleiss, Rory Wilson (Swansea University) and Brad Norman (ECOCEAN Inc. and Murdoch University) have led an international team to investigate the movements of whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) at Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. They attached animal-borne motion sensors (accelerometers) to the free-swimming whale sharks to measure their swimming activity and vertical movement, which allowed them to quantify the energetic cost of vertical movement. The team’s data revealed that whale sharks are able to glide without investing energy into movement when descending, but they had to beat their tails when they ascended. This occurs because sharks, unlike many fish, have negative buoyancy. Also, the steeper the sharks ascended, the harder they had to beat their tail and the more energy they had to invest. The whale sharks displayed two broad movement modes — one consisting of shallow ascent angles, which minimise the energetic cost of moving in the horizontal, while a second characteristic of steeper ascent angles, optimized the energetic cost of vertical movement. “These results demonstrate how geometry plays a crucial role in movement strategies for animals moving in 3-dimensions,” Gleiss said. “This use of negative buoyancy may play a large part in oceanic sharks being able to locate and travel between scarce and unpredictable food sources efficiently. Brad Norman said: “The work at Ningaloo Reef is enabling us to solve some of the mysteries surrounding this threatened shark, especially understanding behaviour while these animals our out of the peering eyes of researchers. This technology has great potential and we’re only beginning to harness its power.” This paper is published in the journal Functional Ecology. Media wishing to request a copy should contact Lifesciencenews@ wiley.com Tel +44 (0) 1243 770 375. Full Citation: Gleiss. A, Norman. B, Wilson. R, „Moved by that sinking feeling: variable diving geometry underlies movement strategies in Whale sharks, Functional Ecology, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2010.01801.x onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2010. 01801.x/ abstract Media Contact Jasmin Walker, Media and Communications Coordinator j.walker@murdoch.edu.au (08) 9360 1289 Brad Norman, Adjunct Lecturer Murdoch University moodymarine1@gmail.com

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Ancient crop may be a lifeline for farmers A hardy ancient Russian oilseed crop could prove a lifeline for farmers in marginal regions of the State, according to researchers at The University of Western Australia. Preliminary trials around Western Australia have shown that camelina grows best on sandy soils. More drought and frost tolerant than most other oilseed crops, it needs less fertilisers and other inputs than canola. Director of UWA’s International Centre for Plant Breeding Education and Research, Professor William Erskine, said camelina’s hardiness and applications to food, cosmetic, health and energy industries made it an attractive product for farmers and consumers. “Not only is camelina a food oil, it can also be used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals as it is a good emollient with excellent moisturising properties and possible medical applications,” Professor Erskine said. “The gluten-free seed meal can be developed into a sought-after healthy food ingredient in a growing market. In the USA, the oil is also being considered as a biofuel. “While the oil not only looks good with a pleasant nutty flavour, it has high alpha linolenic acid (an Omega-3 fatty acid) content complemented and stabilised by natural antioxidants, such as vitamin E.” Scientists at UWA aim to add further value to the crop through niche product development, Professor Erskine said. The crop will be introduced to growers who may be interested in its potential place in Western Australia agriculture at a field day

The report is published today (30 September) in the journal Nature. It is the first to simultaneously map the effects of pollution, dam building, agricultural runoff, the conversion of wetlands and the introduction of exotic species on the health of the world’s rivers, said Professor Peter Davies, Director of UWA’s Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management. The grim portrait of the world’s rivers shows that nearly 80 per cent of the world’s human population live in areas where river waters are highly threatened, posing a major threat to human water security and resulting in aquatic environments where thousands of species of plants and animals are at risk of extinction. The study, Nature’s cover story, is the first to explicitly assess both water security and biodiversity in parallel. Fresh water is widely regarded as the world’s most essential natural resource, underpinning human life and economic development as well as the existence of countless organisms ranging from microscopic life to fish, amphibians, birds and terrestrial animals of all kinds. Professor Davies is also part of a team working to identify sustainable and culturally appropriate use of the tropical rivers and estuaries of northern Australia in collaboration with the region’s Indigenous people. The national Tropical Rivers and Coastal Knowledge (TRaCK) initiative, of which The University of Western Australia is a member, aims to ensure 55 catchments and rivers between Broome and Cape York are developed and managed in a truly sustainable way. The initiative could be one of the most geographically wide-ranging projects in the world.

Media contacts Professor Peter Davies (Director UWA Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management) (08) 9842 0836 / 0418 913 584 Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs) (08) 6488 5563 / 0432 637 716

at AusOils in Kojonup. The field day will include a discussion on a proposed Camelina Consortium be formed to accelerate the development of the crop from field to shelf. Growers, processors, representatives from the seed, food, health, cosmetic and energy industries and other interested parties are welcome.

