Author: Karen Player

Time: 09:30

Minibeast Magnified explores the exciting and diverse world of invertebrates. Students will learn how to identify common groups of invertebrates and why they are important. Minibeast Magnified brings the world of invertebrates to your students

SciFest: Lego Robotics – An Introduction

Time: 10:30

Thursday 4 August

Time: 09:30

This engaging workshop offers students a chance to learn real time programming in a fun atmosphere. Using laptops and the Lego Mindstorms EV3 robots, students are asked to complete a variety tasks whilst learning about basic programming.

SciFest: Lego Robotics – An Introduction

Time: 11:30

SciFest – Geology Rocks

Time: 12:00

04 Aug

SciFest – Geology Rocks

Time: 13:00

SciFest: Lego Robotics – An Introduction

Time: 14:00

Monday 8 August

SciFest: Science of Sound

Time: 11:30

What do sound waves look like? Do soundwaves always travel at the same speed? How does the Doppler effect work? What is resonance? How does a soundwave change with pitch and increasing volume?

SciFest: K – 2 Science in Art

Time: 14:00

Explore chemistry in colourful art creations you can make in your class! Your class participates in a number of activities as a series of group activities run in class during the video conference.

08 Aug

SciFest: Science of Sound

Time: 09:30

What do sound waves look like? Do soundwaves always travel at the same speed? How does the Doppler effect work? What is resonance? How does a soundwave change with pitch and increasing volume?

SciFest: Awesome Astronomy

Time: 11:00

Is there life on other planets? The Earth is in the “Goldilocks Zone”. Like Goldilocks tasting baby bear’s porridge, humans live on a planet that is not too hot and not too cold – it is just right!

Monday 15 August

SciFest: Explore electricity and magnetism

Time: 09:30

What is the difference between series & parallel circuits? What does the Earth’s magnetic field look like? What technologies are being developed for the future? How is electricity generated anyway?

SciFest: Explore electricity and magnetism

Time: 11:30

What is the difference between series & parallel circuits? What does the Earth’s magnetic field look like? What technologies are being developed for the future? How is electricity generated anyway?

SciFest: Liquid Nitrogen – Properties of Solids, Liquids and Gases

Time: 14:00

Find out how solids, liquids and gases change when rapidly heated and cooled.Smash a squash ball! Shrink a balloon instantly! What happens to living things if they are frozen? How can Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion explain a liquid nitrogen sprinkler?

SciFest: Free Primary PD Session – Simple science experiments for Staff Development

Time: 15:30

Find out how your primary classroom can be transformed into an interactive science environment without breaking the bank. Learn how to use easily obtainable materials from the local shops to run hands-on experiments that cover chemistry, forces, light and sound. During this session you will run a number of simple experiments in your location. Schedule this as part of your staff meeting!

Tuesday 16 August

Plant Experiments- SciFest

Time: 10:00

Students will learn how scientists devise experiments and develop their skills in applying the processes of working scientifically as they plan a fair investigation into the factors which influence seed germination.

Plant Experiments – SciFest

Time: 11:30

Plant Experiments – SciFest

Time: 13:00

Plant Experiments – SciFest

Time: 14:00

Thursday 18 Aug

From Letters to Life – How DNA technologies are changing our lives – SciFest

Time: 09:30

Join Dr Ellen Jorgensen renowned New York TED speaker as she talks about Genspace, a not for profit community laboratory dedicated to promoting citizen science and access to biotechnology.

Monday 22 August

SciFest: Free Primary PD Session – Simple science experiments for Staff Development

Time: 15:30

22 Aug

SciFest: Creative chemistry workshop

Time: 10:00

Designed to cover a broad range of chemical concepts that is accessible to students including kitchen chemistry, physical changes vs. chemical reaction, acids vs bases and indicators, acid rain – properties of solids, liquids and gases and energy changes.

SciFest: Creative chemistry workshop

Time: 11:30

SciFest: Creative chemistry workshop

Time: 14:00

Tuesday 23 August

SciFest: Light & Colour Science

Time: 10:00

Students learn about properties of light in this fun interactive workshop- Investigate rainbows using the visible light spectrum, plus learn about colour addition and subtraction .

