The Arkansas Science Teachers Association (ASTA) began in the 1940's.  It main purpose was to support science education in Arkansas.  Today our mission is to increase our membership in the lower grades, seek partnership with other curriculum areas, continue to seek cooperation between all K-16 levels in science education, advance the quality of science education in our state’s schools, Build a Presence for Science, and support state and national science education standards.

The Science section of AEA began meeting annually in the late 1940's, during the AEA state meeting, in the courtroom of the Pulaski County Courthouse.  ASTA first started as a subcommittee of AEA and there were AEA science officers and ASTA officers in the beginning.  The first discussions of forming state science teachers’ organization began at Hanks Dog House restaurant in Little Rock.  JoAnne Rife, the state's first Presidential Awardee in Science Teaching, was present at this meeting.  ASTA came into being in 1959 or 1960 as a result of these meetings.