World’s rivers in crisis The world’s rivers - the single largest renewable water resource for humans and a crucible of aquatic biodiversity - are in a crisis of ominous proportions, according to a new global analysis co-authored by a researcher at The University of Western Australia. VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

STAWA Council

STAWA Council 2010-11 Chief Executive Officer John Clarke john@stawa.net

Treasurer Colleen Bakker colleen@bookkeep.com.au

Chair Primary Science Committee Natalie Birrell Natalie.Birrell@det.wa.edu.au

President Sue Doncon Susan.Doncon@det.wa.edu.au

Chair Science Talent Search Julie Weber julie.weber@det.wa.edu.au

CONSTAWA Convenor Jodie Rybicki jodie@carey.wa.edu.au

President Elect Bernadine Hunneybun bhunneybun@westnet.com.au

Editor SCIOS Julie-Anne Smith julie-anne.smith@perthzoo.wa.gov.au

Chair Electronic Communications Mark Lehmann mlehmann@mac.com

Vice President Geoff Lewis gandglewis@bigpond.com

Chair Publications/Curriculum Glenda Leslie gleslie@ais.wa.edu.au

Chair Professional Development Bob Fitzpatrick fitzez@iinet.net.au

Secretary Lauren Clarke lcl@lasalle.wa.edu.au

Chair Student activities Warwick Mathews warwickmat@gmail.com

Guidelines for authors has been held for this issue, but can be found in previous issues of SCIOS or for further information please contact the STAWA office.

Warehouse Address Unit 6, 10 Mallard Way Cannington WA 6107

Chief Executive Officer John Clarke E-mail: john@stawa.net

Contact details Tel +61 (0) 8 9244 1987 Fax +61 (0) 8 9244 2601 Email info@stawa.net Web www.stawa.net THE JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Attract, React and Create: The Chemistry of Science Teaching

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Guidelines for Authors

Guidelines for Authors Introduction

Innovations in the classroom

These notes are a brief guide to contributors. Contributors should also refer to recent issues of the Journal and follow the presentation therein. Refereed articles are peer reviewed by the Editor and anonymously by at least two reviewers.

The editorial board members are keen to increase the number of articles in this section. We are always keen to review your ideas about experiments, demonstrations, teaching techniques, hints, safety notes, computer applications and anything else that could help classroom science teachers, especially beginning teachers.

Feature articles Feature articles should not normally exceed 3000 words plus figures, tables and references. Short concisely written articles are very welcome. Please use headings and sub-headings to give your article structure. We also welcome any other type of contribution. Reviewed articles are subject to peer review.

Send the following to the Editor: Note: if you cannot send your contribution in the following recommended form, please send it to the Editor in any reasonable form.

For refereed articles only 1 Three copies of your manuscript printed double-spaced on one side of A4 sheets.

Reference style SCIOS reference style is based on the most recent edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Examples of the most common references are:

In-text referencing In your text indicate references by author and date. For example: ‘Smith and Jones (1992) investigated … resulting in increased enrolments (Moriaty, Jacobs, & Murphy, 1989; Robinson, 1995), especially of girls (Andrews, 1994b).’

End-referencing The reference list at the end of your article should provide the details of all the references you cited in the text of your article and no other references. For example: Smith, J. (1992). Physical Chemistry, (3rd ed.). Melborne: Longman Cheshire.

2 On a separate page, an abstract of 50 to 100 words, your name or names, affiliation, address, fax number and phone number and e-mail address where available. Because your identity appears on this page only, we can ensure anonymity in our review procedures.

Chase, A., & Smith, P. (1981). Hunter gatherers in a rich environment. Aboriginal coastal exploitation in Cape York Peninsula. In A. Keast (Ed.), Ecological biogeography of Australia. The Hague: W. Jung Publishers.

For all contributions

Aubusson, P. (1985). The teaching of evolution. Australian Science Teachers Journal, 30(4), 39–47.

1 A wordprocessor file of your work from any reasonably common wordprocessor. Please send the file as an e-mail attachment, on a CD, or on a 3.5” disk.

Posner, G.J., Strike, K.A., Hewson, R.W., & Gertzog, D. (1982). Accommodation of a scientific conception: Towards a theory of conceptual change. Science Education, 66, 211–217.

2 Diagrams generated by any common drawing program, or drawn in black ink on white paper or transparent sheets.

Spelling

3 Photographs often increase the clarity and interest level of your work. Send your photographs as TIFF or highest quality JPEG files, with a resolution of at least 225‑pixels per inch. We can also use high quality black and white or colour prints, 35‑mm colour slides, colour negatives, black and white negatives, or black and white slides. If you want us to use only part of a photo please indicate on a photocopy how you want us to crop your image. 4 Copyright clearance for any part of your contribution that is the copyright of a third party. Note to teachers: Parent permission slip must be obtained for any photograhs to be included in SCIOS. VOLUME 46 NUMBER 4 DECEMBER 2010

Use The Macquarie Dictionary. If it lists several alternative spellings, use the first. The only exception is in a citation, reference or quotation directly from a source that uses alternative spelling.

Copyright No other publisher should have already published our manuscript, nor should you submit it for publication elsewhere. If SCIOS publishes your manuscript then your text and graphics will become the copyright of STAWA. STAWA will, however, allow you to use the contents of your paper for most reasonable noncommercial purposes.

Contact details John Clarke, STAWA john@stawa.net 39