SciFest: The Big Bang – How to make a universe

Time: 11:00

This session will be presented from the Australian Museum Science Festival with schools attending live and via video conference. Join a CAASTRO astrophysicist as they share their enthusiasm for astrophysicist

SciFest: Light & Colour Science

Time: 11:30

Students learn about properties of light in this fun interactive workshop- Investigate rainbows using the visible light spectrum, plus learn about colour addition and subtraction .

SciFest – Museum Secretes Revealed

Time: 13:00

Time: 14:00

This video conference provides a glimpse behind the scenes of Australia’s oldest natural history Museum. Become a detective and discover how scientists collect, preserve and display the many extraordinary specimens in their collection.

SciFest: 4 Slimes in 30 minutes – Kitchen Chemistry fun!

Time: 14:00

4 slimes in 30 minutes…. how could you go wrong?!?Join Fizzics Education for SciFest as we dive into kitchen chemistry in this fun yet educational workshop.

Wednesday 24 August

SciFest: Human Body – Look at the major body systems and senses

Time: 10:00

Students look at major body systems and how the five senses work in this engaging workshop! Where is heat in your body conserved? How do the lungs work?

SciFest: Human Body – Look at the major body systems and senses

Time: 11:30

Students look at major body systems and how the five senses work in this engaging workshop! Where is heat in your body conserved? How do the lungs work?

SciFest – Museum Secretes Revealed

Time: 13:00

Time: 14:00

SciFest: Melting Moments: All about hot & cold

Time: 14:00

Your classroom heats up as we explore how heat is propagated through a variety of materials plus how we harness heat for our own use;- Investigate heat conductivity in a variety of materials.

SciFest: Free Primary PD Session – Simple science experiments for Staff Development

Time: 15:30

Thursday 25 August

SciFest – Museum Secretes Revealed

Time: 13:00

Time: 14:00

Monday 29 August

SciFest: Weather and Pressure

Time: 10:00

What is air pressure? Why are low and high pressure areas important? How are clouds formed? What is our atmosphere made of anyway ? Students will gain an appreciation of meteorology and gain insight into how our climate operates.

SciFest: K – 2 Science in Art

Time: 14:00

Explore chemistry in colourful art creations you can make in your class! Your class participates in a number of activities as a series of group activities run in class during the video conference.

SciFest: Free Primary PD Session – Simple science experiments for Staff Development

Time: 15:30

Tuesday 30 August

SciFest – Fantastic Frogs

Time: 09:30

Frogs play a key role in many food webs, both as predators and as prey. By observing frog populations, we can get a good indication of the condition of the environment as frogs are sensitive to environmental change.

SciFest – Fantastic Frogs

Time: 10:30

SciFest: Earthquakes, Volcanos, Meteors & more!

Time: 14:00

A hands-on science workshop where students investigate all manner of natural disasters. Your students will learn about earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, meteorites, cyclones, pandemics and m…

Wednesday 31 August

SciFest: Renewable energies

Time: 10:00

We will investigate various renewable energy sources and compare them against non-renewable energy sources. A focus will be placed upon how a generator actually works and how this is applied in coal power stations, wind farms, hydro electric dams, tidal generators

SciFest: Renewable energies

Time: 11:30

SciFest: Renewable energies

Time: 14:00

SciFest: Free Primary PD Session – Simple science experiments for Staff Development

Time: 15:30

June 24, 2016July 15, 2016

Cook and Banks: Charting the rumoured great southern land

The Royal Botanic Gardens and the Australian National Maritime Museum recently offered 6 virtual excursions looking at Cook, the voyage of HMB Endeavour and Banks the botany and plant classification. The collaboration began as a special presentation linked to the RBG 200th birthday celebrations.

The sessions on Wednesday 18th May were offered through DARTconnections and sold out very quickly and more spaces were added. The Thursday 19th May sessions were offered through Electroboard. The content was written by Mary Bell RBG and Anne Doran ANMM with Kieran Hosty an ANMM Maritime Archaeologist and Mary Bell presenting.

