The seventh Queensland
Astronomy Education Conference (QAEC) will be held on Saturday
25 February 2012. This conference is for teachers who want to
expand their knowledge of the ‘Space Sciences’ section
of the 'Earth and Space Sciences' component of the new Australian
Science Curriculum. The conference will have a
hands on focus, with participants leaving with a range of teaching
activities they can immediately use in the classroom. There will
also be the option of attending sessions which cover the content
of the new Australian Curriculum document in the ‘Space Sciences’ section.
Registration is now open.
Download
the registration form.
The 2012 Queensland Astronomy
Education Conference theme is 'Connecting Classroom and Cosmos'.
Above: The official opening of
the 2010 Queensland Astronomy Education Conference by Brisbane
Astronomical Society President Peter Nink
At
a glance
Date:
|
Saturday
25 February 2012 |
| Venue: |
The
University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072 |
| Time: |
9 a.m. – 5
p.m. Registration from 8.30 a.m.. |
| Fee: |
$125
per person before 17 February 2012 or $150 per
person after 17 February 2012.
Registration fee includeds resources, certificate
of attendance, lunch and morning / afternoon
tea. |
| Acceptances: |
Complete the registration
form (one per person) and enclose a cheque/postal money order)
made payable to the Brisbane Astronomical Society. School
order forms (with a copy of the registration form) can be
faxed or mailed to the address on the registration form.
Your school
will
then
be
invoiced for payment.
You will receive
a email confirming your successful registration at the
conference once your application form has been processed.
|
| Registration
form: |
Download
the registration form |
| Call for Speakers: |
Download
the 'Date Claimer & Call for Speakers' form in MS
Word format or Adobe
Acrobat format. |
| Conference Program: |
The
draft conference program may be viewed
here. |
Conference
theme: 'Connecting Classroom and Cosmos'
Attending this conference
will prepare you for the numerous questions you will
receive from students and parents later in the 2012 school year.
There are a number of unusual and even once in a lifetime
events that will occur in 2012 that will be covered extensively
in the media. The conference will cover what they are
and
how you can incorporate them into your planning and teaching.
Further information about these events can be downloaded
here.
In approximate chronological
order, the unusual astronomical events occuring in 2012 are:
- In mid March,
Jupiter and Venus will be very close
in the evening twilight and easily visible to the unaided eye.
- A Partial
Lunar Eclipse will occur on the early evening of 4 June 2012.
- Venus
transits (or passes in front of) the Sun on 6 June 2012. If
your students miss this transit, they will have to
wait until December 2117
to see the next transit. Simple safe viewing techniques
will be demonstrated at the conference so your students can
safely observe this once in a life
time event.
- In October, Mercury
will be easily visible in the evening twilight.
- In October,
you will be able to see Venus during the day if you know where
to look.
- A Total Solar Eclipse
will be visible from Cairns on the morning of 14 November. From
the rest of
Queensland, the eclipse will be visible as a
partial solar eclipse (using safe viewing techniques).
- The
brightest minor planet Vesta will be ideally placed for viewing
(with binoculars) in December
2012.
Call
for speakers
Interested teachers,
community members and representatives of commercial organisations
are invited to nominate themselves to
present a one hour session at the 2012 QAEC. Presentations may
be in a lecture style or workshop format. Alternatively, you may
wish to demonstrate a relevant astronomical product or service. Presentation
nominations will be considered on an ongoing basis. Note that
a draft program will be placed on this website on 1 November
2011.
Past presentations have covered a range of topics such as the
Moon, Meteorite collecting, Robotic telescopes in schools and
astronomy
freeware. Participants at previous conferences have also taken
part in portable planetarium programs and solar observing. Potential
speakers are invited to visit the 2010
QAEC website to become
familiar with examples of past presentations.
The
Brisbane Astronomical Society suggests that you familiarise
yourself with the draft Australian
Curriculum Science Space Science section so that you
can target your presentation proposal appropriately. A summary
of the 'Space Sciences' section can be downloaded from
this website in MS Word format.
Download 'Date
Claimer & Call for Speakers' form: MS
Word format or Adobe
Acrobat format.
Background
information
The Brisbane
Astronomical Society has been convening the Queensland
Astronomy Education Conference (with two name changes) since
1994. Information on
the previous 2010 Queensland Astronomy Education Conference
can
be found
here.
