1. science
2. chemistry

VCE Chemistry Teachers’ Conference 2015
Friday 27 February 2015 at La Trobe University, Bundoora
The VCE Chemistry Teachers’ Conference is an approved professional learning activity.
Conference Program
8:00am
Registration opens
8:40am - 8:45am
Welcome - Soula Bennett, STAV and Lanna Derry, CEA
8:45am - 9:45am
Keynote Speaker 1
Professor Michael Parker
Shining a light on Alzheimer’s disease through X-ray crystallography
9:45am - 10:15am
Morning Tea/Displays
10:15am - 11:15am
Keynote Speaker 2
Dr Jason Roberts
Supercomputer Research and the Molecules of Life: Small Molecules, Big Numbers
11:20am - 12:10pm
Workshop - Session A
12:15pm - 1:00pm
Lunch/Displays
1:05pm - 1:55pm
Workshop - Session B
2:00pm - 2:55pm
VCAA 2016 Update - Maria James, VCAA
3:00pm - 3:50pm
Workshop - Session C
3:55pm - 4:40pm
Wine and Cheese sponsored by CEA
Registration information, La Trobe University map and all conference information is available on the
Science Victoria website: www.sciencevictoria.com.au/conferences.html
Science Teachers’ Association of Victoria Inc.
VCE Conference Series 2015
Postal Address: PO Box 109 Coburg VIC 3058
Phone: (03) 9385 3999 • Fax: (03) 9386 6722
Email: stav@stav.vic.edu.au • Website: www.sciencevictoria.com.au
VCE Chemistry Teachers’ Conference 2015
Keynote 1
8:45am – 9:45am
Shining a light on Alzheimer’s disease
through X-ray crystallography
Professor Michael Parker
St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research
and Department of Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology, Bio21 Molecular
Science and Biotechnology Institute,
University of Melbourne
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common
and devastating age-related disease
with no effective disease-modifying
treatments. Approximately, 34 million
people worldwide are currently afflicted
by AD and its prevalence is expected to
triple over the next 40 years as people
live longer. The mechanisms by which the
disease progresses to cognitive decline
in the sufferer are complex and not fully
understood. A defining pathological
feature is the deposition of extracellular
plaques in the brain composed primarily
of a peptide called amyloid beta (Ab): a
proteolytic breakdown product of the
much larger Amyloid Precursor Protein
(APP). Most pharmaceutical activity in AD
research has focused on Ab, its generation
and clearance from the brain.
In the late nineties I embarked on an
ambitious project, in collaboration with
Professor Colin Masters (University of
Melbourne), to determine the complete
structure of APP, a membrane-bound
receptor that appears to play a central role
in AD. At that stage little was known about
the function of APP. The structural studies
revealed that APP can function as a cell
growth factor and a copper transporter.
Copper binding was found to reduce Ab
levels, suggesting a copper mimetic may
have therapeutic potential in treating AD.
Immunotherapy targeting Ab is a
promising direction in AD research with
active and passive immunotherapies
shown to lower cerebral Ab levels and
rescue cognitive function in animal
models. They are now represent a
significant class of AD therapeutics
currently in human clinical trials. We have
been examining the molecular basis of
antibody engagement of Aβ epitopes to
inform the analysis of clinical trial data
and to guide the engineering of anti-Aβ
2
antibodies with optimised specificity and
affinity. We have so far determined the
structures of three different AD antibodies
in complex with Ab peptides. All these
studies reveal surprising aspects of Ab
peptide recognition by the antibodies and
suggest new avenues for AD antibody
development.
Professor Michael Parker is Deputy Director
of St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research
in Melbourne where he is heads its Structural
Biology Laboratory and the ACRF Rational
Drug Discovery Centre. He is an NHMRC
Senior Principal Research Fellow and a
Professorial Fellow at Melbourne University.
After obtaining his D. Phil. in protein
crystallography from Oxford University,
Michael returned to Australia to re-establish
a protein crystallography laboratory at St.
