CMIS Evaluation

Copyright © Landcare Australia

With summer approaching now is a good time to start growing your own delicious, juicy fruit.
With sponsorship from Yates Seeds, Junior Landcare is conducting the Junior Landcare Watermelon Challenge

Contestants are invited to register to receive a project kit and a packet of giant watermelon seeds ito begin growing the biggest, best and juiciest watermelon possible. Schools need to log details every month until March 6 2009 to be eligible to win some great prizes.

There are two categories.

• Schools or other youth groups
• Individuals (Anyone under the age of 16)

Registrations close on 7 November 2008.
Seeds will be posted during the week commencing 10 November 2008.

There are lots of extra activities available for use in the classroom including for interactive white boards.

It’s time again for the the National Trust of Western Australia’s  Photo and Story Competition. The competition is open to students in years 1-10 in three different age groups.  The competition closes on the last day of Term 3 and winners will be announced in Term 4.

Subjects for the students’ work do not have to be heritage listed but be of value to them and naturally the work must be original.

Entry forms and information for Teachers and parents can be found at the National Trust’s new Education and Learning website - Valuing Heritage.

This new site also explains Insurance, Excursion Management & Evacuation Procedures for their heritage sites.  There is also information about the trust’s ongoing free Professional Learning for teachers at heritage properties in WA.

Several CMIS Evaluation theme websites are related to this topic of Western Australian heritage places and can be utilised for study of this topic.

• Built Environment
• Western Australia
• Water

DET teachers can access for Time, Continuity and Change resources in the Society and Environment section of the K-10 Syllabus  through the DET Portal.

• Time Lines and Pathways to the Past
• Local History Study
• Northbridge History Project
  

Fremantle Press and ED! Magazine in The West Australian are giving primary
and secondary students the opportunity to win the complete set of Hal
Spacejock novels by Simon Haynes.

Students need to write a 150-word review of any book in the series and
send it to pat.tighe@wanews.com.au by 1 September2008.
The best entry will be published in ED!

Simon’s first book is available to students as a free online download.
For more information please use the link above to Fremantle Press
or read the next edition of ED! Magazine

The Ribbons of Blue Program is conducting a competition for Primary and Secondary School students in which students are asked to create a ‘fantasy’ creature to represent a macroinvertebrate aquatic mini-beast. These almost invisible creatures are found in all waterways.

The model must be accompanied by background information such as habitat, lifecycle, habits and pollution sensitivity. Students will need to research one of the tiny creatures to add the information.
A competition flyer is available from the website.

Entries are divided into three categories :  Junior Primary (K-3; Primary (Yr 4-7); High School (Yr 8 -12) and should be sent to regional Ribbons of Blue coordinators - see website - before 26 September 2008.

Teachers can incorporate the competition and Ribbons of Blue program into classroom science activities using the Life and living Outcome.

Related CMIS Theme: Water

For entries where there is no coordinator send entries to the Education Officer, Ribbons of Blue, Locked Bag 104, Bentley Delivery Centre, 6983 

Competitions, whether included as part of a general teaching and learning program or used as an extension activity, offer students the opportunity to create a specific product and present their work to an audience beyond their immediate peers and classroom teacher.

Teachers may like to consider incorporating some of the following competitions in their second semester programs of work.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION…CALL THE SHOTS FOR YOUR FUTURE The myfuture Student Video Competition gives young people the opportunity to submit 2-3 minute video clips that profile a range of occupations showing real people in real workplaces.

The competition is supported by DVD and a web based resource that provides a step by step guide to producing entries. The competition is open to either individuals or educational institutions as a group effort. Entrants must be students in Year 9 to 12 or between 15 - 19 years of age. Upon registration, entrants will receive a free copy of Video Production: a classroom survival guide. More information is available from the School Torque website. Registration opens 1st April 2008.  Entries close 18th August 2008.

DRAWING THE LINES Students are invited to participate in a national political cartooning competition for upper primary and secondary school students by submitting a black and white or colour cartoon, on A4 paper, dealing with a recent political issue of national significance.

Winner, runner-up and highly commended prizes will be awarded to students in upper primary and secondary school categories. There will also be awards in both categories for the class with the best overall entry. A selection of the best entries will be displayed on the National Museum’s website. More information is available from the Drawing the Lines 2008 website. Entries must be postmarked on or before 17th October 2008.

2008 NATIONAL HISTORY CHALLENGE The National History Challenge is an exciting contest that encourages students from Years 5 to 12 to use research and inquiry based learning to discover more about Australia and its past.

