Science teachers go back to school

A number of South West science teachers wound back the clock and immersed themselves in learning on Monday as part of the Spice resource workshop program at Bunbury Catholic College.

The hands-on workshops gave teachers a chance to learn about everadvancing science technologies, including electrophoresis, which assists in viewing DNA.

University ofWestern Australia science curriculum consultant Pauline Charman said she was amazed at how far technology had come over the years.

‘‘In the past this was only something that was done at university level but now it’s all part of the high school curriculum,’’ Ms Charman said.

‘‘I have been teaching for 30 years and we had nothing at all like this, we used to talk about a DNA molecule as a picture in a book.

‘‘Now we can actually handle DNA, we can show it visually with equipment and handle it, which is just so exciting.’’

Head of science at Bunbury Catholic College, Annabel Kanakis, said the workshops helpedteachers keep up with the changing technologies in science.