Meet the Australian teacher whose videos are changing the way teachers teach science

Why is a year 365 days long? What really causes the seasons? Why do human bodies generate heat? These are the kinds of questions that stop a classroom in its tracks – fascinating, important, and genuinely hard to explain. Now imagine 30 students sitting in front of you, waiting for the answer. Static diagrams and textbook images can only do so much. That’s exactly the problem Spiro Liacos set out to solve and in doing so, he quietly became one of the most loved science educators in Australia.

Meet Spiro

Spiro Liacos is a science teacher. That’s still how he’d introduce himself, not a content creator, not an influencer, not a brand. A teacher. The fact that his videos have been watched by tens of thousands of students and teachers around the world is, to him, almost beside the point.
Spiro is the face and brains behind Liacos Educational Media (LEM) and the Shedding Light series of science videos that have found a devoted following among teachers who want to teach concepts well, not just cover them.

His videos are clear, engaging, and built on a simple belief: that students deserve to see science, not just read about it. In Spiro’s own words:

So he started making videos for his own classes. Real experiments. Animations. Demonstrations that brought concepts to life in ways a whiteboard never could. And when he saw his students’ understanding improve, he kept going.

From one classroom to thousands

The idea to share his videos beyond his own school came almost by accident.

“I was making videos for my own classes, and I thought, why not share them with other teachers?” Spiro says.

What followed was years of quiet, consistent work. Every video Spiro makes gets tested the same way: with his own students first.

Whenever I make new science videos, I always use them with my students first. I always think what will my students say to me about this video? If they’d say ‘that’s boring, Sir,’ then it’s not good enough.

That standard shows. In a lot of his lessons, students now arrive asking the same question: “Do we get to watch one of your videos today, Sir?”

The videos took off. LEM’s videos have grown into a rich series spanning physics, chemistry, and earth science and the audience has grown with it. In the last year alone, his videos have been streamed over 60,000 times, clocking up more than 26,000 hours of watch time across 3,000 schools and 30,000 teachers. Not bad for a teacher who just wanted his students to understand science.

Why video works for science

When I met Spiro, I was struck by how genuinely passionate he still is – not about the videos, but about teaching – even after 30 years. About the moment a student finally gets something.

As a teacher myself, I know that feeling well. I also know the other feeling: the one where you’re trying to explain why summer days are longer and winter days are shorter, and you’re fumbling your way through two tennis balls and a lamp, hoping something lands. Spiro explains that concept in seven minutes. With visuals. In a way that actually makes sense. I wish I’d known about his videos when I was trying to explain that to my Year 6 class ten years ago.

That’s the power of video in science – it does what static images and analogies can’t, turning abstract concepts into something students can actually see, understand, and remember.

About Liacos Educational Media

LEM’s videos are built for the classroom: clear explanations, real-world demonstrations, and animations that make complex concepts click. The Shedding Light series covers physics, chemistry, and earth science in depth, and every video comes with ready-to-use worksheets so students build real understanding while teachers save valuable planning time.

The Liacos Educational Media Channel on ClickView

To make it easier for teachers to discover and explore everything Liacos Educational Media has to offer, we’ve created a dedicated Featured Channel on ClickView – all of Spiro’s videos in one place, organised and ready to use.

Whether you’re a science teacher looking to teach a tricky concept, or a primary teacher wondering how to explain why a year is 365 days long, it’s well worth a look.