Certificate

of
Appreciation
2015
Presented to

Natasha Male

for

participation as a Scientist Mentor in

MyScience

What MyScience mentoring involves

MyScience is an award-winning program that brings in people (with science knowledge) to
support the teaching of science in primary schools. The program encourages primary students
to undertake an open-ended, hands-on scientific investigation, and to communicate their
findings to their school community at a Science Fair.
A MyScience mentor volunteers their time and science expertise by attending an orientation
session followed by 3 visits to a primary school, each lasting 60-90 minutes. Each mentor works
with a small group of 4-6 primary students (grouped into twos or threes) and typically therefore
supports two or three different science investigations around a class theme. Students are
usually in Years 3-6.
Mentor-student relationships develop during the school visits and new knowledge is learned
through participation in the MyScience community of practice. Participant interactions are based
on encouragement, discussion, openness, mutual trust, respect and a willingness to share
ideas. Mentors:
assist students in their understanding of the scientific investigation process and the
science underpinning their topics,
share their interest and expertise, inspiring student interest in science and enhancing
appreciation of its presence in everyday life,
collaborate with teachers to tailor support to meet students interests, knowledge and
abilities,
facilitate students understanding of the scientific nature of tasks through group
discussion, especially in areas such as fair testing, critical thinking, scientific method and
teamwork,
enable students to reinforce the strengths of their ideas for investigations as well as
explore areas for development.
We are most appreciative of the time and expertise that MyScience mentors have contributed to
the advancement of primary science education.

Dr Anne Forbes
MyScience Convenor