Geography Teachers' Assocaiation of Queensland Inc.

Conference 2002

Looking Forward

JUMP TO:
Overview Program | Registration | Detailed Session Information | Updates

CONFERENCE PRESENTERS AND SESSION TOPICS

This section includes the complete session details and presenter biographies available at the time of going to press. Unfortunately because some presenters volunteered or were approached late in March their full details are not available here. They will be found on the web version of the Conference Program. Check out www.gtaq.webcentral.com.au for these extra details.

FRIDAY APRIL 26 FIELDWORK SESSIONS

Please note that these sessions depend upon minimum numbers and the availability of staff. Check the insert or the website for more details.

1. Catchment Crawl

Join the team from the Moreton Environmental Education Centre and Brisbane Water for a trip down the Brisbane River by bus (maybe car) and boat looking at point source pollution, water sampling, historical evidence of river misuse and management practices in place today to keep the river clean.

2. Issues in Catchment Management on the Pimpama River.

Full day fieldtrip 10 am - 2-pm approx. by bus with the Jacobs Well Environmental education Centre staff. Teachers will be involved in activities like water quality testing, riparian assessment, Acid soil testing, water bug identification etc all of which will require different amounts of time and clothing (getting feet wet and muddy).

3. Sand mining - responding to the issues

Depending upon the availability of personnel, the Queensland Mining Council together with CRL is assisting teachers find out more about North Stradbroke's mineral sand industry and the issues confronting miners in 2002. Teachers will be taken to the island and will have the opportunity to see what is being done first hand. Tour departs from the Stradbroke Island ferries barge, Middle Street, Cleveland 8.30am for 9.00am returning to Cleveland at 3.30pm.

SESSION 1 9.00 - 10.30 KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

1. Tim Quinn, Deputy Mayor of Brisbane

Looking Forward - Urban Planning

Tim Quinn started his career as a Geography teacher at Injune. In 1985, he turned to politics and has represented both the Gabba and Dutton Park Wards in Brisbane City Council elections. Since 1881, Tim has held the position of chair of various Planning Committees on the Council and brings an enormous amount of practical experience to share with Conference delegates.

2. Geoff McDonald, Professor, School of Geography, Planning and Architecture, U of Q.

The Emerging Regional Focus for Natural Resources Management in Australia.

In the past publicly funded natural resource management (NRM) programs such as the Natural Heritage Trust, Landcare, Integrated Catchment Management, River Improvement, Biodiversity Conservation and re-afforestation, have been criticised as being ad hoc and not necessarily focussed on key resource management priorities. The programs have also been criticised for being too time-consuming and bureaucratic for local people and not responsive enough to local issues and needs.

Government support for NRM has gradually moved from a project based approach to strategic investment at a regional scale. This is reflected in the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (NAP) and the proposed reforms to the NHT Mark2. Following these policy changes, all regions in Australia are preparing new generation regional resource management plans and strategies to guide future programs and expenditures.

This trend is very significant for scientists, planners and community groups because it results in plans that:
· are prepared and implemented by regional bodies incorporating key stakeholders including local government, catchment committees, Landcare groups and industry to address local priorities;
· meet rigorous criteria for how they are prepared and for the scientific information they need to have for determining priorities, target setting and implementation; and
· guide funding of local projects administered at the local level by regional bodies.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

SESSION DETAILS - 11.00AM - 3PM

Details are presented in alphabetical order matching the program which is an insert in this Journal. Actual times sessions will be presented will be in the insert and on the web.

*********************************************************************
Bates, Tom

Fire Ants - the education package

No doubt fire ants have been the major environmental issue for south-east Queensland for the past twelve months. Part of the solution is education. This session will show what has been developed to date as an educational package for schools.

Tom Bates is a GTAQ Council member and is HOD - Social Science Windaroo Valley SHS. Tom has been working closely with Government Departments to develop and present this resource for schools.

