School is back for students around the country this week, but in many cases the teachers have been hard at work over the school holidays. Earlier this month, 70 teachers with a passion for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) came together to participate in the STEM X Academy to further develop their capability to deliver quality science education in the classroom.
The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) was proud to be part of the STEM X Academy and ran a hands-on workshop for teachers to find out how they can incorporate the ALA in the classroom.
The STEM X Academy is a five-day residential teacher professional learning program open to Australian teachers across all sectors and levels of experience. Held in Canberra from 8-13 January, the event was a partnership between the Australian Science Teachers Association (ASTA), Questacon and CSIRO.
The main focus of the program was the development of hands-on, enquiry-based lessons and activities using available materials, and adapting activities using methods to suit individual classrooms.
As a part of the busy program, teachers split into groups with educators and research scientists and worked on developing potential solutions to future global challenges using STEM. The ALA presentation was one of a number of skillset workshops provided to potentially assist the teachers with completing the tasks.
A couple of participants were even lucky enough to have a tour of CSIRO’s Australian National Insect Collection, guided by Bryan Lessard also known as (aka) Bry the Fly Guy.
For more information about STEM X, click here. For more information about using the ALA in the classroom check out our Educational Resources.