Vincent’s in 1991. The work of the laboratory
is internationally recognised with the
determination of more than 140 crystal
structures including those of membraneassociating proteins, detoxifying enzymes
and protein kinases. He has published over
300 papers and his work has been recognised
with numerous awards including the 1999
Gottschalk Medal of the Australian Academy
of Science, a 2006 Federation Fellowship
from the Australian Research Council, the
2011 Lemberg Medal of the Australian
Society for Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology, the 2011 Ramaciotti Medal for
Excellence in Biomedical Research and the
2012 Federation of Asian and Oceanian
Biochemists and Molecular Biologists Award
for Research Excellence. He was elected a
Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science
in 2010.
Morning Tea / Displays
9:45am-10:15am
Keynote 2
10:15am – 11:15am
Supercomputer Research and the
Molecules of Life: Small Molecules,
Big Numbers
Dr. Jason A. Roberts,
Senior Medical Scientist,
Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference
Laboratory,
Doherty Institute, Melbourne, Australia
Modern supercomputers are racing
forward into the “exaFLOPS” era, but
what does this mean for humankind’s
understanding of the world around them.
One area of research that has benefitted
greatly from advances in computer
science, is a field known as “computational
biophysics”. Computational biophysics
allows researchers to examine complex
atomic interactions, not only of individual
atoms, but a concert of molecules acting
together to produce the symphony of life.
In its simplest form, biological life can be
represented by the infinitesimally small
molecules know as viruses. Their small
size means that viruses are the perfect
candidate for computational biophysics
research.
Dr Jason Roberts is a Senior Medical
Scientist working with the Victorian
Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory.
Dr Roberts is a virologist with specialist
expertise in computational biology,
incorporating computational biophysics
and bioinformatics, and has a particular
interest in structural virology. Dr Roberts
has spent the last decade working with the
World Health Organizations Global Polio
Eradication Initiative and is the Deputy
Head of the Australian National Enterovirus
Reference Laboratory. He played an active
role as a consultant virologist at state,
national and international levels.
Friday 27 February 2015
Session A
11:20am-12:10pm
A1 Establishing a Culture of Success
in the Chemistry Classroom
Adele Hudson, Aitken College
Helping all students achieve success in
Chemistry can appear to be an elusive
goal. Traditionally a student’s ability level
was said to be the secret behind their
success, however, research has shown that
high achievement is more dependent on
a student’s resilience, intrinsic motivation,
and ability to embrace challenge despite
the risk of failure. Establishing a classroom
culture which embraces these ideals can
encourage students to reach for ever
higher goals. This presentation will discuss
a range of strategies and resources that
can be used in the Chemistry classroom to
enable all students to be successful.
A2 Increasing student and teacher
participation with scientists to
increase student numbers in STEM
Erola Barone-Nugent - Santa Maria
College
Olivia Hides - University of Melbourne
The uptake in science has declined, and
most noticeably in the stagnation or
declining number of girls taking physics
at secondary school. However, student
engagement in science is improved by
relevant experiences with professional
scientists. By increasing the interaction
of scientists from all disciplines
with secondary school students the
interdisciplinary nature of science and the
enabling power of the physical sciences
can be promoted. The value of career
opportunities can be highlighted to help
students make empowered decisions
about choosing to do science to year 12.
Come and learn more about increasing
girls participating in physics and science in
general.
A3 Energy Producing Devices linked
to the Major SAC in Unit 4
John Jackowski - Scotch College
Three ‘battery experiments’ will be
discussed and how to link these to a
SAC worth 50 marks. Ideas and sample
materials will be provided.
Repeated C8
A4 Rockets in chemistry and the NSC
Peter Razos - Trinity Grammar School
Magic has always fascinated us and done
properly can develop into a great unit
of work in science where chemistry and
physics takes on a whole new meaning.
This workshop is based on a semester
length, year 9-10 unit of work at Trinity
Grammar. We encourage teachers who like
to think outside the square and who would
like to be more engaging in the science
classroom to attend. It is guaranteed that
participants will come away, if not with
an entire new unit of work, with ideas
to engage and motivate their students.
