We are pretty proud of our teachers. So we want to take this moment to share some of the awesome work our Science teachers are doing at the moment...

Meet Jody Lawson - a fabulous teacher who stepped out of her comfort zone to present to her peers about VCE Biology! Below is a snapshot of what happened...

Where did you go?

I went to Melbourne University to co-present a workshop at the STAV (Science Teachers Association of Victoria) VCE Biology Conference with another teacher from Port Melbourne Secondary College. It was the first time that I had presented in large lecture theatres so that was a little nerve-wracking!

Who did you see?

I saw over 120 other VCE biology teachers from around the state - some were tuning in virtually and some were in the lecture theatre with us.

What did you talk about?

We talked about how to use bioinformatics in VCE Biology. It sounds scary but it is just being able to access DNA sequences for most organisms from a computer database, and then presenting that data in phylogenetic trees to illustrate how closely they are related. We can then use graphic design programs to make the phylogenetic trees pretty or highlight key relationships that we want students to focus on.

Favourite thing about the experience?

Challenging myself to do something that I hadn't done before, and also getting positive feedback throughout the day from other teachers about how we'd made them more comfortable with using those online tools.