Experience lightning, an earthquake and a cyclone, and best of all, live to tell the tale! The Awesome Earth Gallery at Questacon is a fun and interactive way to learn about the sciences of geology and meteorology, and the concepts of convection, wave motion and energy transfer. It is an ideal way to provide experiences to help students develop knowledge, skills and understandings directly relevant to the National Profiles in Science and Studies of Society and Environment.
Click to open the interactive QuickTime panorama
Awesome Earth caters well for the Earth and Beyond strand of the Science Curriculum Profile for Australian Schools. Many exhibits are also applicable to the Natural and Processed Materials strand. There is ample opportunity for students to develop skills relevant to the Working Scientifically strand, as they observe, interpret and apply their observations to other situations. Awesome Earth is a valuable resource which can be used to supplement classroom science. We have also prepared links between Awesome Earth and NSW primary (science and HSISE) and secondary (science) curricula.
The Awesome Earth exhibition demonstrates the application of science and is also linked to many other curriculum strands.
Awesome Earthcan be applied to Studies of Society and Environment through the Place and Space strand as well as the Natural and Social Systems strand. Mathematics and Technology can be examined through the exhibition with investigation into the devices used for measuring seismic and meteorological activity. A visit to the Awesome Earth exhibition can also be used as a basis of communications in English or the Arts.
Using some of these before a visit helps to focus students for more effective learning during the visit. The activities may also be used after a visit to reinforce or build upon concepts discovered during their visit.
The gallery activities provided require students to search for links between exhibits. This encourages them to experiment with the exhibits and to read the explanations more carefully.
Many activities provide starters for extension work. Learning is enhanced if students are required to use their Questacon experiences in communication and practical activities when they return to school. If each group of students is allocated a different activity, they can share their experiences and discoveries on return. By actively using the exhibits, students can obtain a better understanding of particular concepts and have better knowledge retention.
For the activity ‘What’s the link?’, students should be asked to explain their responses – there may be more than one correct response!
| Exhibition Resource |  PDF |
|---|---|
| Download All (Zip Archives) |  188 kB |
| Exhibit Summary | 76 kB |
| National Profile Primary Links | 29 kB |
| National Profile Secondary Links | 23 kB |
| NSW Primary Links | 15 kB |
| NSW Secondary Links | 10 kB |
| Other Curriculum Links | 35 kB |
| In-school Activities | 22 kB |
| In-exhibition Activities | 8 kb |
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