Much more will be made available and
we will discuss how the ASC is integrated
in the Science of Magic. A great way to
start and see if this workshop can truly
benefit you is to go online and login with
the details below. Check it out by visiting
www.dynamicscience.com.au/tester
Enter as a student with the details below
organisationid=dynsci password= robots
A8 Teaching Chemistry to Chinese
International Students
James Kennedy and Dr Glenroy Garden Haileybury College
A5 Simplifying Chemistry through
the Application of Ratios
Leanne Batty - Whittlesea Secondary
College
Increasing numbers of first-language
Chinese students are taking VCE Chemistry.
How should we adapt our teaching styles
to provide these students with the best
possible educational experience? This
workshop will discuss the major barriers
(including cultural shocks – some of which
are quite surprising) that Chinese students
notice when they come into an Englishspeaking school. This workshop will give
you teaching strategies you can use
straight away to help Chinese-speaking
students realise their full potential in VCE
Chemistry.
Repeated as B11
A6 Inquiry learning in Chemistry and
General Science
Lanna Derry and Rowan Kidd - Tintern
Schools
This session aims to outline some of the
leading educational ideas in teaching
and how some of them have been
implemented by a practitioner in a VCE
Chemistry setting. These ideas have
come from Masters level courses at the
University of Melbourne and more recently
from a trip to the 2014 International
Conference on Chemistry Education in
Toronto sponsored by the CEA. The session
aims to explore the themes of assessment,
communication outside the classroom,
and flipped learning.
This session draws on the use of ratios
and other techniques to show a different
approach of how to teach concepts that
students find difficult at Units 1 and 2
Chemistry. The topics covered include
the mole, Avogadro’s number, converting
units of weight and pressure, solubility
and stoichiometry. This session is aimed at
teachers teaching Units 1 and 2 for the first
time or teachers looking to broaden their
teaching repertoire.
While practical work is an intrinsic part of
our Science and Chemistry courses, we
often find ourselves presenting students
with a prac in which they just have to
follow the directions. Inquiry learning
involves students in their practical work at
a range of levels. At the most sophisticated
level, students completely design the
experiment and carry it out successfully,
but this is not essential for every
experiment. We will discuss how inquiry
learning is used in classes from year 7 to
12 and will introduce you to a useful tool
to facilitate inquiry learning using portable
devices such as iPads.
A7 Teaching Unit 3 & 4 Chemistry
Drew Chan - Methodist Ladies College
Stephanie Searls - Alkira Secondary
College
FUL
This session will focus on how you
might like to teach Units 3&4 Chemistry
in 2015. Come along for some useful
information on how to set out the year
for you and your students. We will discuss
how to engage your students with prac
work, demonstrations and effective
utilisation of ICT, and how to go about
writingassessment tasks. This workshop
is targeted for first time and early careers
chemistry teachers. The workshop is being
presented by the Early Chemistry Careers
Network (ECCN), which is part of the CEA.
L
A9 Implementing Educational
Research in the Classroom
Peter Kearney - University High School
A10 Have we even learnt this?
Troy Lowe - Mooroopna Secondary College
Have you ever thought “We need more
periods of chemistry per week for my
students to deeply learn the content”? Is
more exposure really what our students
need? Can you recall the pictures that are
on both sides of the $10 note? You’ve been
exposed to this note many times, but the
details are hard to recall. Exposure does
not equal learning. When was the last time
you noticed your students demonstrating
good understanding on the chapter
questions, but performing poorly on
assessments? It turns out that some of our
most widely trusted teaching techniques
promote minimal learning. Recent
discoveries in memory research have
unlocked the most effective techniques
for learning and memory. This talk will
demonstrate some of these strategies and
give you practical tools to use in your class
today.
