disposable shoes!

It was a normal day in seventh grade. I had the most boring math class in history, but this is what I usually think after every math class I have ever take. After the torture of the ecuations and numbers, it was time of my biology class, which I really liked, not because of the science, which I was not very into in seventh grade , but because of my cool teacher; he is one of the funniest men I have eve met.

He came into the room with his usual colombian coffee in one hand and his books in the other. " I have a surprise for you kids" , he said. The big surprise was about a state contest. Every kid in
the state from 7th to 12th grade was invited. the contest consisted in creating a new object, that had never been invented before, and it had to be oriented to science, the sky was the limit. But that was not all, the winner will get 1000 dollars.

All the kids went crazy; after school, they all went to their houses to work on their projects. I did not know what to do for mine, and I did not have time to work on it either; I had to got to my ballet practice and then my gimnastics practice, then sleep if I was lucky.

By the end of the day I was exhausted. My feet hurted more than any other day and I was desperate for something to release the pain.Out of the nothing I grab some analgesic gel and put in on a disposable clinical hat that I wore as a shoe. My pain was gone, and then I had an idea: What if there was a shoe that could release pain everytime you wore it? I got it!

The next day I grabbed a creosote bush from my backyard, some eucalyptus, mint, and some ethylic alcohol. I asked my school if I could use a lab, and I made a substance out of this plants, then I put hte substance on the disposable shoes that I made with my mom's help. the product was ready, a disposable shoe that is analgesic,decongestant, prevents athlete feet, and that made your feet smell nice!

In this moment was when I realize that I maybe do like science, not because of the books, or the weird formulas that nobody actually likes, but because of what science can do for you, or in my case, for my feet.

Oh , and guess who won the contest?

Informal Science Xperience

I havent really had a real "wow" science experience. However, the one thing that does come to mind is the time my father explained to me about the female menstrual cycle. Now I know some men might find this topic a bit awkward, and believe me it was for both of us at first. Having my father sit me down in a casual setting, explaining to me the actual scientific process of ovulation using his vocabulary of course, really got me fascinated on how the body works. Our bodies are created in such an ingenious way that there will always be something new to learn about it. That experience also proves how the knowledge of science is important. As for guys, talking about something like this might make you uneasy but its good to overcome that feeling because it’s a natural and important process that you may have to explain to your daughter in the far future!

3rd Grade Field Work?

One day back in elementary school, I remember talking about bugs and animals one day in class. At recess, me and a friend set our minds to bug searching for bugs. After crawling around in the grass for a while we found a massive dead grasshopper in the sandbox. We proceeded to "dissect" it by it apart by the joints and inspecting it. Even at this young age I was really inspired and interested in animals and biology.

Science Experience

I have had many science experiences outside of the classroom.  The first one that I can remember took place in the fourth grade.  My class was working on the annual science project which consisted of a research project and a presentation.  My topic was focused on the evacuation of Pompeii during a volcanic eruption in the 1st century.  Instead of giving an oral presentation, I made a paper mache volcano and made the volcano erupt using baking soda and water.  I remember having so much fun making the volcano with my mother and the class loved the volcano eruption.  

Science is electric!

When I was in the 5th grade I had a teacher named Mr. Sadaski who was a retired electrician. In his class we used to conduct all sorts of science experiments with electricity. For example, my friend Juan and I made a "calculator" for practicing times tables. We wired all of the equations on one side to all of the answers on the other, and made it so if you connected the right equation (e.g. 4x4) with the right answer (16), a light bulb would light up and indicate you were right.

In order to get all of the kids interested in science and electricity Mr. Sadaski would bring an old generator to class and shock everyone. He would have everyone in the class hold hands in a big circle and the people on the end would touch both ends of the generator when he cranked it and everyone would get a little shock. Since there were so many of us, the shock wasn't enough to hurt anyone, but it sparked an interest in electricity in many of my friends. Juan ended up going to trade school to become an electrician, and I worked with Mr. Sadaski as an electrical apprentice two summers ago. He's a teacher I will never forget and thats due largely to his "outside of the box" teaching techniques.

Science Fun Outside of the Classroom

I have always enjoyed science outside of the class mostly because of influences from my dad and my grandmother. My grandmother lived on a small farm in Connecticut and there were always animals around. My aunt who didn't live to far from her worked for a wildlife reserve so whenever she had too many animals to take care of she would send them over to my grandmother's house. I used to love helping her take care of all the different animals she would have there. The most memorable of these animals for me were two baby chickadees and two baby flying squirrels. I remember feeling so proud that my grandmother would trust me to feed the chickadees all by myself.

