My Science Autobiography

My earliest memories of science took place outside in nature. Me and my neighbors would play in the woods and fields around our houses. We would admire the changing colors of the leaves  during the fall (then jump in the huge piles that formed on the ground), look at all the different snowflakes in the winter, pick a bunch of wild flowers in the spring, and catch lightning bugs in the summer. On a damp day we loved to go looking for salamanders under rocks. On warm sunny days we liked looking for crayfish in the local stream. As I entered grade school I remember learning about photosynthesis and then planting flowers in a small pot, so we could bring them home to our moms for Mother’s Day. In highschool and college
I remembering dissecting frogs, pigs, and even a sheep’s eyeball. These memories and experiences stand out more than others, because they were fun, hands-on, and interesting to learn about.

The general characteristics of the science experiences that have been meaningful to me was that they involved learning and wondering together, whether it was with classmates or friends. The idea of asking questions, observing, and gaining knowledge from one another was engaging and exciting. Biology was my favorite subject in middle school, high school, and college. I always did extremely well in the class, but there was one turn-off for me when it came to the science experiment of dissecting. The smell! Do you remember that smell? The smell of formaldehyde was awful. As much as I enjoyed dissecting the pig and sheep’s eyeball and examining their insides, that smell used to make me feel nauseous. 

Science to me is exciting. Science is a way of discovering what's in the universe and how those things work today, how they worked in the past, and how they are likely to work in the future. Overall, It’s a sense of wonder and how our discoveries shape the world we live in. Based on my past learning experiences my definition of science and my attitude towards science is positive. Although, I have sat in chemistry classes and wanted to claw my eyes out because the teacher was dull, the lesson was boring, and I disliked the math that went along with the equations. We as future educators need to remember that even if the information to be taught might not be the most exciting, we need to provide/incorporate videos, songs, or some form of hands-on activities to help make learning science fun and engaging.