AUBURN – Six years ago, Jeffrey Steinert realized his science lessons just weren’t working.

A physics teacher at Edward Little High School, his classes were heavy on activities but light on inspiring curiosity. There were lectures and textbooks, but too few experiments.

So Steinert turned his classroom upside down.

He filled his lab with physics toys, advanced sensors and computers. He dropped many of his lectures and encouraged students to think, experiment and analyze.

The dramatic change radically boosted his students’ expertise in science. And last month, it helped put Steinert in the running for the highest education award in the country.

He is a state finalist for the 2003 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

“I had hoped I was going to be,” said Steinert, 45, who was also named a finalist in 2002. “I am just very honored.”

Steinert was a graduate engineering student at the University of California at Berkeley 20 years ago when he realized he had a knack for explaining complex subjects. After graduation, he went into teaching.

In 1994, Steinert became a science teacher at Edward Little High School. Students did well, he said, but he thought they could do better.

A few years after he got to Edward Little, Steinert replaced many of his old lessons with “guided discovery.”

Steinert encourages students to use everything from darts to sensors to learn about motion, acceleration and force. “They can actually figure out what the laws are without learning about them first.”

Steinert’s work was so impressive that he was nominated for the Presidential Award last fall. A state board of educators named him one of three science finalists. The others are Steven DeAngelis of Maranacook Community High School in Readfield and Anita Bernhardt at Falmouth Middle School.

Three math finalists were also chosen from Maine. They are Yousuff Siddiqui of the Maine School of Science and Math in Limestone, Marsha Ann Sheehan of Thorton Academy in Saco and Shawn Towle of Falmouth Middle School.

About 350 science teachers applied for the award nationwide. Award officials did not know how many had applied in Maine.

As a finalist, Steinert has received a certificate and $750. If he wins, he will get a trip to Washington, D.C., and $10,000 to spend on his classroom.

One science teacher and one math teacher will be chosen as Maine winners later this month.

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