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AusGeo News June 2012 Issue No. 106
Discovering the Earth sciences
Geoscience Australia continues to offer extensive education and outreach programs to promote awareness and knowledge of the Earth sciences, and the contribution geoscience makes to the Australian economy, resource management and environmental protection.
Outreach programs, such as Open Day, and participation in activities to celebrate National Science Week and Earth Science Week, aim to raise awareness and promote the programs that Geoscience Australia undertakes.
Geoscience Australia's Open Day will be held on Sunday 19 August 2012. Open Day, which coincides with National Science Week celebrations, is an opportunity for interested members of the public to visit the agency's headquarters at Symonston, ACT. A range of displays, tours and activities will showcase how the agency's research is being applied to some of the major challenges facing Australia today. Building and laboratory tours, an Antarctic experience, a walk back in time, water sample taste testing, rock identification, gold panning and exploding volcanoes are some of the activities planned for the day. A special attraction will be a juvenile Tyrannosaurus roving the building.
Earth Science Week (ESW) is an international initiative to promote the Earth sciences and raise awareness of the contribution geoscience makes to the community. This year's ESW will be held from 14 to 20 October and the theme is 'Discovering careers in geoscience'. Geoscience Australia has hosted Australia's Earth Science Week website and coordinated celebrations across Australia for 14 years.
In the lead up to Earth Science Week, Geoscience Australia also hosts two competitions – GeoLogi short film competition and Top GeoShot photographic competition.
The Geologi short film competition is in its sixth year and is hosted by Geoscience Australia and the Australian Science Teachers Association. The theme for this year's competition is 'Discovering Geoscience'. It is open for individuals, groups or classes from any Australian primary or secondary school to submit a short film that explores the affect on the individual or community of natural hazards, rocks and minerals, geological history, local geology or recent geoscience research.
Figure 1. Two of the winning entries in the 2012 Top GeoShot competition: 'Wilsons Promontory National Park, Victoria' by John Gallagher and 'Lambert Glacier, Australian Antarctic Territory' by Ryan Ruddick.
Top GeoShot photographic competition is open to members of the public. It aims to produce a collection of images that capture the essence of Earth science in Australia and amateur photographers are invited to submit their photographs (figure 1). This year's winning entries (or 'TopShots') will be announced during Earth Science Week and will be on display in the foyer of the Geoscience Australia building.
Further information and updates on the Open Day and Earth Science Week activities or either of the competitions will be included on the Education Centre website and in the regular Education Centre Updates newsletter.
For more information email education@ga.gov.au