Chemistry educators from Deakin and Macquarie Universities are developing hands-on activities for lower secondary and upper primary school children, that illustrate the importance of chemistry for sustainability, and that will celebrate both the International Year of the Periodic Table (IYPT) of chemical elements and the positive impact that Indigenous communities have had in sustaining Australia’s environment. The IYPT provides a perfect opportunity to implement community engagement activities to re-position the public image of chemistry, from one that currently suffers from the consequences of large-scale uptake of its previous successes such as plastic waste and polluting industrial plants, to one that has embraced the principles of sustainability. The project draws upon experiences from the successful National Indigenous Science Education Program (NISEP). The activities are also being designed in collaboration with scientists undertaking cutting-edge chemical sciences research on sustainability.
Team members:
• Dr. Seamus Delaney,
• Dr. Madeleine Schultz (School of Life & Environmental Sciences),
• Associate Professor Joanne Jamie (Macquarie University; Director of National Indigenous Science Education Program).
Funding body: This project is funded by an Australian National Commission for UNESCO grant at Deakin.
