A Difficult Question

For Owls like myself, it can get tricky when you get to the question, “How can I possibly foster my inner scientist?”

What I mean by the above is, how can you implement what you learn in science, or in layman’s terms, be a scientist, at home? Young students sure do learn science at school, but, how do we apply it to our everyday lives to learn more? We hear about the latest breakthroughs and innovations in science, but in order to train future scientists in us Owls, we need to start practicing the skill of fostering our inner scientists at home along with learning the science courses in school.

Teachers’ Tips

The tricky question above can be answered with specific experiments, or also in general terms. Yes, it is certainly a wide range. I asked a few Owl Professors who teach Science here at iUniversity Prep about how students can grow their inner scientists at home. Mr. Seth Duban, a 7th-grade science professor at iUP, shares his opinion that “Students can foster their inner scientist at home by always being curious.” He proceeds to let Owls know that teachers are there for them for these questions at any time, saying that, “If you want to know how or why a scientific process (or any anything) works you can reach out to your science teacher or watch a video on how it works.” He lets us know of some resources to check out: “I really like Amoeba Sisters and Khan Academy on YouTube for clear and comprehensive explanations. Then you could even look for potential experiments to do (with your parents permission)!” Personally, I have checked out Amoeba Sisters and they have very relatable and interesting ways to present science topics, so it’s a very great idea to try these tips out! 

He goes on to conclude, “Most importantly don’t forget to have fun! Don’t be intimidated if something does not make full sense at first. Look at it from multiple perspectives and start simple and doing so all knowledge is obtainable!” and that “Science is always growing and there is still lots to discover.” Mr. Duban isn’t the only teacher to have an awesome answer to this question. Mrs. Fedorko, another science teacher here, says, “I think the biggest way to foster your inner scientist at home is to approach the things you are passionate about with a scientific mind. Thinking about why something happens, what factors can affect it, and what the result might be if you change any of those factors are all very scientific endeavors!” Mrs. Palmer also goes on to say “Science is so fun at home because it is all around us everyday. I think the question that you want to ask is what am I interested in? Space, Animals, Plants, Rocks… so many topics that we come in contact with each day. I think researching topics that you are interested in allows you to really grow your passion.” Mrs. Alwin adds to the fact that your teachers are always there to help by saying, “One of the coolest things about being in a virtual setting for school is the access you have to your teachers. We are just a message away from not only helping you with school, but also adding enrichment to your specific interests. Whether you want to learn more about Biology or Chemistry, Physics or Space, your teachers are a great resource to help with that dive into deeper understanding of these varied areas of study.”

Specific Sciences

Okay, so we heard about some possible answers to our question, but now let’s get more specific. What are some experiments or things we can do specifically to enhance our science experience? 

From reaching out to teachers, I got some experiments and activities I would’ve never found myself from Google! Let’s see what the teachers had to say:

Mrs. Alwin talks about some sources to check out such as the Jet Propulsion lab of the California Institute of Technology (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/events/). She gave us ways to volunteer for some amazing science causes at the site, Zooniverse (https://www.zooniverse.org/projects). She even tells about many reputed science fairs you can check out (https://findafair.societyforscience.org/?form=, https://www.societyforscience.org/). Finally, here is the famous Owl Cam Mrs. Alwin showcases to her class that you can check out (https://hdontap.com/index.php/video/stream/screech-owls) as well as some other super cool live cams at https://www.mangolinkcam.com/webcams/aquatic/deepsea.html.

If you’re an Isaac Newton and want to get your Einstein on, then maybe you should try some of Mr. Rains’ experiments. He lists some of them like this video here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VR40J3kwpkpmiGGwMoHAwZR4hukI9a_i/view?usp=sharing, and says, “One of my favorite labs is using a magnifying glass and a light source. The light source can be either a light bulb, window with light from outside, or even a candle. You put the light source across the room and you bring the magnifying glass near a wall opposite the light source. You should be able to produce an image of the light source on the wall, you might have to move back and forth to focus the image.”

Mrs. Beakley, a Biology teacher at iUP, shares that you can do scavenger hunts, extract DNA from fruits, and even dissect a flower!

In Conclusion…

I hope this helps! This really helped me answer the question stirring around my head on how I can foster my inner scientist, so I hope it does the same for you. The tips of how you can check out multiple channels and safely use the online resources around the web gave off a great start. After that it is recommended that you dive into researching more about topics you are interested in, and knowing that you always have your teacher to help you learn more about what you covered in class is always delightful. Finally, to wrap it up with a bow, Owl Professors recommend checking out experiments to apply these topics (with parental permission) in real life to fully nurture your inner scientist to its best ability!