By CASEY NEILL
DANDENONG North teacher Judith Sise loves science.
And her work to share that passion with students at Lyndale Greens Primary School has earned her a national award.
The BHP Billiton Science Teacher Award recognises teachers who engage students and contribute to science education in the wider community.
Nominees from each state got together to share ideas and Ms Sise – the only primary teacher – was selected to attend the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in the USA in May.
“It’s very uplifting when it’s said that you do something that’s very good and you make a difference to kids and science,” she said.
“It was a big pat on the back.”
Ms Sise will take four winning Australian students to the fair.
“I can tap into science conferences that are run alongside it for teachers,” she said.
“I can see all the work students can do across the world.”
She still vividly remembers one high school zoology class where she dissected a dogfish.
“From then on I was hooked,” she said.
A class trip to chase creatures across mangroves was the icing on the cake.
“To me, that’s what kids should do,” she said.
“I thought ‘this is the way you learn, you don’t just sit in labs’.
“There’s lots of kids who come back to tell me that they love science, and they’ve gone on to study it.”
Ms Sise has collected a wealth of experience through volunteering to help the environment, working with councils, partnering with Melbourne Water and collaborating with science teachers from primary level to university.
“My big thing to tell the other teachers was keeping a sense of awe and wonder,” she said.
“Every time I meet a scientist or a Nobel Prize winner, it’s their sense of curiosity and awe and wonder that hits you.
“That’s what I think kids have to keep.”
She combines investigations and group work with art, drama, maths, writing and more.
“For children to actually learn science you have to think it through, act it out, paint it and draw it and talk about it,” she said.
“You never teach the same lessons twice because kids ask different questions.”