Repeated as B13
3
VCE Chemistry Teachers’ Conference 2015
A11 Climate change - What happened
to the Science
Keith Burrows - AIP Ed Com-Victoria
The ‘debate’ continues to rage. The Abbott
government and the Murdoch media
continue to imply that climate change is
not a threat - at least not yet, while the
Fairfax/ABC/Guardian side warns that it
is. What’s missing in all this? The SCIENCE
of climate change! There are arguments
about whether temperatures have risen in
the last decade or how fast ice is melting,
but these are actually side issues. Where is
the basic science? Fundamentally, climate
science is about the physics and chemistry
of the atmosphere and about what the
geological record tells us about changing
climates. Let’s try to fill this gap.
A12 Improve student learning using
formative assessment in the digital
environment
Misal Belvedere - Pearson Aust. & Penny
Commons - CEA
Pearson has developed Pearson Lightbook
- a new senior secondary digital resource
for the VCE Chemistry Syllabus designed
based on best practice research into
teaching and learning. It combines
traditional offline content including
textbook content, workbooks, study
guides, exam preparation material and
more into an interactive learner-focused
digital resource. Hear how our research
has led us to develop a product focused
on improving learning with formative
assessment, instant feedback and content
presented in multi-modal formats to best
suit all types of learners. Participants will
see a demo and be able to interact with
the product during the session.
Repeated as B6
A13 Chemistry Experiments that work!
David Barnett - Simonds Catholic College
Chelsea Drennan - Simonds Catholic
College
Participants will gain \’hands on\’
experience of two experiments that are
guaranteed to work!
1. Electroplating (application – Unit 4
Chemistry). A copper electroplating
experiment is set up producing
high quality copper foil that can be
weighed to determine the ‘current
efficiency’ of an electrolytic cell using
Faraday’s Laws.
2. Determining the empirical formula
of an oxide of copper by reduction
(application – Unit 1 Chemistry).
Copper oxide is reduced by a stream
of methane gas to elemental copper,
enabling the exact empirical formula
of the oxide to be determined.
Sessions include notes about
equipment required and a simple
glass blowing demonstration of how
to turn a large pyrex test tube into a
copper oxide reduction vessel.
Repeated as B10
4
A14 Elements of NMR A novell
method of teaching NMR
Marino Dereani - Eutectic Educational
A new approach of teaching the
fundamentals of Nuclear Magnetic
Resonance Spectroscopy using an iPad
and our new dedicated app. Eutectic
Educational has entered into a new phase
of development by launching the first
of a series of intended apps for iPad and
Android devices. The new age approach
to teaching chemical principles using
state of the art devices. Elements of NMR
is out first app and is specifically designed
for the iPad viewing area. Its navigation is
intuitive and the graphic content simply
represented and easily understood. We
feel it\’s a must for all Chemictry teachers
and their students at a fraction of the price.
Great teaching tool and something to
refresh your memory at revision time.
Repeated as B4
Lunch/Displays
12:15pm - 1:00pm
Session B
1:05pm-1:55pm
B1 Creative Teaching and
Assessment in Year 11 VCE Chemistry
Colleen Clift and Miriam Beasy Methodist Ladies’ College
FUL
Would you like your students to think
more critically? Would you like to help
them link concepts from different areas
of their Chemistry course? In this session
a selection of teaching and assessment
strategies used in Year 11 VCE Chemistry
will be shared.
Repeated as C3
L
B2 Chemistry through the media,
animations, video and all online
Peter Razos - Trinity Grammar School
Chemistry will truly come to life for
participants in this workshop. Participants
will be given total access to this very useful
online resource containing worksheets
curriculum material, assessment tasks as
well as online testing. Not only will we
cover the chemistry and in this website but
also how chemistry is introduced in units
of work such as The Science of Magic and
The Science of Conflict, just to name a few.
