An unusual food plight known as Zebra Chip Disease has helped offer a unique insight into the scientific world for a Tauranga teacher.
Richard Hendra, from Tauranga Girls' College, will head back to the classroom having spent the last two terms of 2015 working alongside scientists at Plant and Food Research in Te Puke learning more about what scientists do.
Mr Hendra was one of 12 teachers from schools around New Zealand completing phase one of the Science Teaching Leadership Programme. The programme arranges for teachers to work alongside scientists to gain a deeper understanding of New Zealand's overarching science curriculum strand, called the Nature of Science, as well as undertaking leadership training.
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"I had an expectation of working on just one project but in reality I worked on lots of different things, including learning about a threat to potato crops that can drastically reduce yield called Zebra Chip Disease," Mr Hendra said. "It also causes chips to go a dark stripey colour when fried."