Already registered for CONSTAWA and you fit the criteria for the scholarship?  Complete the scholarship form and return to the STAWA office by fax or email by the closing date.

The winner will be awarded the scholarship which covers all registration fees for the whole CONSTAWA weekend.  (Travel and accommodation are not included)

The winner will be notified by email / telephone on Tuesday 22nd May.

Click here to download the form.

Submit your entry by fax to (08) 9244 2601 or email info@stawa.net

Any queries, then call John Clarke on (08) 9244 1987

Australis Margaret River, 3.5 Star resort with motel style accommodation. Book your accommodation early to avoid disappointment. We recommend that you organize a second person or a group to take advantage of savings available through the different room configurations.

Click here for the Australis Hotel booking form. ***Please note that the rooms and the discounted prices will only be available exclusively to CONSTAWA participants up until the 30th April 2012.***  Prices do not include breakfast  - breakfast is $22 per person.

CONSTAWA 2012

Click here to see the CONSTAWA Revised Agenda, Timetable, Field Trips and Excursions for the weekend.

Click here to see just the list of workshops, titles and who is presenting – open in conjunction with the above flyer for the session times etc.

Click here to go to the online Information pages for all the information on CONSTAWA 2012 – Workshop sessions etc
Please go here to view the sessions on offer before making your selections for registration.  Make a note of your 2nd choice in case your preferred workshops are not available at the time of registering.

Pricing information is shown below.

Registration

Registrations do no include accommodation.  Accommodation must be booked and paid for separately.

The Transit of Venus will occur on June 6^th and Australia just happens to be one of the best places in the world to observe this phenomena.   It occurs when the orbit of the planet Venus takes it between the Earth and Sun, its shadow clearly visible as it crosses over in front of the Sun. Transits only occur with our inner planets, Mercury and Venus.  A Transit of Venus perhaps isn’t the most spectacular astronomical event to view but because of its rarity; this makes it mandatory viewing for all amateur astronomers.

The last transit of Venus occurred just eight years ago on 8 June, 2004.  This is one of only six such events of its kind ever viewed by humankind.  Transits don’t occur every 8 years. They occur in pairs separated by 8 years with more than a century gap separating each 8 year pair.  So if you miss this transit the  next pair of Venus transits won’t occur until over a century from now on 2117 Dec 11 and 2125 Dec 08.

The last pair was in 1874 and 1882 and the pair before that was in 1761 and 1769. Observing and timing the 1769 transit was the main reason that Captain Cook and Charles Green were appointed by the Royal Society to travel to Tahiti in 1769. After successfully observing the transit, Cook sailed further westwards and discovered the east coast of Australia.

To view the transit from Perth, it will have already commenced before sunrise but as the sun rises you will be able to witness Venus as it crosses the Sun.  The entire transit will take about six and a half hours.

To safely view this event, you must look through a telescope that has a special solar filter on the front.  You must never look directly at the Sun or you may cause serious and permanent damage to your eyesight.  If you don’t have a solar telescope then there are many other ways you can witness this event.  The following website gives information on how to view the transit safely.  www.transitofvenus.com.au/HOME.html

Another informative website is the NASA site: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/transit/venus0412.html

Donna Vanzetti ‘The Stargazer’
Gingin Observatory   www.ginginobservatory.com

Copyright to Mark D Worthen PsyD

Copyright to Fred Espenak, NASA/GSFC and Jay Anderson/ISCCP

Captain Cook Drawing:  Copyright to Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society vol 61, p410, 1771

Super toxic chemicals, clan labs and halitosis*

*(to the tune of ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’) International adventures in chemistry

Dr Bob Muir, ChemCentre
Join Dr Bob Muir from ChemCentre as he blows apart the myth that chemists spend all their time in the lab wearing white coats!

Scitech: Wednesday 16 May 2012
Lotterywest Science Theatre corner Railway Parade and Sutherland Street, West Perth 6.00pm (please be seated by 5.45pm)

Click here for the flyer

To book, click here

The Bayliss Youth Lecture is free but bookings are essential and places are limited.

