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VOL 4 ISSUE 3 Informing and supporting teachers

Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

New look!

Tell us what

you think.

This publication is designed to inform and support 7-12 teachers in the area of Science.

Science Update is also available online at http://issuu.com/DEC_science, including all past issues.

If you wish to subscribe please visit http://goo.gl/Rukhn4

If you wish to update your details or unsubscribe please visit https://goo.gl/7VNQLn

All correspondence regarding Science Update should be sent to science.curriculum@det.nsw.edu.au

Non-DoE products and events listed in this publication are to be used at readers’ discretion. The inclusion of product and event

information is not an endorsement by the DoE. Teachers use resources published at their own discretion.

Validation of Assessment 4 Learning and

Individual Development

UPDATED Information for schools with secondary students

The Learning, High Performance and

Accountability Directorate is

introducing Validation of Assessment

4 Learning and Individual

Development. VALID will replace the

Essential Secondary Science

Assessment (ESSA) and, in 2015, will

deliver two end-of-stage online tests

for secondary students; VALID

Science VALID Science 10. The

structure and delivery of these tests

will be similar to ESSAonline.

VALID Science 8

Like ESSAonline8, VALID Science 8

will be mandatory and all student

responses will be centrally marked.

VALID Science 10

Schools can elect to participate in

VALID Science 10. Schools who

register 10 will also undertake

to complete in-school marking of

student responses after completing

the associated online training

package.

What will VALID provide?

High quality syllabus-based

assessment frameworks that

describe levels of achievement

against standards. These can be

used by teachers to inform school-

based assessment practices.

Online multimedia assessment

tools that provide diagnostic data

and time efficient reports. These

can directly inform planning,

programming and assessment

across a range of curriculum areas

and stages of

learning.

Cohort level affective domain data

that is derived from interest and

engagement survey questions in the

online assessments.

BOSTES registered professional

learning that reinforces staff

capability in making consistent

judgements against syllabus

standards.

Systems and processes to monitor

student achievement of syllabus

outcomes and content across

stages.

External student assessment data

that can be used in combination with

school-based assessments to

inform whole school planning

processes.

Implementation in 2015

VALID Science 8

Test window: 9 – 17 November.

The test will be centrally

marked.

VALID Science 10

Test window: 7 – 11 September

Marker training and in-school

marking window: 14 September – 9

October.

In-school marking of extended

response tasks for Year 10

For VALID Science 10, teachers at

registered schools mark the extended

responses for the students in their

school.

Prior to marking, teachers undertake

professional learning in differentiating

the quality of student responses.

This professional learning will be

provided online and will be

available during the marking

window.

School based marking provides

insights for teachers into the level of

understanding and skills that their

students are demonstrating. This

informs ongoing planning for teaching

and learning.

Registration:

Unless already provided, schools with

Year 8 students need to provide

contact details for a VALID Science 8

test administrator by completing the

form located at:

www.surveymonkey.com/r/2015validscience.

Schools wishing to register their intent

to participate in VALID Science 10 can

also do this using the link above.

Car Safety is designed to assist high school teachers (Years 9 and 10) to engage and involve their students in the physics, health and essential maths of road safety. It looks at car safety features and their capacity to reduce injury via content links to the Years 9 and 10 Science curriculums. It also covers improved safety features of new cars compared to older cars as well as ecological issues such as fuel emissions and hybrid vehicles. General capabilities addressed include literacy, numeracy, ethics and creative thinking.

Driver Safety is designed to assist high school teachers (Years 11-12) to engage and involve their students in the physics, health and essential maths of road safety. The resource covers learner driver limits and the science behind the regulations for learner drivers , as well as driver behaviour psychology and teenage risk. It also covers the laws relevant to P1 and P2 drivers and the science behind them, and contains information for lounge drivers about car safety and the reason for car crashes.

Ausgrid in conjunction with the Department of Education has developed an inquiry based resource for Stage 4 and Stage 5 science teachers. The lessons align with Stage 4 & 5 outcomes of the NSW Board of Studies Science Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum and are set out using an inquiry based approach by incorporating the 5es - engage, explore, explain, elaborate and evaluate. The lesson uses a thermoelectric generator (TEG), which converts heat energy to electrical energy, to explore energy efficiency. Teachers are free to explore how TEGs work and students can come up with innovative ideas to convert waste heat energy and relate them to everyday devices or new solutions. http://learnelectricity.ausgrid.com.au/Common/For-teachers/Energy-efficiency-lessons.aspx

ULTIMATE GUIDES

Ultimate Science Guide

Ultimate Engineering Guide

Careers with Code

These guides are FREE and teachers can order additional copies at the RiAus website. Guides can be used by career advisors as well as science teachers to inform students about current careers in science. Students can research current scientists and engineers working in the field and make connections to real world careers.

The Mars Lab is a curriculum-linked

project based learning unit for Year 9

using The Mars Lab, available from the

Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences.

Aligned to the Australian Curriculum

Science.

http://www.engquest.org.au/

Scientists and Mathematicians in

Schools is a national program that

creates and supports long-term

partnerships between primary or

secondary school teachers and

scientists or mathematicians.