As I got older my dad became more of an influence when it came to science outside of the classroom. He has always been interested in science, in particular chemicals and the way things work. During long car rides he would explain how our eyes see, or how a lava lamp works. If I ever had a question as to why something was the way it was my dad would know or help me look it up. In fourth grade for a science project he helped me build my own lava lamp. We researched the chemicals needed and how to put everything together. My dad still has our lava lamp and it still works (only for short periods of time though). I remember this being really fun because we were able to make something ourselves that I previously had thought you could only buy already assembled in a store.

FIRST SCIENCE LOVE

When i was about 7 years old I was very close with one of my cousins, Cheryl. One day when we were running around the woods we found a few dead bugs and a few injured bugs and we collected them all in one of those old bug cages ever child used to have. After a little while we got what we thought would be a great idea! We took an old wooden box from the garage at her house and painted the words BUG HOSPITAL on it. We took it upon our selves to rip broken or injured legs off of limping bugs and replace them with parts from dead bugs that we had found using both scotch tape and super glue. It was really fun, even though the patients kept dieing haha. We couldnt understand that it was not very good what we were doing or that it was not beneficial in any way, but we thought that we were scientists. So from then on I have had a lot of fun in the sciences figureing things out, like why those legs wouldnt work when we put them on other bugs!!!
___________Jack

Informal Science Experience

As a kid I always enjoyed science. I like to be outside, and I was always curious about how things worked. However, only a few experiences have really stuck with me.

One I shared in class was the 6th grade science fair at my school. People could basically design their own projects with few limitations. All of the grades would go and visit the fair from PK to 5th. Because of this, by the time you were in 6th grade you knew how much the younger kids were going to look up to you. This made it that much more important o put a lot of time and effort in to your project so you could have the coolest one. Another reason this was important was because the 7th and 8th graders who had already done a fair were going to come and judge your projects and those that won would get prizes. It was really a school wide event that the students really looked forward to no matter what age group they were in. I think the best part about this fair was that it got kids to really take initiative in getting involved with science. They weren't just doing it because their teachers said to. We all had our own motivation.

Another experience that I really loved was raising ducklings in the 2nd grade. We had the ducks from the point at which they were eggs. We kept them in a back room in an incubator until they hatched. Every other day our teacher would take us back two by two to look at the eggs and see if they had changed. There was a light we shined on them so we could see inside. Then we got to watch them hatch one day. We all got called in early from recess to see the process. After they had hatched we got to keep them for the rest of the year until we gave them to a farm. Every student that wanted to take them home got to sign up for a weekend. I remember having them in my house and feeling responsible for taking care of these small animals even just as a second grader. I really cared about the ducklings which motivated me to really observe their growth process even at such a young age. I think that living animals are a great way to get kids involved, especially if they feel that they are responsible for part of taking care of them.

In the 5th grade we also raised Monarch Butterflies. We got them as eggs, which then became caterpillars, then they formed a chrysalis, and then they became butterflies. We let them go after this but we had a tag put on their wings. We then had a website where people would report seeing butterflies with tags on them. Our class would check the site continually, and one of our classmates actually had a butterfly that was reported seen in Mexico, which is where we learned they migrated to. It was exciting to know that we had raised these butterflies and that they were migrating just like we had learned about. It was a great way to make what we had learned real to us.

INFORMAL SCIENCE: A TRIP TO SIX FLAGS NEW ENGLAND

During my last year in Burlington High School in Burlington Massachusetts. I took an honors physics class with Mrs. Flanagan. I loved physics soo much I would spend extra time with Mrs. Flanagan to get to know more about physics and its laws.
On a thursday afternoon we were learning about friction,G force, normal force and centri. Force of attraction. We were also learning about displacement, force of attraction between atoms and how to calculate their force. So as a class we all decided to have a field trip to a place where we could learn more about physic and at the same time have fun. So we all came to a conclussion that we wanted to go to six flags new england.
At six flags we rode the superman and batman man of steel roller coasters. We then regrouped afterwards to discuss about how physics revolved around the making of the roller coaters and basically everything in the park. It was amazing.

Eureka

From a very young age I was always asking questions or at least thinking about questions concerning how it is that I, we, the whole planet got to be the way that it is. How do plants do whatever it is that plants do? Why do animals behave the way they behave? What are the universal laws of nature? I suppose some of my questions where being answered in pieces, each school year offered more and more information that helped put the puzzle pieces together but I still yearned for a view that was comprehensive, something that unified all the fields of science. What torture it was to get tidbits that seemed related but didn't quite fit so snug, then I was introduced to the theory of Evolution.
It was fascinating reading Darwin's words, so elegant and poetic yet so easy to read and understand. His argument was plain and simple and it relieved a hidden truth that gave me that eureka moment; their is common descent between organisms on every and any scale, life came to be and what we see today is the result of Evolution. I was first introduced to the idea of Evolution in high school but it was not until I got to Umass did I begin exploring the theory more deeply, it is a passion that has given me a sense of resolve while sparking my intrigue to a level I didn't think possible. Every time I feel lost or confused I try to think about how Darwin would approach that problem, reasonably, rationally and with a keen eye for observation, the result is that I get to create many eureka moments from thinking in terms of evolutionary theory.