*********************************************************************

Bischof, Robert

SEQ 2021 Opportunities to investigate regional planning

SEQ 2021 has developed an interactive website which has implications for the Senior course. This session will show how to make thew best use of that site with its education modules. Teachers will be shown how to use the site to make their own maps off the web.

Robert Bischof is employed as the Spatial Information Coordinator for the SEQ 2021 program which is an off-shoot of the Department of Local Government and Planning and is keen to show how schools can benefit from this initiative.

*********************************************************************

Colliver, Angela Education Manager Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

Reef ED a new look for education at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

The introduction of Reef ED in July 2002 will herald a new era in education at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. Reef HQ is one arm of education at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and through a change in direction, education will now be more than programs at Reef HQ.

Reef ED online will take education into cyberspace. New curriculum-based resources will be written and available from GBRMPA's website for schools nationally and internationally. New resources and programs will be available for SOSE, integrated learning and multistrand subjects. Every resource and program will provide teachers with an indication of its curriculum relevance and more importantly they will provide teachers with an indication of learning outcomes and how these can be achieved by undertaking a Reef ED program.

Angela Colliver is a former Geography teacher from South Australia. For the past two years, Angela has been stationed in Townsville developing the educational side of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

*********************************************************************
Dwyer, Christina with Lyn Turner and Andrew Petroeschevsky

What's possible in Estuary Education?

The aims of this workshop are to:

· Provide an overview of the community estuarine monitoring module that is being developed as a companion to the Waterwatch Queensland Technical Manual.
· Involve participants in estuarine monitoring exercises that form part of the monitoring module
· seek input and feedback from educators to help scope an education package on Australian Estuaries. The purpose of this educational resource is to raise the awareness and understanding of estuaries, estuarine habitats, estuarine monitoring, the uses and values we place on estuaries, the processes that drive estuary behaviour, their health and the pressures they face.
· Enable participants to express their interest in continued involvement as a national network of estuary educators to review the final scoping paper for the education package and remain as a key contact in the next phase of the project, which is to develop and trial the resource.

Christina currently works for the Department of Natural Resources and Mines. She facilitates and supports community monitoring and educational activities, primarily through the Waterwatch program, and contributes to research tasks in the Coastal CRC. She has previously worked as a Geography teacher and as a Landcare and Natural Resource Management education officer.

Lynne currently works for the Coastal Zone, Estuary and Waterway Management Cooperative Research Centre (Coastal CRC). She leads activities in National Estuaries Assessment and Management. This involves the classification of Australian estuaries, and the assessment of their condition and use to support estuary management.

Andrew Petroeschevsky currently works for the Department of Natural Resources and Mines as a Project Officer (Community Marine Monitoring) and contributes to research tasks in the Coastal CRC. Prior to this Andrew had worked in North Queensland for 2.5 years as a Catchment Management Coordinator. Andrew has spent the last 15 months developing the estuarine monitoring manual.

*********************************************************************
Kempson, Susan and Laraine Bowles

Crime analysis using GIS

In the 2000-01 television season, ESRI helped out behind the scenes of the
Channel 9 TV show "The District." This weekly drama looks at police work in
Washington DC, and the methods brought in by a new police chief. During its
inaugural season, each episode of "The District" included attention to the
kinds of geographic analyses that police do. It was the first prime-time
television show to use a geographic information system each and every week.

ESRI created a 5-minute video titled "GIS on The District, First Season".
The video, narrated by Lynne Thigpen (who plays Ella Farmer on "The
District"), walks through many of the basic concepts of geographic thinking
using examples taken from the 2000-01 episodes.

There is also an ArcView lesson associated with the video on Arclesson (http://www.esri.com/arclessons) we could go through.

Both Laraine and Susan are part of the ESRI Australia GIS in Schools program and are active in the implementation of GIS technology in Australian schools. GIS is being used to develop critical thinking, spatial literacy, interdisciplinary learning and community involvement within the curriculum.

********************************************************************
Kempson, Susan and Laraine Bowles

GPS workshop.

