Geoff Edwards
This page showcases materials that educators may be able to adapt for their classroom purposes, even though the items have (mostly) not been particularly designed to fit the Queensland science curriculum.
Many have been generated by member groups of the Queensland Science Network. First, a two-page brief by The Royal Society of Queensland explaining scientific method and the robustness of scientists’ conclusions about climate.
Enviroed – Environmental education portal for SEQ, especially Moreton Bay
Enviroed.com.au is an educational portal for people interested in learn about the environment, focusing on South East Queensland including Moreton Bay and the Moreton Bay Region. The purpose is to […]
Saltmarsh ecology
Saltmarshes are vital intertidal ecosystems typically found between mangrove forests and dry land. These areas experience tidal flooding during king and spring tides. They support a diverse array of vegetation, […]
Our Birds – 1932
This booklet (34.1 MB), compiled by the Syllabus Notes Committee of the South Coast Inspectoral District of the Education Department, Brisbane, Queensland and published in 1932, was compiled as a […]
Land/environmental ethics exercises – Tertiary-level hypotheticals
This series of seven scenarios in a hypothetical Department of Crown Lands is pitched at tertiary level students in land, regional planning or environmental management. Subjects covered include the nature […]
Studies in Insect Life in Australasia – 1904
How different lesson materials are in the 2020s ! However, one can’t be confident that this knowledge-packed volume of 178 pages will be useless for modern-day teachers. First Studies in […]
Some Australian Birds
This charming booklet was first published in 1957 and reprinted several times, with this printing dated 1964. It lacks the first-rate colour images that modern publications can use but it […]
Coal seam gas and agricultural land: Defying the precautionary principle
Primer Dr Peter Dart and Col Lynam, members of The Royal Society of Queensland, have compiled this primer on the coal seam gas industry. Are you aware that Queensland coal […]
Mosquito control – An alternative to pesticides
Dr Pat Dale, member of The Royal Society of Queensland, has been investigating methods of mosquito control for more than 30 years. In particular, she has trialled “runnelling”, a low-impact […]
Environmental activities – International guide
This guide to environmental activities (23MB) from the US Peace Corps has information of general usefulness, but the ideas here are always subject to the Queensland curriculum. Related Images:
World Bee Day
In 2018 the United Nations declared 20 May annually as World Bee Day. The World Bee Day websites international and Australian contain useful videos, case studies and written materials explaining […]
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This page presents materials that either have been developed with teaching as a primary purpose, or include datasets capable of being utilised for student projects in years 11 and 12 science.
The Queensland science syllabuses
The 2019 roll-out of the new Queensland senior secondary syllabuses (available online here from QCAA, or summarised here) created a demand for original teaching materials, especially materials suitable for assessment of data analysis techniques relevant to Queensland localities. The Queensland Science Network in collaboration with the Department of Education and the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) has launched a project to draw upon datasets held by member societies, including the scientific journals and citizen science reports, and to package these rich sources into a format that teachers can use readily. This Curriculum-linked Resources section presents Queensland-relevant educational resources validated by experienced educators and classified according to locality, year level and curriculum headline.
STELR is a hands-on, inquiry-based and in-curriculum program designed to be taught within the curriculum so that all students participate in inquiry learning that engages students in STEM. STELR is […] Geological scientist Mike Turnbull B.App.Sc. QUT, M.App.Sc. CQU has made available to QSN a series of annual reports that he has compiled of the earthquakes, major and minor, in Queensland. […] The Queensland STEM Education Network (QSEN ) was a consortium of Queensland universities working to develop a range of high-quality programs and initiatives designed to build capacity in science, technology, […] The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia’s program collaboration taking the social sciences into schools is now live. The project, the first under a new partnership with the Museum […] A website about some of the local birds of South-East Queensland www.ourlocalbirds.com lets us look into some of their amazing lives via a unique and exciting range of video and […] The Queensland Science Network is pleased to present otherwise not-easily-accessible reports of seismological activity. Seismology database There are three files. An introduction to the database. The database of Queensland seismic […] The Australian Greenhouse Calculator helps explore how a person’s lifestyle contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. We all enjoy the benefits of modern technology such as heating and lighting, but we […] The past two centuries of history and loss of shellfish reefs in South-east Queensland have been chronicled in a scientific paper co-authored by Dr Ben Diggles, a member of The […] A downloadable Data Test – Oysters based on experiments aimed at restoring shellfish reefs has been prepared for use in classes in biology and marine science under Queensland’s 2019 senior […] Following a brainstorming session held in July 2015 (see the website of The Royal Society of Queensland for details), the Society advocated for the development of a web portal to […]
STELR – STEM education in schools by ATSE
Queensland earthquakes data – CQU seismology observatories
Queensland STEM Education Network revived
Social Sciences in Schools
Birds of South-east Queensland – Educational website
Queensland earthquakes database – Uni of Qld seismology observatories
Australian Greenhouse Calculator
Charting two centuries of transformation in a coastal social-ecological system
Oyster recruitment – Marine Science Syllabus
STAR Portal – Origin and demise
Citizen science school teacher resources
The Office of the Queensland Chief Scientist has published a list of curriculum-linked resources with a citizen-science component. By mid-May 2022, some 33 programs had been listed. The site includes definitions of citizen science and other context-setting materials.
Earthwatch’s curriculum-linked materials
Earthwatch has developed free STEM-related curriculum resources (mapped to the Australian Curriculum via Cool Australia); https://www.earthwatch.org.au/teacher-resources. Earthwatch has a number of other teacher resources here: https://www.earthwatch.org.au/Pages/Category/teachers
Field recording sheets for school groups
The free ClimateWatch app allows indicator species sightings and photos to be submitted while anywhere in Australia. Records can also be submitted through the ClimateWatch website where photos can be manually uploaded. For those without smart-devices, survey sheets are available on the website. Some things to remember:
- Familiarise yourself with species content via climatewatch.org.au/species .
