A back to basics approach has won over the judges for the Primer Minister's Science Prizes.

Kids at Koraunui School have been building, growing vegetables, trapping predators and keeping bees.

Their teacher, Dianne Christenson, is the first primary school teacher to win the Science Teacher Prize.

She told Mike Hosking her kids take more interest in the lessons outside.

"We had a little girl that finished at our school last year, who was a real bookworm, and her final reflections on leaving school was: 'Surprisingly, I learned more doing hands on stuff than I did reading books!' And that said it all for me."

Dianne Christenson won $100,000 for the school and $50,000 for herself.

LISTEN TO DIANNE CHRISTENSON SPEAK TO MIKE HOSKING ABOVE