1995 Teacher Winners
Categories:
Primary
Jorie Manefield
Beecroft Primary School, NSW
Jorie Manefield teaches at Beecroft Primary School in NSW and has been active and involved in science education in her various schools for over twenty years.
As a primary school teacher, Jorie has been extremely successful in implementing science programs in her schools which demonstrate not only her ability to set and achieve her own goals, but also her ability to convince other staff members of the value of science education.
Secondary
Ian Watkins
Balwyn High
Ian Watkins is a secondary school teacher at Balwyn High. He developed a novel approach to strengthen links between his school and feeder primary schools to ease the transition of primary school students to their new high school.
The fantastic Racer Program involves some 300 students from 6 local primary schools in a challenge to design, build and race a fan-propelled model car.
The program allows both students and teachers to develop confidence in the areas of energy, force and motion, while enabling students to become familiar with their next school.
The Fantastic Racers program is just one aspect of a multi-faceted approach to Ian's innovative science teaching. He also organises a female Engineer-in-Residence Program which uses recently graduated female engineers to present lessons to Year 8 students and promote engineering and science career choices.
Part of this program was the establishment of an Energy Centre, a science room focusing on the hands-on activities and the demonstration of alternative energy production technologies such as a wind-powered computer station and a portable solar powered telephone station.
In 1994 Ian also ran an extremely successful extension program for higher achieving Year 11 students at Balwyn High.
Curriculum Development
Warren Irwin
John Wycliffe Christian School
Warren teaches chemistry to junior secondary students at the John Wycliffe Christian School.
With the development of curriculum materials to provide a new and innovative approach to chemistry theory, Warren sought to overcome the challenge of students unable to see the relevance of chemistry to their everyday lives.
Warren's program has been well-received at both local and overseas science education conferences.
At the heart of his approach is a folder of 170 transparent cards which are used in conjunction with a series of 80 worksheets and a teachers manual.
The cards provide students with a fun and interactive way of exploring the structure of atoms and the principles governing how they interact.
Warren committed over 2,000 hours of writing, research and experimentation to the developments of this resource.
He aims to introduce his approach to schools around Australia and overseas to help create a chemistry literate population, making the basic principles of chemistry easier for all to grasp.
Science Teacher Award
Mathew McClosky
Birchgrove Public School
Mathew McCloskey is in his second year of teaching. He teaches at Birchgrove Public School, and with the establishment of a Science Club open to Years 4, 5 and 6, Mathew has endeavoured to bring students an enthusiasm for science, an appreciation of its variety and an understanding of its hands-on nature.
A major project of the Science Club is the Nature Refuge and Study Area which is based on a series of carefully researched scientific studies carried out by students. The purpose of this project is to attract birdlife into the school environment.
Mathew has also introduced several imaginative classroom innovations. An example is a four week Year 1 segment entitled 'Fish' which involves the teacher arriving to class clad in fisherman's gear with a bucket of assorted sea creatures which students sort and classify.
In addition to abovementioned activities, Mathew also organised a two-week long Celebration of Science across the school. This included a visit from the CSIRO Science Education Centre, and a major hands-on Science Show.