Partnerships are flexible to allow for a

style and level of involvement that

suits each participant.

http://www.scientistsinschools.edu.au/

EngQuest, an initiative of Engineers Australia, provides an exciting, non-competitive way for students to participate in free, fun and educational engineering activities involving science, technology and mathematics.

The website offers curriculum-appropriate classroom engineering projects that include instructions, background information, lesson and activity ideas and student activity sheets. There are projects for lower primary, primary and middle years students.

http://www.engquest.org.au/

The Drum Series is an award winning

series for teens. Atmospheric teaching

students about climate change through

narrative and argument. The education

resource booklet supplements the non

-fiction book written by Carole

Wilkinson and is aligned to the

Australian Curriculum.

http://classroom.walkerbooks.com.au/home/

wp-content/uploads/2015/07...

Cool Australia provides learning activities

that make teaching and understanding

real world scenarios as easy as possible.

All material is aligned to the Australian

Curriculum.

http://www.coolaustralia.org/curriculum-

materials/

Big History is 13.8 billion years of

history told through engaging videos,

animations, articles, and classroom

activities targeting middle- and high-

school students

Big History Project can be accessed by teachers, students and lifelong learners. Big History can be taught as discrete lessons or as a course. Teaching guides suggest course pedagogy, outline course planning, resources and activities. https://school.bighistoryproject.com/

The Australian Schools Innovation in

Science, Technology (ASISTM) project is

part of the Australian Government's

Boosting Innovation, Science, Technology

and Mathematics Teaching (BISTMT)

Programme which funds innovative projects

that focus on improving teaching and

learning in schools in the areas of science,

technology and mathematics. These

resources have been developed by cluster

schools in Orange and Wollongong as part

of the ASISTM project. Resources are

made for teacher and student use to assist

with the implementation of the Science

Years 7-10 and Stage 6 Earth and

Environmental/Senior Science syllabuses.

http://

www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.

au/secondary/science/minerals/index.htm

smart consumers 4 a smart future teaches students about being responsible consumers using a range of real life issues around sustainability.

Activities are focused on Years 9 and 10 Mathematics, English and Science and provide a range of tasks that can be used in isolation or part of a larger unit of work.

Students engage with a range of learning opportunities that include:

designing a debate developing a pitch for a TV show planning a meal within a set budget investigating the energy efficiency of

household appliances Each topic uses a scenario to highlight an issue or problem that needs to be solved. Activities can be teacher-directed, used by individual students, pairs or small groups on computers or tablets. All units align with the Australian Curriculum and the National Consumer and Financial Literacy Framework and are supported by teacher notes and assessment rubrics.

https://www.moneysmart.gov.au/teaching/teaching-resources/digital-activity-smart-consumers-4-a-smart-future

Past ESSA resources including marking manuals, curriculum links and teaching strategies can be accessed at www.essaonline.nsw.edu.au, by using the details below.

Username: preview

Password: radiation61

Alternatively, you can visit https://detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/high-performance/essa/essa-test-materials on the intranet.

iSeismometer

(iOS, Android & web)

iSeismometer is a virtual

seismometer. While real

seismometers serve to

measure tectonic shifts,

iSeismometer is mostly

for fun, but can be used to delve into

concepts in Earth and Space and Physical

World.

You can use it to observe how vibrations

register on the device and observe

vibrations from surfaces.

Human Body (iOS)

This app allows students

to go on an exploration

of what humans are

made of and how our

insides work.

The app shows different body systems and

can be used with Stage 4 classes.

The app provides a simplistic diagrammatic

view of each system. Students can even

follow the journey of food from mouth to

bottom end. Organs are interactive - sound

vibrations can be sent through the ear canal.

Geology Sample

Collector (Android)

This ad-supported app is

designed for geologists,

and transforms your

device into a geology

notebook.

Geology Sample Collector lets you record

everything about your rocky finds, offering

support for voice recordings, videos, photos,

temperature readings, time stamps, note and

GPS data which you can display on Google

Apps.

Let us know what app you are using in class to make science more engaging,

and we’ll post a review in the next issue of Science Update.

Sound Uncovered App

(iOS)

Sound Uncovered is

one of two

Exploratorium apps

available on the iPad.

Students can explore

sound through auditory illusions, acoustic

phenomena, and other things that go bump,

beep, boom and vroom.

Sound Uncovered can be used as an inquiry

-based approach to allow students to further

explore sound.

Mitosis (iOS - iPhone)

Mitosis is a good tool to use when learning mitosis. Mitosis is an effective

study tool for Stage 6 Biology students when learning the stages of mitosis.

Students can download the app and interact with each stage of mitosis. The

application also provides good information on each stage and can be used as

a formative assessment tool.

http://dartconnections.org.au/Default.aspx?CCID=14825&FID=85346&ExcludeBoolFalse=True&ID=/Excursions/provider-excursions-list

scientia

noun | sci·en·tia

knowledge