Much more will be made available and
we will discuss how the ASC is integrated
in the units. Check out how Science is
covered Trinity in years 9 and 10. A great
way to start and see if this workshop can
truly benefit you is to go online and login
with the details below. Check it out by
visiting www.dynamicscience.com.au/
tester Enter as a student with the details
below organisationid=dynsci password=
robots
B3 Flipped classroom
Pat O’Shea - Loreto College Ballarat
As more and more students arrive in
classes with some form of computer,
teachers have the opportunity to tap
into this technology by flipping their
classroom. There are a number of different
packages available that allow you to make
video packages of subject content. These
videos can work as ways of introducing
content before the class meets a topic
or they can be a means of revision. This
session looks at some of the more popular
packages associated with classroom video
making.
B4 Elements of NMR A novell
method of teaching NMR
Marino Dereani - Eutectic Educational
Repeat of A14
B5 My favourite classroom
demonstrations
Mick Moylan - University of Melbourne
Demonstrations are such a useful and
exciting part of chemistry teaching,
but it can be difficult to perform a
demonstration for the first time without
seeing someone else do it first. Mick is
the University of Melbourne’s Chemistry
Outreach Fellow and is a very keen
demonstrator in schools and in the
University’s lectures. He will be performing
some of his favourites and will distribute a
booklet complete with instructions, safety
tips and supplier hints.
Repeated as C7
B6 Improve student learning using
formative assessment in the digital
environment
Misal Belvedere - Pearson Aust. & Penny
Commons - CEA
Repeat of A12
B7 Discovering Chemistry at Ecolinc
Jacqui Slattery - Ecolinc Science
can
cel
Ecolinc is a Department of Education and
Training (DET) Science Specialist Centre
situated in Bacchus Marsh (www.ecolinc.
vic.edu.au) Ecolinc offers a range of
whole day VCE Chemistry SAC programs.
This session will overview all of Ecolinc’s
VCE Chemistry SAC programs including
Unit 1 AoS 2 Materials (bonding and
nanotechnology), Unit 2 AoS 1 Water
(including use of the AAS), Unit 2 AoS 2
The Atmosphere (including use of the
UV-Vis) and Unit 3 AoS 1 Chemical Analysis
(incorporating use of the AAS, UV-Vis and
IR spectrophotometers to analyse calcium,
protein and other components of milk).
Repeated as C6
led
Friday 27 February 2015
B8 VCE Chemistry at Quantum
Victoria
Cressida Byrne and Carlie Alexander,
Quantum Victoria
Quantum Victoria is an innovative Centre
bringing science and mathematics to
life for students, teachers and the wider
community. Participants attending this
workshop will receive an overview of
the VCE Chemistry programs offered at
Quantum Victoria. These include our Unit 1
& 2 program, “The Art of Nanotechnology”
and our online resource for Unit 1 & 2
Chemistry. All Quantum Victoria VCE
Chemistry programs have an associated
SAC, which is linked to the VCAA VCE
Chemistry Study Design.
B9 Being Creative in Science
Kieran Lim - Deakin University
Many scientific concepts are difficult
to learn because they are foreign to
our everyday experiences. None of our
students (or teachers) has actually seen
an atom, travelled a light-year or lived
through the Black Plague. Any of the
textbook examples and analogies are
not suitable for todays’ students, who are
more familiar with computer games than
bicycles or backyard games. This session
will model the use of new examples and
analogies, which can engage students by
making use of familiar objects and 21st
century experiences.
FUL
B10 Chemistry Experiments that work!
David Barnett - Simonds Catholic College
Chelsea Drennan - Simonds Catholic
College
Repeat of A13
L
B11 Teaching Chemistry to Chinese
International Students
James Kennedy and Dr Glenroy Garden Haileybury College
Repeat of A8
B12 Simulated Drug Testing using
HPLC
Philip Ponder - Penleigh & Essendon
Grammar School
FUL
An easy to use program, available free on
the web, allows students to test 3 athletes
for caffeine and anabolic steroids using
simulated HPLC. Both qualitative and
quantitative analysis can be performed.
Calibration graphs can be produced using
standards of different concentration, and
the effect on Retention Time of changing
column length is easily investigated. With
a quick introduction, this is a suitable
exercise for use in Flipping the Classroom.
