The school theme for National Science Week in 2024 is Species Survival – More than just sustainability. The theme aims to highlight the importance of science and innovation in ensuring the survival and thriving of different species in an ever-changing world.

Students will have an amazing variety of topics to investigate and be able to dive into issues of particular interest to them: disease-causing organisms, life-saving chemicals, clean water, photosynthesis, genetic screening, physics of building structures, artificial intelligence, and microplastics.

Dr Brendan Barrett, Executive Director of the Australian Science Teachers Association (ASTA) said:

“Our goal is to empower students to think critically about the impact of human activities on species survival, enabling them to understand the breadth of the climate change issue beyond the need for solar panels and recycling. Scientists all over the globe are undertaking amazing work in this area. It is important that students and the community at large can see this work and understand how it is relevant to them.”

Teaching Resource Book

Download the free Species Survival teacher resource book (17.5 MB, pdf) and the companion student journal (4.8MB, pdf). There is also a flipbook version of the resource book. A listing of the web links in the book is also available if you are using a printed copy of the book.

There are a lot of ways you can get your students, class, year level, school and community involved in National Science Week. Your participation can be as simple as a display in the school library, a Brain Break quiz event or as complex as a whole-school science fair.

Here are some hints and tips (484 kB, pdf) for holding a great National Science Week event at your school.