My daughter hates science class!?
The topics I found most interesting in high school were sciences and mathematics. Call me a geek, but it appealed to me. I continued these courses even in college although I never went into the field. The approach and discovery is so ingrain into my thinking that even now, I use the scientific method to understanding things I don’t know: observe, gather evidence, hypothesize, test, repeat and then draw conclusion. I became very excited that my daughter would be exposed to the STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) curriculum in her own school. And a few months later, I was equally saddened to hear that she hates her science class!
Knowing science doesn’t necessarily mean that she needs to be a scientist. She likes to swim, but I have no expectation for her to become an Olympic athlete. Nor is there any anticipation that she’ll become a world-renowned cellist through her music. So why did she have such a strong aversion to the topic? Was I personally hurt by her revelation? Feeling a little disappointed, I wanted to inquire what turned her off from a subject I found dear. Her explanations revealed the reason…and hope. Her science teacher was teaching them about life in late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were told stories how the settlers pioneered their ways through westward expansion from the early colonies. They were reenacting aspects of the early settlers’ life. I stopped her midway through her explanation and declared that, “That’s not science. That’s social studies in a historical context. In a stretch, it could be contemporary social anthropology perhaps mixed with a bit of New World cuisine. But you were definitely not taught science!” She had no idea what I was talking about!
Never confuse the subject from how it is taught. Perhaps the teacher may not know how to explain science in a way that is relevant and engaging for inquiring 8 year-old minds. And don’t rely on the teacher or the school to teach your daughter everything; we cannot expect the teacher to be their sole inspiration.
Science, I explained has to do with things that are generally physical. You can see it. You can touch it. You can perceive it through your senses. She listened as I recalled the last birthday party she attended where the activity was making volcanoes. Mixing different solutions together to create flowing lava is fun chemical science. The observation of leaves changing colors is the study of photosynthesis. Caterpillars metamorphosing into butterflies in a milkweed field is ecology and environmental science. The rocks she likes to bring home and collect is called the study of geology. Each time I recalled a story about an experience she is familiar, she became more and more informed of what science actually is. The most important thing I told her is never confuse the subject from how it is taught. Perhaps the teacher may not know how to explain science in a way that is relevant and engaging for inquiring 8 year-old minds. I later discovered that this ‘science teacher’ joined another school as a kindergarten educator. Just as well.
On a separate trip, we were passing through Austin, Texas and of course, as most tourist do, we lined up on the Congress Avenue Bridge to watch the millions of bats that come out from under the bridge at dusk. My daughter witnessed firsthand what science-in-action looks like, felt like and even smelled like. She learned that those bats consume tons of insects each night. She learned about bat’s echolocation abilities to catch food. She was also exposed to diurnal/nocturnal cycles. The experience was so positive and memorable that she actually did a science project on it when she returned to school! Holy, flying mammals, Batman!
So, she doesn’t hate science. She misunderstood what it was. Phew! Since then, her class has been exposed to other science topics like planets, seasons, states of matter, spider webs, digestive systems, and on and on. Phew again! But we cannot expect the teacher to be their sole inspiration. In fact, it’s a good practice not to presume that the school will teach your daughter everything. For a discipline with so few female representations, it’s even more important that we help young girls discover the relevance of science in our daily lives. It’s uplifting to know that this generation will change things. For our benefit, I hope they do it quickly!