In a teaching laboratory at the Australian National University's Research School of Biology, 36 10- and 11-year-olds spent the week expanding their horizons.
They took a microscope to samples of Sullivan's Creek water, drew natural dyes from vegetables, and tried out a variety of other experiments as part of a STEM enrichment program introducing Tuggeranong primary school students to science.
On the second day, they were visited by Governor-General Sam Mostyn, who donned a lab coat to speak with the students about their experiments.
The program has been run by Bonython Primary School teacher Sarah Fletcher annually for 13 years. "It's amazing to have the Governor-General here," she said.
"Having a national leader show up and to encourage kids to pursue science is so important, especially for the girls who get to see a woman in a leadership position."
Ms Fletcher, a specialist science teacher, has been running the STEM enrichment program for 13 years. Previously a science student at the ANU and later a scientist, she said that high school is often too late to inspire a love for science in students.
"When I started teaching in the Tuggeranong region, I realised that not a lot of kids had exposure to information about how to get into university, let alone be a scientist," she said.
"They think you need to be a genius to be a scientist, thinking 'I could never do that', and I wanted to dispel that myth."
Ms Fletcher gathered a team of 12 high school students from Namadgi School to volunteer as mentors for primary school students from Namadgi, as well as Bonython Primary School, Monash Primary School and Taylor Primary School.
"It's often the kids who I can see have the questions, but not necessarily the confidence in their own ability," she said.
Eloise, a year 6 student from Bonython Primary School, was fascinated by examining water insects under a microscope in the lab. "It's really opening my mind," she said.
"I'm just super excited that I might have a chance to come here one day."
Evelyn, a year 10 student mentor from Namadgi School, said the program allowed younger students to consider science as a career path before committing to other interests in high school.
"You don't get to do hands-on stuff like this in primary school," she said. "You usually have to wait until high school, when people have already figured out what they want to do after school."
Ms Fletcher has seen primary school mentees become high school mentors once they reach year 10. Many times, these students have gone on to pursue university degrees in science.
Ms Fletcher, who was awarded the Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in 2020, said she noticed other winners of the award would always attribute their passion for science to a lightbulb moment at age 10 or 11.
"It's not in high school when they get the spark. It's earlier, when they're figuring out the world. Why not give them the opportunity?"
After taking part in a series of experiments around the laboratory, the Governor-General noted the changes in early science education since she attended South Curtin Primary School (now Curtin Primary School).
"When I was growing up... if you didn't show a natural inclination, you weren't encouraged to keep going," she said.
"Once you introduce young people equally to these ideas, they can make a choice that maybe we didn't have in my generation, where we were pushed in a different direction and never discovered that part of ourselves.
"These students will probably leave today not thinking it's about science, but thinking it's about exploring questions and discovering things."