What it involves is having teachers walk around UQ with a GPS unit.
They will mark points of interest and record each with a lat/long. Then, we go back in the computer lab and the teachers learn how to enter the GPS recordings into ArcView and make a map. The point is to show teachers how to collect field data and import it into ArcView but we do it in a fun way for the teacher.

Both Laraine and Susan are part of the ESRI Australia GIS in Schools program and are active in the implementation of GIS technology in Australian schools. GIS is being used to develop critical thinking, spatial literacy, interdisciplinary learning and community involvement within the curriculum.

********************************************************************

Kempson, Susan and Laraine Bowles

3. GIS IN THE GEOGRAPHY CLASSROOM: A GIS SKILL DEVELOPMENT COURSE (contained on a easy to use interactive cd rom )

This workshop will go through the award winning course developed by Malcolm McInerney. is designed to be achievable for the beginner. A simple step-by-step GIS skill development process is at the core of the course. The course has been tested extensively in several schools in South Australia and is presently being used in up to 120 schools across Australia.

*********************************************************************
Parkinson, Sue and Judy Smeed

Development of a Geography course of study for Year 9 and 10

The Geography Teachers Association was commissioned to write the Geography elaborations for the Geo-SOSE syllabus. This session will show how to turn the elaborations into a work program for your school.

Sue is the President of GTAQ and Senior Geography teacher at Brisbane SHS. Judy is a long time Council member of GTAQ and is Deputy Principal at Marist Brothers College, Ashgrove.

*********************************************************************

Parsons, Terry

Sustainable South Africa

Cultural identities- an outsider's perspective of the "new"
South Africa
safari parks- how do these work & future opportunities
AusAid project- one effort that has really proven sustainable

A Geography teacher who tends to "get lost" on the way to school. Last year Terry ended up in South Africa, partly to support an AusAid project & partly as a tourist. Terry is currently HOD at Harristown SHS; and has previously taught in NSW, Western Samoa & other sites over the past 30 years.

*********************************************************************
Prowd, Terry

Introducing GIS into the Classroom - A Practical Perspective
This seminar aims to provide a practical guide into introducing GIS into the classroom environment. The presenter draws upon recent experiences gained as part of the "GIS in Schools project". This project was funded by QSIIC and sponsored by EQ, and revolved around developing an integrated resource including data , software and training materials aimed at assisting classroom teachers to come to grips with GIS technology. As an introduction, the attendees will be given a guided tour of the project, and the outcomes. This will be followed by some practical demonstrations of building up a GIS for use in the classroom. The session will look at using real datasets available from the public domain and provide a practical demonstration of the process required to make this data useable in a classroom situation.
Terry Prowd is a director of Cottrell Cameron & Steen Surveys Pty Ltd, a private company which operates in the Spatial Data Industry. Most recently he was instrumental in gaining grant funding (with Centenary SHS) to assist in the implementation of GIS in the school.

*********************************************************************

Prowd, Terry

Using the Internet as a Data Source for your GIS
This hands on workshop will look at a number of useful internet sites which can provide a data source for GIS in the classroom. This will include both sites that provide data and sites that can be used without the need for any GIS software. As well as looking at the sites, the session will investigate various data formats and provide some strategies for converting this data for use in ArcView 3.2 GIS.
Terry Prowd is a director of Cottrell Cameron & Steen Surveys Pty Ltd, a private company which operates in the Spatial Data Industry. Most recently he was instrumental in gaining grant funding (with Centenary SHS) to assist in the implementation of GIS in the school

********************************************************************

Richards, Kathleen

Feeding the World's People

This session will examine Core Unit 4 in the Geography Senior Syllabus. It will expose the myths of world hunger, examine the impacts of hunger on other aspects of development, address global patterns of production and consumption, farming practices, and the use of river water for irrigation. It will include a preview of the new VEA video "Feeding Nine Billion" which presents some initiatives being taken in various parts of the world to move to more sustainable agriculture.

Kathleen Richards is a teacher who is currently working for GLC as the Education Officer. The Global Learning Centre incorporates a library for Teachers in such areas as social justice, environmental issues, aid and development, and globalisation. Kathleen also provides Professional Development and support to teachers in schools across Qld who become members of the Global Learning Centre.