The students were very engaged with the content as it extended what they had been learning in the classroom. The questions they asked, clearly demonstrated that they had been thinking about what had been presented during the sessions and having Kieran who had dived on the wreck sites to give that extra insight was very useful. He may have inspired students to think about archaeology as a career.

The RBG and ANMM are considering offering this cross curriculum program again next year, to support teachers in the classroom and provide access to experts from both organisation. The program reached almost 1000 students.

June 17, 2016June 17, 2016

NAIDOC Week 2016

NAIDOC Week 2016 is held in the first week of July. It is a time to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and an opportunity to recognise the contributions that Indigenous Australians make to our country and our society.

This years theme is Songlines: The living narrative of our nation

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the Dreamtime describes a time when the earth, people and animals were created by our ancestral spiritual beings. They created the rivers, lakes, plants, land formations and living creatures. Dreaming tracks crisscross Australia and trace the journeys of our ancestral spirits as they created the land, animals and lores. These dreaming tracks are sometimes called ‘Songlines’ as they record the travels of these ancestral spirits who ‘sung’ the land into life.

To recognise NAIDOC week the Australian National Maritime Museum and the Australian Museum are presenting a series of video conferences to schools.

Tuesday 21 June

Create YOUR Australian flag

Time: 11:30

Overview: To celebrate NAIDOC week Indigenous Programs Manager Donna Carstens and special guest Uncle Terry will discuss the cultural significance of water to indigenous people. Water is integral to the everyday life of communities for survival, travel and play.

Time: 14:00

Overview:

To recognise NAIDOC Week the Australian Museum is participating in Virtual Excursions Australia NAIDOC Week video conferencing festival. In this special NAIDOC week art workshop students will explore Indigenous culture and art from various regions of Australia. In this lesson students will create their own Australian Flag by investigating their cultural heritage as well as that of Australia’s first inhabitants, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Time: 14:00

Wednesday 22 June

Time: 10:00

Indigenous Totem workshop

Time: 11:30

Time: 14:00

Overview: To recognise NAIDOC Week the Australian Museum is participating in Virtual Excursions Australia NAIDOC Week video conferencing festival. In this workshop students learn about lifestyles and beliefs of Indigenous Australians whilst creating their own totem. Concepts and culture will be demonstrated with real artefacts and aboriginal cultural material.

Indigenous Totem workshop

Time: 14:00

Thursday 23 June

Time: 14:00

Tuesday 28 June

Create YOUR Australian flag

Time: 10:00

Overview: To recognise NAIDOC Week the Australian Museum is participating in Virtual Excursions Australia NAIDOC Week video conferencing festival. In this special NAIDOC week art workshop students will explore Indigenous culture and art from various regions of Australia. In this lesson students will create their own Australian Flag by investigating their cultural heritage as well as that of Australia’s first inhabitants, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Water and Indigenous People

Time: 10:00

Water and Indigenous People

Time: 11:30

Water and Indigenous People

Time: 14:00

Thursday 30 June

Water and Indigenous People

Time: 10:00

Water and Indigenous People

Time: 11:30

Water and Indigenous People

Time: 14:00

May 9, 2016June 16, 2020

Fizzics Education

This post by Ben form Fizzics Education has a video and radio interview discussing the video conferencing.

This video covers the variety of educational virtual excursion festivals available for schools arranged by Virtual Excursions Australia. VEA is a network of museums, galleries, libraries, environmental centres, aquariums & more.

Ben Newsome on Australian Festivals from CILC on Vimeo.

As you can see, there are so many opportunities available for schools, libraries, hospitals, remand centers and more to engage learners with real time learning with subject matter experts via video conference. It’s so easy these days! By the way, the interviewer was Jan Zanetis who is the Managing Director the Centre for Interactive Learning & Collaboration and a current International Society for Technology in Education board member.

You might like to find out more about events & learning festivals being conducted Virtual Excursions Australia and the work being done to reach remote learners via web and video conference! Also you might also like to know more about the Churchill Fellowship on best practice in science education via video conference I completed last year and it’s associated findings for Australian educators.

Ben from Fizzics Education connected with Unalaska library to run a video conference on the science of sound. As usual I had a blast working with the kids, but I got a great surprise to find that it got recorded by local community radio station kucb 89.7fm!