Students are the historians, they can investigate their community, explore their own and their family’s past, explore major events that have taught Australia, as a nation, new ideas or theories. The Challenge encourages inquiry based learning, the use of primary and secondary sources and offers a variety of presentation styles that can cater to individual learning styles. School judging completed mid-July. Entries must be received by State/Territory coordinator by August 15th 2008.

	VALUE ADDING QUEST The Value Adding Quest is a competition run by WA Technology and Enterprise Learning Area professional associations. It is open to all WA students.
There are prizes for students and schools and special prizes for first time teachers to encourage them to enter their students’ work. All students involved with the Quest receive a Certificate of Participation. See our previous post on CMIS Technology Focus: Money for value for more information and links. Closing date September 11th 2008.

	AMOS ART COMPETITION Students of all ages are invited to join in and enter the AMOS Art Competition.
Spend some time watching the skies or the ocean. Be swept up by this inspiration. Connect with the power and the beauty and channel that into a short story, poem, song, painting or something that captures the essence of what you feel. See our previous post on CMIS Evaluation blog: Weather, Oceans and Art for more information and links. Closing date September 26th 2008.

ROBOCUP JUNIOR The Robocup Junior competition is an educational project that gives both primary and secondary school students across Australia an opportunity to explore the world of robotics.

Students are encouraged to create a robot that can be manipulated to perform any number of actions from ballet to football (soccer). This year Scitech Perth will be hosting both the state and national championships. See our previous post on CMIS Technolgy Focus blog: Fun time robotics for more information and links. September 16 is the day set for the state final with the national event on September 20 & 21.

Image by ghindo

Please leave a comment to let us know if you would like a follow up post about competitions later in the year.

 Nominations are open for WA’s 2008 Teacher Librarian of the Year.  We know there are inspirational TLs out there.  Many are just quietly (or not so quietly!) getting on with a job that includes among many things: ensuring a dynamic, well resourced learning space (actual and/or virtual); collaborating with teachers to create, plan and deliver literature and contextual information literacy programs to students; matching the right book with the right student at the right time; and keeping up with the latest communication tools.

To fulfil the main criteria for eligibility for this award, the teacher librarian must be:

• a qualified teacher librarian
• a member of WASLA
• endorsed by his/her principal and two members of the school community.

Nominate one of your colleagues for this award before 31 May 2008.

Put those three elements rogether and the result is the AMOS Art Competition.

The Australian Meteorological & Oceanographic Society  is an independent Australian environmental society that supports and fosters interest in meteorology, oceanography and other related sciences.

Poets, artists, musicians and writers have long been inspired by the oceans and the atmosphere. Just think of all the all the weather and ocean songs that have been sung and the wonderful poetry; stories that have been written and atmospheric ocean paintings hung on gallery walls.

Students of all ages are invited to join in that inspiration and enter the AMOS Art Competition and entries close on September 26th 2008

Combining a study of the Oceans with an art competition could be appealing to both teachers and students. Inspiration and resources can be found on the CMIS Oceans Theme page and the Shipwrecks page

The two people will be chosen as winners [one primary and one open], will have the opportunity to exhibit their work at the 2009 AMOS Conference.  Other prizes include AMOS membership, a cash prize and a book for the school library.

Any queries schould be addressed to m.long@bom.gov.au

       Does your school have PALS?

PALS, which stands for Partnership, Acceptance, Learning and Sharing, is a reconciliation initiative run by the Department of Indigenous Affairs (DIA) in partnership with the major sponsor, BHP Billiton.

Is your school interested in advancing the reconciliation cause? Then entering the 2008 PALS Schools Reconciliation Awards could be just what you’re looking for. Schools entering for the awards receive a grant of $750 to fund their project.

School projects can be entered in any of the following categories:

• Community Development
• Education
• Environment
• Arts & Culture
• Health
• Sustainable Partnerships

 The awards are presented annually at the Wardarnji Aboriginal Cultural Celebration. Wardarnji is held on the second last Saturday of November on the Fremantle Esplanade.  

For more information about the PALS School Awards visit the PALS website

iiNet, the national internet service provider company, is supporting the “revisit” expedition of two young Australian adventurers, as they attempt to complete their unfulfilled 2005 mission inside the Arctic Circle.  As the principal partner of the original expedition, iiNet is behind the development of a collection of curriculum materials and lesson plans that teachers can use in the classroom to follow the exploits of the pair.
In addition to the classroom resources which cover all Learning Areas there is an extensive photo gallery, downloadable media and competitions to enter. Teachers and students will be able to follow the exciting trek from May 23rd on the 1000Hour Day website.