L
B13 Have we even learnt this?
Troy Lowe - Mooroopna Secondary College
Repeat of A10
B14 “Or wilt thou go ask the Mole?”
William Blake (The Book of Thel)
Peter Marks - Retired Teacher
The session would be useful for
inexperienced VCE Chemistry teachers,
or those teachers who would like to think
more about uniform approaches to the
mole. It will trace the development of one
method of teaching the mole from the
definition and its interpretation describing
elementary entities and mass in unit one,
to enthalpy changes and Faraday’s laws in
Unit 4.
VCAA Update
2:00pm-2:55pm
VCAA Update of the 2016 VCAA Study
Design; Scientific posters, Teaching
environmental science
Maria James - VCAA
C4 Useful Classroom Resources from
The Skeptics
Ken Greatorex - Australian SkepticsVictoria Branch
The Australian Skeptics would like to offer
a range of information and activities to
assist you with your classroom preparation.
C5 Inquiry-based Learning
Kieran Lim, Deakin University
The new AusVELS and Australian
Curriculum emphasises inquiry-based
teaching and learning, but there seems
to be confusing information about what
this is. This presentation will review the
nature of Inquiry-based Learning, which
can be viewed as a continuum from
teacher-centred activities to studentcentred activities. Inquiry-based learning
is not always appropriate, and the desired
extent of student-centred-ness depends
on the judgement of the teacher. An
interactive session will focus on inquirybased learning and the criteria for finding
the balance between teacher-centred and
student-centred activities.
cancelled
Session C
C6 Discovering Chemistry at Ecolinc
Jacqui Slattery - Ecolinc Science
C1 Meet the Assessors
Chris Dwyer - Vermont Secondary College
C7 My favourite classroom
demonstrations
Mick Moylan - University of Melbourne
3:00pm-3:50pm
Chris Dwyer will discuss his Assessor’s
Report for the 2013 end of year exam
including both Units 3 and 4
C2 The Science of Magic
Peter Razos - Trinity Grammar School
Magic has always fascinated us and done
properly can develop into a great unit
of work in science where chemistry and
physics takes on a whole new meaning.
This workshop is based on a semester
length, year 9-10 unit of work at Trinity
Grammar. We encourage teachers who like
to think outside the square and who would
like to be more engaging in the science
classroom to attend. It is guaranteed that
participants will come away, if not with
an entire new unit of work, with ideas
to engage and motivate their students.
Much more will be made available and
we will discuss how the ASC is integrated
in the Science of Magic. A great way to
start and see if this workshop can truly
benefit you is to go online and login with
the details below. Check it out by visiting
www.dynamicscience.com.au/tester
Enter as a student with the details below
organisationid=dynsci password= robots
C3 Creative Teaching and
Assessment in Year 11 VCE Chemistry
Colleen Clift and Miriam Beasy Methodist Ladies’ College
Repeat of B1
Repeat of B7
Repeat of B5
C8 Energy Producing Devices linked
to the Major SAC in Unit 4
John Jackowski - Scotch College
Repeat of A3
C9 Teaching Units 1 & 2 Chemistry
Alison McGregor Scoresby S.C, Carolyn
Drenen Taylors Lakes S.C.
This session will focus on how you might
like to teach Units 1 and 2 Chemistry
in 2015. Come along for some useful
information on how to sequence the year
from a teacher and student perspective.
We will work through Unit outlines
including ideas for engaging students
with practical activities, demonstrations,
writing risk assessments for the laboratory
and developing SAC tasks. This workshop
is targeted for Graduate and Early Career
Chemistry Teachers. The workshop is
being presented by the Early Chemistry
Careers Network (ECCN), which is part of
the Chemistry Education Association. The
session is targeted at Yr. 11 VCE Teachers
but other Science teachers (of Yr. 9 & 10)
are also welcome to attend.
Wine & Cheese sponsored by CEA
3:55pm – 4:40pm
5