Video conferencing offers the opportunity to enrich regional and remote communities throughout the world. If your school or cultural organisation has the bandwidth and the hardware, why not consider running some connections to overseas sites? All you need is to do is to get in contact with a school or library district that uses virtual excursions and simply coordinate time zones using a time and date converter. The local connection time in Sydney was not an issue as the connection was after school hours for the library and this worked out to be 11:00am AEST… much more manageable than the 5:00am connections that sometimes need to happen for sites on the east coast of the USA!

Running programs internationally introduces another dimension to educational outreach and is certainly worthwhile pursuing! Want to find out more about educational video conferencing to your school?
Feel free to drop us a line or check out our video conference science clubs or virtual excursion workshops on how it all works.

All the best!

Ben

Fizzics Education

April 22, 2016May 9, 2016

Cook and Banks: Charting the rumoured great Southern Land

To celebrate the Royal Botanical Gardens Sydney 200th anniversary, the Australian National Maritime Museum and Royal Botanical Gardens Sydney will offering a joint video conference for year 3 and 4 students History and Science. Cook and Banks: Charting the rumoured great Southern Land is a free video conference which will outline Cook and Banks voyage on the HMB Endeavour. It will be presented by Kieran Hosty from the Australian National Maritime Museum and Louisa Murray from Royal Botantical Gardens Sydney.

Endeavour minus main top gallant. Image: Paula Tinney

The video conference will investigate the story behind Cook and Banks’ voyage to the rumoured great Southern Land and include topics such as:

The reason behind the momentous voyage.
The voyage and conditions on board the HMB Endeavour.
Cook’s role as a cartographer and navigator.
Banks’ scientific contribution to the voyage and how his legacy began the Royal Botanic Gardens’ Herbarium collection.
Learn how scientists classify plants and try your hand at botanic illustration.
The enduring outcome of the voyage and how it changed Australian history.

We will be offering six sessions of the Cook and Banks virtual excursion. Three sessions will be offered on Dart connections (May 18th at 9.30am 11.30am and 2.00pm) and another three on Electroboard (May 19th 9.30am,11.30am and 2.00pm).

February 21, 2016February 22, 2016

Australian National Maritime Museum Events

The Australian National Maritime Museum offers a great range of video and web conferences for schools throughout the year. They are starting the year with 2 events the Women in Science Symposium and Frank Hurley – the Man Who Made History.

Women in Science Symposium at the Australian National Maritime Museum

Tuesday 8 March at 10am

For international Women’s Day the Australian National Maritime Museum, in partnership with the University of New South Wales is hosting a Women in Science Symposium. The aim is to encourage high school girls to look beyond the lab coats and to see the possibilities for careers in science.

Chaired by Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla, UNSW, the morning session will have a range of speakers from diverse areas including marine science, climate, ecology and innovation.
A live web stream of the presentation is being offered.

Please register through eventbrite

Image Credit - Maja Baska 2014 — Image Credit – Maja Baska 2014

Frank Hurley – The Man Who Made History

Thursday 17 March at 1pm

The Australian National Maritime Museum is delighted to present a special program for students studying the Frank Hurley documentary as a prescribed text for the Discovery Area of Study.

Meet the film makers Simon Nasht and Anna Cater to hear how they approached dealing with the subject matter, constructing the story and making the film. The talk will be followed by a Q & A where students will have the chance to ask Simon and Anna questions about their film and learn about the available HSC study resources.

Registration through DART Connection

January 28, 2016February 21, 2016

2016 Events

We had a big year of events 2015 with Virtual Excursions Australia delivering hundreds of session reaching 10’s of thousands of students across Australia and the world. We finished up the year with the reVEAl conference in December bringing 120 delegate together.

reVEAL had delegates join at the Australian Museum in Sydney, the Australian Centre of Moving Image in Melbourne and though the live web stream. The full day program had a variety of sessions for content providers and teachers.

In 2016 Virtual Excursions Australia will host a variety of event including:

Harmony Day in March
World Environment Day 5 June
NAIDOC week 27 June – 1 July
SciFest throughout August
Threatened Species Day 7 September
Sea Week September
Earth Science Week October
ClickFest November

With 20 member organisations there is plenty of variety to suit every curriculum area and engage your students. See the DART Connections or CONNECTme calendars for sessions and bookings. Please let us know if there are other topic are you would like us to be involved with.

