Our delicate ecosystem

The Zizeeria Maha or Pale Blue Grass Butterfly has experienced inter-generational genetic changes due to nuclear radiation from the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Balancing technology and impact

In viewing artistic and scientific responses this workshop analyses the ethics of nuclear technologies in the content of the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011.

Science as artistic expression

Communicating science through art Ken and Julia Yonetani create artistic responses to the impact of nuclear technologies on the environment.

Image: Ken + Julia Yonetani, Crystal Palace: The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nuclear Nations 2012-13, metal, UV lighting, uranium glass. ©︎ Ken + Julia Yonetani. Courtesy of Mizuma Art Gallery.

Workshop overview

Year level 9-10
Capacity 16-32 students. If you want to bring more students, email highschool.workshops@qut.edu.au
When School days: Monday-Friday
Duration Full-day (Years 9 - 10)
Where QUT Gardens Point, Science and Engineering Centre
Cost Free (Late cancellation fees apply. Please see terms and conditions).

Workshop details

“To develop a complete mind: study the science of art; study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.” 

Leonardo da Vinci

Cosmos magazine said in 2018 that “the collision of arts and science is an ancient practice, it’s embedded into our daily lives and the key to engaging future audiences.”

This is the basis of this new workshop which brings together art and science to discuss the science of nuclear technologies, their impact on the environment, the ethics of these technologies and creative ways to communicate such technologies to a broad audience.

Students will explore concepts outside of the Australian curriculum, through the application of nuclear physics in medicine, industry, space exploration, nuclear weapons and nuclear disasters.

Students will also cover a broad range of disciplines including science (chemistry, physics, biological sciences) and visual arts through an exploration of key concepts and activities. Students will:

  • Explore the inter-connectedness of art and science as a means of communicating using historical and current QUT research as stimulus
  • Learn how science and art can be used to communicate important scientific discoveries, health messages and current issues in a range of formats to different audiences
  • Explore how visual artists use art and science to communicate concerns about nuclear technologies
  • Learn about positive and negative aspects of nuclear technologies and impacts on humans and the environment using  microscopes to explore cell mutations.
  • Explore the differences between artistic and scientific analysis by making art as a response to their research on nuclear technologies and develop a scientific hypothesis from artistic stimuli
  • Explore ethical dilemmas of nuclear technologies with an artistic response expressed through a variety of media e.g. collage, posters, sculpture, poetry etc

This workshop was developed in partnership between QUT STEM High School Engagement and the QUT Art Museum.

Book this workshop

We're fully booked for terms 1 and 2 and unable to take any further bookings.

Subscribe to our mailing list for the release of term 3 and 4 workshop availability.

Curriculum links

Science

Year 9

  • Scientific understanding, including models and theories, is contestable and is refined over time through a process of review by the scientific community (ACSHE157)
  • People use scientific knowledge to evaluate whether they accept claims, explanations or predictions, and advances in science can affect people’s lives, including generating new career opportunities (ACSHE160)
  • Formulate questions or hypotheses that can be investigated scientifically (ACSIS164)
  • Select and use appropriate equipment, including digital technologies, to collect and record data systematically and accurately (ACSIS166)
  • Analyse patterns and trends in data, including describing relationships between variables and identifying inconsistencies (ACSIS169)
  • Use knowledge of scientific concepts to draw conclusions that are consistent with evidence (ACSIS170)
  • Communicate scientific ideas and information for a particular purpose, including constructing evidence-based arguments and using appropriate scientific language, conventions and representations (ACSIS174)
  • Multi-cellular organisms rely on coordinated and interdependent internal systems to respond to changes to their environment (ACSSU175)
  • Ecosystems consist of communities of interdependent organisms and abiotic components of the environment; matter and energy flow through these systems (ACSSU176)
  • All matter is made of atoms that are composed of protons, neutrons and electrons; natural radioactivity arises from the decay of nuclei in atoms (ACSSU177)
  • Chemical reactions, including combustion and the reactions of acids, are important in both non-living and living systems and involve energy transfer (ACSSU179)
  • Values and needs of contemporary society can influence the focus of scientific research (ACSHE228)

Year 10

  • Transmission of heritable characteristics from one generation to the next involves DNA and genes (ACSSU184)
  • Different types of chemical reactions are used to produce a range of products and can occur at different rates (ACSSU187)
  • People use scientific knowledge to evaluate whether they accept claims, explanations or predictions, and advances in science can affect people’s lives, including generating new career opportunities (ACSHE194)
  • Plan, select and use appropriate investigation types, including field work and laboratory experimentation, to collect reliable data; assess risk and address ethical issues associated with these methods (ACSIS199)
  • Critically analyse the validity of information in primary and secondary sources, and evaluate the approaches used to solve problems (ACSIS206)
  • Communicate scientific ideas and information for a particular purpose, including constructing evidence-based arguments and using appropriate scientific language, conventions and representations (ACSIS208)

Visual Arts

Years 9 and 10

  • Conceptualise and develop representations of themes, concepts or subject matter to experiment with their developing personal style, reflecting on the styles of artists, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists (ACAVAM125)
  • Manipulate materials, techniques, technologies and processes to develop and represent their own artistic intentions (ACAVAM126)
  • Plan and design artworks that represent artistic intention (ACAVAM128)
  • Evaluate how representations communicate artistic intentions in artworks they make and view to inform their future art making (ACAVAR130)
  • Analyse a range of visual artworks from contemporary and past times to explore differing viewpoints and enrich their visual art-making, starting with Australian artworks, including those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and consider international artworks (ACAVAR131

Contact us

Contact us if you've got questions about the High School Student Engagement program, or subscribe to our mailing list to stay up-to-date with news and events.

3138 1801