Future dates for the Bayliss Youth Lecture 2012 will be announced shortly (including schools and regional venues).
Any enquiries or venue suggestions should be directed to Associate Professor Simon Lewis at s.lewis@curtin.edu.au.

International adventures in chemistry

Dr Bob Muir, ChemCentre.  Join Dr Bob Muir from ChemCentre as he blows apart the myth that chemists spend all their time in the lab wearing white coats and ignoring the outside world.

Scitech: Wednesday 16 May 2012

Lotterywest Science Theatre corner Railway Parade and Sutherland Street, West Perth 6.00pm (please be seated by 5.45pm) To book, visit http://scitechbayliss.eventbrite.com/

The Bayliss Youth Lecture is free but bookings are essential and places are limited.

Future dates for the Bayliss Youth Lecture 2012 will be announced shortly (including schools and regional venues).
Any enquiries or venue suggestions should be directed to Associate Professor Simon Lewis at s.lewis@curtin.edu.au.

 Click here for information flyer

Dr Bob Muir, ChemCentre
Join Dr Bob Muir from ChemCentre as he blows apart the myth that chemists spend all their time in the lab wearing white coats and ignoring the outside world. With a fascinating and diverse career path that has covered everything from chemical warfare agents in the UK to the cleanup of clandestine drug laboratory sites in Australia, Bob will discuss his experiences working in a modern chemistry setting and share some of the stories he has encountered along the way.

Dr Bob Muir is a Senior Chemist and Research Officer at ChemCentre, the WA Government chemical and forensic science facility. He routinely works with hazardous materials emergency response, remediation of clandestine drug laboratory sites and aspects of domestic preparedness (crisis response). Prior to working at ChemCentre, Bob held positions with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in Porton Down, UK, and the Defence Science and Technology Organisation in Melbourne.

Over the course of his career, Bob has worked across areas including ultra trace detection of chemical warfare agents (in the lab and in the field), chemometrics (an important blend of analytical chemistry and statistics) and bioinformatics (the application of IT for biological and medical purposes).

The Royal Australian Chemical Institute
The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) is the professional organisation of chemists in Australia. Through its Branches, Divisions and Groups it organises a wide variety of lectures, workshops, conferences and symposia on chemistry and related areas. The RACI is also a qualifying body and aims to ensure by its assessment of courses, teaching institutions and personal experience that people working as professional chemists are adequately qualified. The RACI is responsible, under Royal Charter, for promoting and encouraging the science, practice and study of chemistry in our community.

The Bayliss Youth Lecture is organised by the Chemical Education Group of the Western Australian Branch of the RACI. This group was formally constituted in 1980 and aims to foster a close and continuing interaction among students, teachers and practising chemists – both industrial and academic – with the objective of developing interest in and an understanding of the full ramifications of chemical science.

Generously supported by 2012 Bayliss Youth Lecture
The Western Australian Branch of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute established the Bayliss Youth Lecture Series to pay tribute to the late emeritus professor Sir Noel Bayliss, Kt, CBE, FAA, FRACI for his contributions to chemistry and education, and to encourage in young people an interest in chemistry.

Sir Noel was Chairman of the School of Chemistry at The University of Western Australia from 1938 until 1970, when he became Chairman of the Planning Committee of Murdoch University. He was an Emeritus Professor of The University of Western Australia and received a knighthood in 1979 for his service to chemistry and Murdoch University.

He came to Perth as Professor of Chemistry after studying in Melbourne (where he was Rhodes Scholar in 1929), Oxford (England) and Berkeley (California, USA). He had been a Senior Lecturer at the University of Melbourne from 1933 until 1937. During Sir Noel’s thirty two years at The University of Western Australia, the Department of Chemistry, in which little previous research had been done, grew in size and reputation to be one of the major schools of chemistry in Australia. Sir Noel also brought to the university an advanced outlook on the teaching of chemistry. His lecturing technique had always been superb and in his lectures he introduced with clarity many topics two decades before they appeared in textbooks. His main research interests were in the field of

electronic spectroscopy and the greater proportion of his publications were concerned with solvent effects on absorption spectra. In addition to his contributions to chemistry through teaching and research, Sir Noel served the profession of chemistry through the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and its activities. He was President of the Institute and of ANZAAS. He was a winner of the H.G. Smith Medal and of the Leighton Award, the highest awards of the Institute.

