Growing up, I was never one of
those kids that liked to play in the mud and get dirty and find bugs. I didn’t like insects or anything related to
science. I remember one summer my mom
signed my brothers and me up for a science exploration day camp. I absolutely hated it. There was one day in particular that I
disliked more than the others- the day I was forced to walk through a marsh. I was so uncomfortable I could have cried
(and I actually might have). Needless to
say, the outdoors was not my favorite place to be.
I grew up in a predominately white
neighborhood in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. The school districts I attended were fairly
wealthy, so we had ample resources in school.
I remember my school libraries constantly being updated with the latest
Apple computers. We were given many opportunities
and the tools to explore whatever our hearts desired.
I cannot even remember formally learning
science until about fourth grade. Fourth
grade was the first time I learned about the planets. I remember this because my class did a very
extensive project and everyone was assigned a planet to study. The planet I was assigned was Saturn. I remember being very happy with my assigned
planet because I thought it was “pretty” since it is yellow and has rings. That is the only science memory I have from
elementary school.
In middle school, I took science
classes all three years. I do not
remember much from these classes either.
I remember learning about evolution, genetics, more about the planets,
and some life sciences. Science was
never my favorite subject, nor was it my strong suit. One of the positive memories I have about
science was in seventh grade when we did a genetics project. We learned all about dominant and recessive
genes and got matched with a partner. We
figured out what would happen if you and your partner had a child (what genes
they would have, etc.). This was my
favorite project we did in this class because I found it very interesting. That was the first time I had learned about
genetics and I was fascinated by it. I
think that if this project and subject was taught in the right way, that it
could be taught the third graders. If I ever
teach third grade, I would love to do a genetics project with them.
In high school, I took physical
science my freshmen year, biology my sophomore year, and chemistry my junior
year. Physical science was probably the
science I enjoyed the most. I remember
that we grew our own crystals. This was
probably my favorite experiment I ever did because the product was “pretty” and
it didn’t require getting messy. My
teacher was also very good at engaging us because he always did really cool
experiments. I do not remember much from
my sophomore year biology class. Most of
the time, we would be given assignments and work in groups at the lab
tables. It seemed to be more of a social
hour than a science class. My junior
year chemistry class was the worst science class I had ever taken. I didn’t understand it at all and whenever I asked
for help, I seemed to get even more confused.
That entire year is a blur since I basically had no idea what was going
on.
Fast-forward to my freshmen year at
Illinois State University. I took Biology
101 first semester and Chemistry 102 my second semester. Biology wasn’t all that bad. I understood for the most part and did pretty
well in the class. The main things I remember
from this class were the labs. I
remember during one lab we got to make wine.
For another lab, we took a cotton swab and swiped things like doorknobs and
stair railings. We then put these
samples in a petri dish and were able to watch bacteria grow over a period of
time. Chemistry was a different
story. Just like in high school,
chemistry was a nightmare. I couldn’t
follow along with the material and got lost easily. I was able to get help from a friend and did
fairly well in the class, but this is a class that I like to block from my
memory.
Since my freshmen year of college I
have not taken a science class. Science
has never been my favorite subject because in my experiences, it has always
been confusing or has made me feel uncomfortable. Maybe that’s my fault for not asking more
questions, and maybe it’s also my teacher’s fault for not acknowledging the
fact that I was struggling. Whatever the
reason was, science went on the back burner for me.
I really don’t think my cultural
upbringing has had an effect on my attitude about science or how I learned
science. If anything, I think attending
school in fairly wealthy school districts has given me more opportunities, but
that’s it. Although my experiences with
science have not always been positive, I do not want that to be reflected in my
teaching. I think science can be so fun
if you present it in the right way. I want
my students to be curious and explore. I
will encourage them to be scientists and always ask questions. I am saddened
when I do not see science being taught in schools today. Everyone is so focused on math and literacy,
that science often gets left out. I want
my students to be aware of science and actually know what science is. Science will be prevalent in my classroom and
my students will be scientists.
