They just tell you stuff that seems either random or too common-sense, and then make you memorize it. That's not science.
Omg, yes.
I know of a camp (a physics prof from the university was involved) that basically took high-school kids and ask them basic physics questions. They learnt physics by finding out the answers, by themselves, with experiments. That is science, and I bet those kids loved it.
Hm. What I hated most in science in school was the experiments. You know, where you get to grow a plant, or test chemicals over a Bunsen burner, or build airplanes to see which one will fly best. This was what convinced me in the end that I didn't like science, because teachers would say, "See, this is what science REALLY is!" and I didn't like it, so I must not like science.
Part of my problem with that stuff, I think, is that when scientists do experiments they're usually looking to find out something new. The experiments we had to do in grade school were all about finding out stuff other people already knew, so it always felt . . . pointless.
What I find interesting about science now is that I have people asking me questions that I have to find the answers to. I don't have to run experiments to find out the answers, but I get to go anywhere I want. For instance, in order to talk about the problem of carbon emissions to staff and visitors, I've done everything from mineral identification and composition to looking at the molecular structure of the sugars plants produce when they photosynthesize. Not stuff I usually associate with global warming, and not stuff we connected to global warming in school, even if we did look at minerals and talk about photosynthesis.
I do think that an emphasis on women in science would've made it easier for me to picture me actually working at it.
For me, I feel like there was an emphasis. I was very good at it, better than most boys, and was told over and over I could have a really successful career in it. But I was very averse to it until recently. Though I do wonder if feeling like as a girl who was good at math/science I had a responsibility to have a career in math/science in order to prove girls had minds put me off it.
no subject
Omg, yes.
I know of a camp (a physics prof from the university was involved) that basically took high-school kids and ask them basic physics questions. They learnt physics by finding out the answers, by themselves, with experiments. That is science, and I bet those kids loved it.
Hm. What I hated most in science in school was the experiments. You know, where you get to grow a plant, or test chemicals over a Bunsen burner, or build airplanes to see which one will fly best. This was what convinced me in the end that I didn't like science, because teachers would say, "See, this is what science REALLY is!" and I didn't like it, so I must not like science.
Part of my problem with that stuff, I think, is that when scientists do experiments they're usually looking to find out something new. The experiments we had to do in grade school were all about finding out stuff other people already knew, so it always felt . . . pointless.
What I find interesting about science now is that I have people asking me questions that I have to find the answers to. I don't have to run experiments to find out the answers, but I get to go anywhere I want. For instance, in order to talk about the problem of carbon emissions to staff and visitors, I've done everything from mineral identification and composition to looking at the molecular structure of the sugars plants produce when they photosynthesize. Not stuff I usually associate with global warming, and not stuff we connected to global warming in school, even if we did look at minerals and talk about photosynthesis.
I do think that an emphasis on women in science would've made it easier for me to picture me actually working at it.
For me, I feel like there was an emphasis. I was very good at it, better than most boys, and was told over and over I could have a really successful career in it. But I was very averse to it until recently. Though I do wonder if feeling like as a girl who was good at math/science I had a responsibility to have a career in math/science in order to prove girls had minds put me off it.