Courtney Brooks- The Woods

There have been many times throughout my life when I could identify a situation as an informal science experience. The most memorable and impressionable times would have to be the summers I spent at my grandfather's house when I was ages 7-13. He lived in an area surrounded by woods, which I found, was the most interesting place to be. It began my passion for all forms of wildlife. My cousins and I would pretend we were famous explorers as we wondered the wild. I, the most daring, was never afraid to catch snakes, salamanders, toads, or other squirmy critters. I would often bring them back with me and make a substitute habitat in a big container because I had made up my mind, that these were my pets. That is, until my mother would discover the animal I managed to catch and scream at me (esp. if it was a snake) to let it go, mainly because she is petrified of them. I was always trying to examine animal behavior. At the time I just found it cool, but looking back, I would spend hours fascinated by watching a toad eat crickets or collecting frog eggs and waiting for them to hatch. I realized that I was extremely excited about animals during this duration in my life. I wanted to be a veterinarian. Since this time, I have put a lot of thought into my career and have begun exploring medicine. I am still indecisive at this point, but know I have a passion for animals. In my life I have had many animals... snakes, birds [I have actually hatched and raised quails twice], lizards, cats, dogs, a horse, rabbits, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, and once I took care of a baby squirrel for three days...

Blog Assignment for Monday

Hey Everyone!

Yesterday in class we discussed different forms of informal science education. In my opinion, one of the coolest things about science is that eureka moment everyone has when they see something they think is interesting. It's a unifying and universal experience that we all share at some point in our lives, which I think is something that is really unique to science.

Yesterday we discussed different experiences that we've had that have made us think differently about science. I know I mentioned the owl pellets I dissected in 5th grade. For class on Monday, I want you to post an experience you've had like this...something that went above and beyond the normal class lecture or textbook. If you can't think of a time when this happened to you, try to brainstorm ideas of what we could do as a group to make that happen for someone. Have fun with this assignment, and I will see you on Monday!

Sara

Introduction

• Name: Matthew Panechelli
• Year: Junior
  
• Major: BDIC-Evolutionary Biology and Science Education
  
• Hometown: Franklin, Ma
• 
  
• Why did you get involved in the internship?

I have always had a passion for Biology and this internship should fit my BDIC major very well, you could say the MAS is a perfect fit for me.

• What do you hope to get out of this class?

I hope to gain some technological/multimedia skills that I severely lack. I also hope to have some fun experiences when we visit local schools. Hopefully this class will lead to bigger things.

• What do you like to do for fun?

I'm open to almost anything, I'm a bit of sports nut, animal fanatic, movie buff, part time coach potato(anything on the discovery channel or natgeo) and would like to get outdoors more often by taking up hiking/camping.

• What do you want to do when you graduate college?

I'd like to teach but I'd also like to take part in some research in the evo-bio field. My BDIC major is designed to create an educational initiative with regard to science,biology, and evo-bio, so hopefully I'll have some interesting adventures in that regard.

• Any other fun facts about yourself?

My father's side of the family were and are farmers so cow tipping is not cool. I like mini-golf and sometimes I like golf when I'm not terrible at it. As a youth I used to spend every summer with my twin brother chest deep in the pond across the street from my house, digging up and catching whatever critters we could. I'm a closet nerd, the Land Before Time is quite possibly the best movie ever and it has inspired me to create an animated series of biolog learning videos for kids. I like to eat(you name it and I'll probably eat it), I like to go fishing, worked with 4-14 year old kids at a Daycare for roughly 5 years. Mitt Romney took my financial aid away from me when I had a 3.4 at Umass Dartmouth so I shoveled concrete for 4 years before regaining my independent student status. I like people but not pretentious ones. I'm obsessed with trying to answer some of the most interesting questions concerning life and the natural sciences, therefore I'm kind of a jack of all trades and master of none to some degree. Going green is going to be very interesting and I'd like to travel at some point( I want to make a list of the coolest things in the world to see and do and get after it).

Cecilia Prado

• Name : Complete is Santa Cecilia Prado Guerrero ( not kidding) , but just call me Cecilia
  

• Year: freshman


• Major: Pre-Med / Political Science , weird combinatination , I know, I am really passionate about both of them and I really want to help to improve my country's health care program.
  


• Hometown: Monclova, Coahuila , Mexico.
  


• Why did you get involved in the internship? I am addicted to school activities, I thought this would be a cool thing to do, besides, I am really good teaching kids and teenagers about topics.
  