Date/Time
Date(s) – 7 May 2012
3:30 PM – 5:30 PM

Location
Geraldton Grammar School

Background: This free PD is offered to local to Geraldton primary school teachers to come along for an introduction to the Australian Curriculum. The two-hour session will cover relevant aspects of the Australian Curriculum and provide information about how STAWA can offer further help in understanding the Australian Curriculum.  All participants will leave with lots of great ideas and a CD of resources.

Outcomes: Provide an introduction to the Australian Curriculum for primary school teachers.

Cost (inclusive of GST) Geraldton Primary School Professional Development
Free of charge

Who should attend?  Primary School teachers from all systems and sectors (DoE, AISWA and CEO) are welcome from the local and surrounding areas. Participants will be responsible for their own travel but attendance is free.

Registration Form:  To register please complete this form. Closing date for registration is on the Thursday 3rd May. Please note that light refreshments will be provided – please contact us if you have any special dietary requirements. Door Prize available – $25 STAWA Shop Voucher.

Click on the links for further information http://www.seaaus.com.au/content/view/378/185/ and  http://www.modelsolaraustralia.org/

The Sustainable Energy Association of Australia is the local organising body for this event which we took over from Western Power in 2011.  We are currently planning to launch the event (targeted to be held in late October 2012) with the commencement of 2^nd Term through expressions of interest and registrations for competing schools.

If you require further information, please contact Neil Prentice, Advisory Services Manager - Sustainable Energy Association
Email:  nprentice@seaaus.com.au Web: www.seaaus.com.au

Click here to see the CONSTAWA Revised Agenda, Timetable, Field Trips and Excursions for the weekend.

Click here to go to the online Information pages for all the information on CONSTAWA 2012 – Workshop sessions etc

Please go here to view the sessions on offer before making your selections for registration.  Make a note of your 2nd choice in case your preferred workshops are not available at the time of registering.

Click here to view just the workshop titles & presenter info – view in conjunction with the agenda flyer for the session times etc.

Pricing information is shown below.

Registration

Registrations do no include accommodation.  Accommodation must be booked and paid for separately.

Accommodation:

Australis Margaret River, 3.5 Star resort with motel style accommodation. Book your accommodation early to avoid disappointment. We recommend that you organize a second person or a group to take advantage of savings available through the different room configurations. Price per room is from $160 per night.

Click here for the Australis Hotel booking form. ***Please note that the rooms and the discounted prices will only be available exclusively to CONSTAWA participants up until the 30th April 2012.***

You are invited to spend the day at Curtin as we take you through the latest developments in our teaching, learning and student experience at this year’s Teachers’ Big Day Out on Monday 14 May.

The day will involve a large range of educational sessions and networking opportunities, giving you the chance to hear the latest updates from Curtin.

It is also your chance to tailor your day and choose from a selection of afternoon sessions, each geared towards providing valuable and useful information for you to take back to your classrooms.

Especially for science teachers, are four dedicated afternoon sessions including some that are also linked to year 12 WACE subject learning outcomes:

• The good, the bad and the ugly: Young people’s cyber engagement and emotional wellbeing
• Drug stability: Why is aspirin only available in tablets and not mixtures?
• One-size-does-NOT-fit-all: Multiple strategies to engage students in Maths and Science
• Spot the difference: the science of taste testing and hand hygiene.

We sincerely hope that you are able to attend. If you are interested in coming along to this special day, phone our events coordinator Amy Croll on 9266 2710 or visit curtin.edu.au/teachersbdoscience to view the schedule, as well as secure a place.