September 30, 2015September 30, 2015

CAASTRO in the Classroom

‘CAASTRO in the Classroom’, an initiative of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO), is an outreach program designed to engage Australian school students and teachers with research scientists. CAASTRO’s astrophysicists take their enthusiasm for exciting new astronomy research into classrooms via video conferencing to inspire students about science and technology.

During Term 4 CAASTRO in the Classroom is offering some great video conferences

Tuesday 13 October

Space – Curriculum Revision

10:30 to 11.15am

Presenter: Eromanga Adermann, PhD Student

Audience: Senior Secondary Physics

Join us for a curriculum-focused revision lecture—covering key topics from the HSC Physics Syllabus Module “Space”. Pre-work will be provided in advance and you are encouraged to prepare questions to ask at the end of the talk. The talk will focus on the following dot point from the New South Wales Stage 6 Physics syllabus: “Many factors have to be taken into account to achieve a successful rocket launch, maintain a stable orbit and return to Earth.”

Eromanga Adermann is a second year PhD student at the University of Sydney. Her research aims to answer two of the biggest question in physics: “What is dark matter?” and “What is dark energy?”

Tuesday 27 October

Special Relativity – Curriculum Revision

2:00 to 2:45pm

Presenter: Joe Callingham, PhD Student

Audience: Senior Secondary Physics

Einstein’s theory of Special Relativity is a pillar of modern physics and accurately describes objects moving near to the speed of light. While mathematically elegant, Special Relativity explains situations that are extremely counterintuitive to our interpretation of the world we experience. This talk will include several examples of time dilation and length contraction. Pre-work will be provided in advance and you are encouraged to prepare questions to ask at the end of the talk.

Joe Callingham has a degree in Physics and is an Astronomy PhD student at the University of Sydney. He is a CAASTRO in the Classroom veteran, having given the highly popular ‘Special Relativity’ lecture three times in the past. Not to be missed!

Tuesday 10 November

The Big Bang – How to make a universe

2:00 to 2:40 pm

Presenter: Professor Tamara Davis

Audience: Year 10 Science

Join a CAASTRO astrophysicist as she shares her enthusiasm for new astronomy research and makes connections between current research and the Australian Curriculum content for Year 10 (Stage 5) Science. The session will cover Science as a Human Endeavour content and the following Science Understanding content: The Big Bang Theory, the age of the universe, and the formation of galaxies and stars.

Professor Tamara Davis is an award-winning astrophysicist based at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. She spends most of her time trying to figure out why the expansion of the universe is accelerating, and thus figure out whether we can harness that acceleration to make things like hoverboards or clean energy. One of the most highly cited astrophysicists in the world, Tamara has been awarded many prizes; including the 2015 Nancy Millis Medal for Women in Science by the Australian Academy of Science. She is a highly engaging speaker with a passion for playing ultimate Frisbee.

CAASTRO in the Classroom was started in 2012 as a collaborative project with support from CAASTRO, the New South Wales Office of Science and Medical Research, and the New South Wales Department of Education. Past session topics have included: special relativity, the structure of the universe, and curriculum revision for Senior Secondary school students.

September 30, 2015October 19, 2015

ClickFest 2015

SciFest showcases science across Australia

ClickFest is an annual video conferencing festival run in November each year. ClickFest is an exciting initiative from education organisations across Australia. It highlights the diversity and scope of video conferences available to schools across Australia. Sessions are delivered free or at reduced cost to schools, providing a great opportunity for teachers to give it a go.

Topics and programs will vary over the month long video conferencing festival to provide flexibility for teachers and students. Each day multiple sessions will be available on a variety of topics from content providers around Australia.

2 November

ClickFest – Meet Winny

Time: 9:30

The Australian Museum launches the 2015 ClickFest Video Conferencing Festival with Winny our Muttaburrasaurs. Come along to meet Winny to learn more about Australian Dinosaurs.