- ClimateWatch trails have their own recording sheets you may wish to use instead of the app or survey sheets.
- A computer session can be scheduled after the field activity to enter the data into the ClimateWatch website.
ClimateWatch is a citizen-science experience that can be incorporated into secondary and tertiary school subjects, backyard or school ground explorations, field excursions or camps. Taking part in citizen science that monitors and records plant and animal behaviour is naturally aligned to the Science stream of the national curriculum. ClimateWatch is also a great way to build student capacity in critical and creative thinking, numeracy and ITC skills.
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Reef Ecologic specialises in providing expert advice to design and implement innovative solutions to environmental challenges facing tropical marine ecosystems and the people who love and depend upon them. Reef Ecologic brings more than 40 years of experience at the leading edge of coral reefs science, management and policy to provide insight, guide strategic actions and build capacity among the leaders of today and tomorrow.
Reef Ecologic is a commercial firm. Read its capability statement here.
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Don Keith, member of The Royal Society of Queensland and former President of Queensland Beekeepers Association, reports that until the pioneering research of Graham Kleinschmidt in the 1980s, most apiary practice was based on anecdotal narratives passed on between bee-keepers – not necessarily inaccurate, but limited. Graham Kleinschmidt, based at Gatton Agricultural College, conducted scientific research that significantly improved the skills of apiarists and so improved productivity.
His research reports were compiled into a folder dated May 1986. It is reproduced here in three files:
Introduction to page 4.4.2 (58.1 MB)
Pages 4.4.3 to 5.1.6 (31.9 MB)
Page 5.1.7 to the end, including the Charles Roff Memorial Lecture of 1989 delivered by Graham Kleinschmidt, a former colleague. (11.6 MB).
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
2. POPULATION MANAGEMENT
2.1 Colony management for maximum populations
2.2 Feeding and populations
2.3 Summary of management for the 1980s
2.4 Building large hive populations
3. NUTRITION
3.1 The.influence of crude protein levels on colony production
3.2 The effect of dietary protein on colony performance
3.3 Colony management for low quality pollens
3.4 Advantages and disadvantages of supplementary feeding
3.5 Nutrition for long life bees
4. POLLEN
4.1 The value of plant pollens in honey bee nutrition
4.2 Pollen sources and pollen collection by bees foraging in agricultural areas
4.3 Pollen sources and pollen collection by bees foraging in coastal wallum areas
4.4 Pollen sources and pollen collection by bees foraging on the Darling Downs
4.5 Pollen sources and pollen collection by bees foraging in the coastal ranges
5. QUEEN BEES
5.1 Queen rearing
51 Breeding systems for stock improvement
5.3 Evaluation of honey bee stock
6. DISEASE
6.1 Influence of management on the effects of Nosema disease
6..2 Incidence of Nosema disease
7. HIVE EQUIPMENT
7.1 The influence of hive design on colony production and microclimate
7.2 The influence of hive design on honey production and colony management
8. HONEY PROCESSING AND STORAGE
8.1 Temperature darkening of honey
8.2 Honey creaming machine
9. POLLINATION
9.1 The role of insects in crop production
9.2 Insect pollinators
9.3 Colony food requirements
9.4 Honey bee food selection
9.5 Development of a management system for pollination of field crops
9.6 Insect pollination requirements of hybrid sunflowers
9.7 Encouraging bees to sunflowers
9,8 Relationship between yield/head, yield/hectare and bees
9.9 Pollination requirement of a range of sunflower cultivars
10. PESTICIDES
10.1 Toxicity of insecticides to honey bees in major entomophilous crops in Australia
10.2 Long term effects of systemic pesticides on honey bees.
Charles Roff Lecture.
Don Keith’s writings on bee-keeping
Don Keith has written two insightful papers published in the Proceedings of The Royal Society of Queensland:
The decline of melliferous native flora for European Honey Bees in Queensland: Some reflections, Volume 122.
Native forest changes affecting apiculture and crop production, published in Volume 127, A Rangelands Dialogue.
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How different lesson materials are in the 2020s ! However, one can’t be confident that this knowledge-packed volume of 178 pages will be useless for modern-day teachers.
First Studies in Insect Life in Australasia by William Gillies is 41.5 MB and has been rendered searchable.
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This charming booklet was first published in 1957 and reprinted several times, with this printing dated 1964. It lacks the first-rate colour images that modern publications can use but it should serve as a good teaser for primary age students.
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QSN doesn’t normally feature material from interstate, but this thoughtful little document from about 1995-1996, titled NSW Weirs Policy, an element of water reforms, has some valuable lessons for the management of watercourses wherever they are located.
QSN isn’t in a position to research the extent to which this document has been superseded by later ones, but we think it is useful even as a snapshot of knowledge at the time.
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This informative briefing note by the predecessor to QSN member body Healthy Land and Water, Newsletter No. 2 of March 2011, is useful not just as a summary of the catastrophic flooding of January 2011, but for its insights into catchment hydrology generally.
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QSN member body The Moreton Bay Foundation has released a Blueprint for a sustainable Moreton Bay for people and nature (2025-2035) along with a Technical Appendix and a readable summary . For more detail consult the Foundation’s website.
A video of the launch is available on the website of Redlands 2030, an activist group based in Bayside South East Queensland.
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Royal Society Member Adj. Prof. David George has penned a thoughtful account of NCCARF and its relevance after the disappointing 2024 Conference of the Parties on climate change. It advocates for a greater urgency for climate adaptation and includes an outline of a ‘how-to?’ approach.