*********************************************************************
Richards, Kathleen

People, Development and Social Environments

This session will look at some of the themes in Core Units 3, 5, and 6 of the Geography Senior Syllabus. This will include the inter-related nature of global development, contrasts between places and their standards of living, and different physical and human factors influencing the development of sustainable communities including a look at the concept of governance.

Case studies and tools will include an examination of the Pacific WEBQUEST, and a section of the video "Transforming the City" which addresses some examples of sustainable urban planning.

Richards, Kathleen

Exploring SOSE resources and teaching materials.

This session will look at resources, videos, and teaching materials which can be used with the SOSE syllabus. It will make connections between SOSE outcomes and the resources available. All resources that will be examined are available to teachers throughout Qld for borrowing, (on becoming a member of the Global Learning Centre library) or available for sale through publishers/GLC.

*********************************************************************
Rouen, Marcia

Promoting the studies of Asia in SOSE and Geography

1. Overview of the curriculum emphases of studies of Asia
2. An examination of the links between the curriculum emphases of studies of Asia and the "Studies of Society and Environment Years 1 to 10 Syllabus"
3. Resources to support the development of school-devised curriculum units with a studies of Asia focus
4. A brief overview of the text "Asia Counts" which promotes a numeracy in studies of Asia
5. A display of Access Asia resources suitable for the secondary SOSE/Geography classroom

Marcia Rouen is co-author of a series of texts for the SOSE syllabus. Marcia is the Asia Education Foundation link person in Queensland and works in the Education Services Directorate as the Acting Senior Education Officer ( SOSE )

*********************************************************************

ROYDHOUSE, Clive TOPIC: SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Traditional farming methods in Australia have resulted over time in high productivity of valued commodities, and environmental degradation. If this trend continues, the biologists who predict Australia could eventually become a net importer of food may just be right. New understandings which stress the natural environment as the essential vehicle within which food production occurs are emerging in farming communities and are gradually being adopted. Abbotsleigh Citrus is an award-winning Queensland company whose innovative example of sustainable agricultural practices has gained national and international acclaim. Environmental elements such as land, soil, water, air, energy, waste and biodiversity will be explored in this workshop/seminar with reference to the Abbotsleigh Citrus example of sustainable agriculture. Links to the classroom will be examined by reference to Queensland curriculum and students' needs to understand and embrace sustainability principles generally.

After several years devoted to travel and working overseas, Clive Roydhouse specialised in Geography at James Cook University before a successful career in Queensland high schools. A former member of GATQ, Clive has managed his own citrus company for five years and since early 2001 has assisted Abbotsleigh Citrus in a range of projects encompassing on-farm research, public education regarding sustainable development, and liaison with environmental organisations.

*********************************************************

Smerdon, Russell

Senior Geography in Queensland - for teachers who have never taught senior Geography in this state.

This workshop is aimed at the following:
- teachers new to Queensland and teaching senior Geography
- teachers who have not taught senior Geography for some years
- first year teachers who want to know more about the senior Geography course
- Heads of Social Science departments who are non-Geographers.
The workshop will explore the syllabus, in particular the use of the inquiry process, the themes [what to teach/the flexibility of the syllabus] and assessment [what techniques/conditions of assessment etc]. Other general information will be imparted all with the intention of bringing people 'up to speed' with teaching the subject in this state.
Please bring along the syllabus and your school work program.

If you don't know who Russell is, you need to go to this session. No questions asked just be there.

*********************************************************

FINAL KEYNOTE SESSION

Frank Manthey, Bilby Ranger, Charleville

If you missed the launch of the 'Save the Bilby' video by the Wildlife Preservation
Society, this is your opportunity to meet the person behind the scenes and see the video AND with luck a live bilby. The story of how and why an area of western Queensland has been set aside as a reserve for bilbies is important for Senior Geography teachers for several Senior units. This will be a great opportunity to receive information first hand.

;