Why Science?

ED 4260 Curriculum and Instruction in Biology Lisa Hanlon Sept 25, 2013 Science has fascinated me from a young age. Growing up in British Columbia, my family was always on some sort of adventure. We would hike and bike up mountains, go camping, canoeing, fishing, swimming, skiing and to my grandparents farm to pick apples. Both my parents love to explore and learn about the natural world. This rubbed off on me. Through all of these fantastic opportunities to explore the natural world, I developed a keen curiosity and appreciation for living systems and a desire to investigate. My parents instilled in me a love of learning, and inquisitiveness of natural systems and objects and how they came to be. In school, science made sense to me. It was logical and fascinating. I really liked math, in that there was always a concrete answer to work towards if you used the right steps and tactics. I found problem solving much more fun and interesting than memorizing mind-numbing historical dates in History or reading novels in English, in which I saw no practical application at the time. I found sciences fascinating because they were directly relatable to the real and natural world. I liked sciences because they were more often hands-on, where we got out of our seats to conduct experiments. I remember dissecting sheep eyeballs and hearts in biology, decaffeinating tea leaves in chemistry, and measuring rates of velocity with wooden carts in physics. I cannot recall any fun activity in an English class where we had the chance to stand up and learn about a play or understand a book. However, my science classes were largely taught out of a textbook, or from notes, but my teachers at least attempted to make the concepts relevant to the real world occasionally.

As an avid athlete, I was most interested in the human body. I wanted to know how the body worked and how to use it to achieve amazing results such as climbing Everest or winning a swimming race. Science explained to me the complexities of living beings. In my grade 12 biology class while learning about the human respiratory and digestive systems, an experiment my class conducted was to see if it was possible to eat or drink while up-side down. One student did a head stand and was given water from a tube to drink. We used this to discuss the trachea, the esophagus, and peristalsis. Upon first recalling this, I could only remember the experiment, not what exactly we were learning about. However, I think that is a sign of good teaching, that I remember the experiment at all and have to think about the lesson behind the experiment. My interest shifted to plants and ecosystems, particularly agro-ecosystems, when I worked on a farm in a volunteer program. My passion for food security and agriculture led me to switch from studying agriculture from kinesiology. In my undergrad I studied soil-food webs, insects, plant diseases, botany, ecology, and sustainable food systems. In high school biology, I found learning about plants boring because it was taught in a way of almost strict memorization with no practical application. Now I know some neat, practical facts about plants, including uses in medicine, construction, industry and food. I think plants are amazing and want to share that enthusiasm and knowledge with students, and to get them excited about plants. In university, I truly learned the meaning of the statement The more you know, the less you know. I discovered how dynamic science is. Although I mostly wrote papers in my undergrad, there were a few instances where I designed and conducted experiments for my greenhouse production and plant propagation courses. The instances where I was allowed to pick a topic I was interested in, I performed much better. Completing the assignments was more exciting and felt less arduous when I was genuinely interested in the topic.

I believe science is a dynamic, inquisitive process that aims to increase understanding of how natural and man-made systems work. These creative processes lead to increased understanding, and formulation of laws and theories that can be challenged when new or different evidence is presented. Science encompasses researchers who observe and collect evidence to verify theories, people who create and use technologies, and society who interacts with the environment. Science is everywhere. (Ontario Curriculum 2008). I think science should be taught in a way that engages learners, giving them responsibility and creativity to discover and explore what they find interesting. Nevertheless, science should be structured so that students understand that science is a process, not a means to an end. Furthermore, it should be taught that there is no end, or right answer, because scientific theories are always being challenged and changing. Students should be instructed how to ask the right questions, how to observe and measure qualitative data, and how to draw specific conclusions. Furthermore, teachers should link concepts together to make connections between disciplines, which can be expanded to real world problems. When I was in high school, I recall when I started making connections between all the science courses I was taking. A certain concept came up in my chemistry, biology and physics at different times in the term. Finally I was able to see the point of what I was doing. It was a true Aha! moment that could have been made easier had my teachers made a better effort to help point out those connections, and the practicality of the concepts. Individual concepts should always be related to big ideas or current topics. Students should be taught so that they can see the point of learning something that may seem that has no relevance to them. More importantly than the ideas and concepts, students should be taught

problem-solving skills, collaboration, and critical thinking so that they continue to engage in lifelong learning. Encouraging students to be creative and take risks is necessary for students to gain confidence, self-efficacy, and take responsibility for their own learning. Thus, teachers should create a safe learning environment where students feel comfortable to take these necessary risks. Finally, and most importantly, science in the classroom should be fun, and approached with a sense of humour. Having hands-on activities that are also mentally challenging will keep the students engaged. When students are having fun, they wont realize that they are learning important skills. If they have the chance to explore and learn about things they find interesting, students will develop a curiosity for the world around them and want to find out more just for the sake of knowing, and having fun!

References Ontario Curriculum. 2008. The Ontario Curriculum: Grades 11 and 12 Science. (Revised). Ontatio Ministry of Education.