• What do you hope to get out of this class?A good experience.
  


• What do you like to do for fun?I dance, play soccer, go for a run,watch movies, camping, organize parties with my friends, go to soccer games,travel, read, go to sports games and yell at people , and I am very into politics.
  


• What do you want to do when you graduate college?I want to get into Medical School, become a surgeon, and coming back to Mexico.
  


• Any other fun facts about yourself? I like to do a lot of outdoor activities, The craziest things always happen to me , I get crazy when it comes to politics, I always have soemthing to say, I went to two missionary trips in Mexico, and I used to teach cathechism to little kids and teenagers.
  

Webster

• My name is Webster
  
• 
• I was born on July 23rd ,1987
  
• I'm double majoring in both Biology(pre-med) and microbiology
  
• Burlington,Ma
• I got involved with this internship because of the passion I have in spreading good things about science. I love to talk about what I have learnt and to allow others to share what they have absorbed from science. Discussions about scientific findings and how it's changing our world is amazing.
  
• I hope to get more knowledge about science and how it's a good outreach.
  
• I like to read new scientific research findings about stem cell research in my spare time.
  
• I want to head to medical school after graduation. My intent it to become an endocrinologist or a neurosurgeon.
  
• I love to read scientific books and I am a big fan of stem cell research.
  

Rose Schack

Year: Freshman

Major:

Biology/Pre-Med

I got involved with this internship because it looked interesting, different, and a good way to get involved with science. I hope to get a different kind of experience from this class as opposed to sitting and listening to a professor lecture.

After I graduate I would like to go to medical school to become a dermatologist. In high school I went to a vocational school for Cosmetology and discovered that my interests were not so much in styling hair as they were in the science behind hair, nails, but especially in skin. One thing I especially enjoyed in my high school was the way we learned in my Cosmetology class. We did a lot of hands on activities and the class felt more personal because of the ways we interacted with each other and with our teachers; I think this class will be very similar to that style of learning. I hope that this class can get younger kids excited about science by combining it with their other interests, like learning about the science behind skin did for me!

Rhys Ursuliak

Freshman
Bio Major
Lancaster, MA
I was looking for a new biology class to replace a gened that I dropped right as I received the recruitment email.
I'm really hoping to get more experience as to what a biologist actually does, and I love being on the public side of things.
I love going out and wandering around with friends, around town or around campus.
I really don't know what my plans are after college. I'm not quite sure what they are in college even.
I was born in NJ, lived in CA, and moved to MA before 2nd grade. I go to Canada every summer to visit family!

Mr. Nathan Davies

My name is Nathan, but my friends call me Nate (for the most part).
My plan is to graduate in 2010 with a Bachelor's in Journalism with a cultural anthropology minor.
I grew up in Turners Falls, a village in the town of Montague, 20 minutes north of Amherst.
I got involved in this course solely because I trust Sara's judgement and could use the credits, not to mention science is cool!
I hope to get some good training with youngsters in the science department and also learn how to better project positive ideas on people in the community. And to get down with science!
For fun I spend a lot of time with friends, I ride my mountain bike and kayak and scuba dive and sail in the sun when I can and snowboard in the winter when I can't. I enjoy spending time with my younger siblings and friends and I like bringing positive energy to people around me, especially when they need it.

I think informal science education is learning science having fun! Experience science as it lives, not as it is in the text book!

Nikki's

Nekeisha Nixon
Junior
Public Health Sciences
Springfield, MA

I got got an email and I checked out the MAS website, i found it to be very interesting as I've always had a weird passion for science and how things work. I have never done anything like this before, so i thought it would be a good learning experience.
I hope to learn more about science and I'm very excited to work with kindergarten kids.
I consider myself pretty boring, but my favorite past time is hanging out with friends and family especially when good food is present.
After I graduate, I hope to pursue my Masters in Public Health for a better chance of getting in my career field.
Fun Facts:::: I love to cook and experiment with different types of foods. I'm West Indian/Jamaican. I'm a MAJOR procrastinator!

Sara Cody

Name: Sara Cody
Year: Senior, 2010
Major: Journalism, Minoring in Biology and Art History
Hometown: Franklin, Mass
What do you like to do for fun?
One of my all-time things to do is go to the movie store, rent a movie, buy tons of candy and just stay in in my jamies watching a movie and pigging out. I like hanging out with people, going to art museums, going to Red Sox games, and doing arts and crafts.
What do you want to do when you graduate college?
I'm not exactly sure what I want to do when I graduate college. I know I want to write a book to get it published. And I want to go to grad school at some point for science writing. I'm really into multimedia journalism.
Any other fun facts about yourself?
I have really bendy fingers. And I love talking with people.