ClickFest – The Big Issue Classroom
Time: 10:00

The Big Issue Classroom is a social enterprise initiative of The Big Issue. Our online workshops provide students with a “real-life” insight into homelessness, marginalisation and disadvantage, as experienced by thousands of Australians every night.

Time: 10:30

Fossils are fascinating reminders of life in ancient times and provide a window into the past. They can also reveal an amazing amount of information about extinct species and the ancient world. Step inside the shoes of a palaeontologist to use fossil material and modern animals to reconstruct some extinct Australian animals.

Time: 11:30

The Geology Rocks video conference will look at the dynamic earth forming processes. Students will learn about the layering of lava flows, see if rocks float and learn how to make a gas and find out about the rock cycle. You will also see real specimens and there will be opportunities to ask questions.
ClickFest – Australian Giants
Time: 13:30

Giant animals from dinosaurs to megafauna have roamed the Australian continent at different times. Find out about some of these Australian giants. Look at fossils and learn what they tell us about these extraordinary animals. Life sized reproductions and models will help us visualise life in the past.

3 November

Time: 10:00

Time: 11:00

4 November 2015

Time: 10:00

Time: 11:00

Clickfest : Liquid Nitrogen – Properties of Solids, Liquids and Gases
Time: 14:00

Find out how solids, liquids and gases change when rapidly heated and cooled.Smash a squash ball! Shrink a balloon instantly! What happens to living things if they are frozen?How can Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion explain a liquid nitrogen sprinkler?

Clickfest: Free Primary PD Session – Simple science experiments for Staff Development
Time: 15:30

5 November 2015

ClickFest – Museum Secrets Revealed

Time: 9:30

Bring the convict story of Hyde Park Barracks Museum to your classroom with a virtual excursion! This theatrical presentation, woven together from historical source material, transports students back in time to learn about the life story of convict Ivan Gotney. Through active participation students gain insight into the daily lives of convicts at the barracks and the importance of convict labour to the development of the new colony.

Time: 10:00

Time: 11:30

Time: 13:30

Time: 14:00

6 November 2015

Time: 9:30

Time: 11:30

Clickfest: Law of the Land: Troopers, Trackers and Bushrangers

Time: 13:30

9 November 2015

Time: 9:30

Time: 9:30

Clickfest: Law of the Land: Troopers, Trackers and Bushrangers

Time: 10:30

Time: 11:30

In this virtual excursion your students will go back in time to the 1880s to share an hour in the life of a mounted trooper (played by a costumed interpreter) as he talks about the difficulties the police faced in overcoming the threat of bushrangers in NSW. The trooper has lots of stories to tell about his life in the bush and his exploits in bringing the bushrangers to justice.

Clickfest: Law of the Land: Troopers, Trackers and Bushrangers

Time: 13:30

10 November 2015

Clickfest: Law of the Land: Troopers, Trackers and Bushrangers

Time: 9:30

Time: 10:00

Clickfest: Law of the Land: Troopers, Trackers and Bushrangers

Time: 11:00

Time: 11:30

Clickfest: Law of the Land: Troopers, Trackers and Bushrangers

Time: 13:30

Clickfest – The Big Issue Classroom

Time: 14:00

Clickfest: Free Primary TPL Session – Simple science experiments for Staff Development

Time: 15:30

11 November 2015

Clickfest: Law of the Land: Troopers, Trackers and Bushrangers

Time: 9:30

Time: 10:00

Clickfest: Law of the Land: Troopers, Trackers and Bushrangers

Time: 11:00

Time: 11:30

Clickfest: Law of the Land: Troopers, Trackers and Bushrangers

Time: 13:30

12 November 2015

ClickFest – Museum Secrets Revealed

Time: 10:00

Clickfest : Human Body – Look at the major body systems and senses

Time: 13:00

Time: 14:00

Students look at major body systems and how the five senses work in this engaging workshop! Where is heat in your body conserved? How do the lungs work? Heart, kidneys, bones, liver and other vital organs are discussed.

Clickfest: Free Primary TPL Session – Simple science experiments for Staff Development

Time: 14:00

Time: 15:30

13 November 2015

Clickfest: Law of the Land: Troopers, Trackers and Bushrangers

Time: 9:30