Looking back at my experiences with science when I was
younger I don’t remember much. I remember many years sitting in my class and
listening to the teacher read us the chapter from our textbook most of the
time. I do remember a couple of science projects we did in my fourth grade
class that were a lot of fun. When talking about photosynthesis we put celery
into different colored cups of water to see what would happen. We also did a
project where we dissected an owl pellet to see what was inside. Another
science project we did in my fourth grade class had to do with chicks. Being
from a small rural town, we had a lot of farmers in the area. One of these many
farmers donated four eggs to us. We were discussing the life cycle of a baby chick
and what they need to live. We took care of the eggs, nurturing them until one
day they hatched. The chicks then became our class pets for the rest of the
time that we were discussing the topic. These projects are some of my few
fonder memories of science while growing up. Other than my fourth grade class
the only other class that stands out in my mind for science was my eighth grade
class. In this science class we did a project where we dissected frogs. I
absolutely hated this project and thought the school smelled horrible that
entire week. Somehow though that is what sticks out in my mind when I think
about my science experiences. I would like to think that the fact that I am a
girl had nothing to do with the fact that I didn’t have the greatest experience
with science, however some people would say it was. Science didn’t seem to peak
my interest in school this may have been a combination of the way it was taught
to me, and my lack of interest in the subject. Overall, my past experiences
with science have greatly influenced the way I want to teach my future
students. Since I didn’t have the best or most influential experiences with
science I want to create fun, exciting, and memorable experiences for my future
students. In my future years of teaching I plan to try and keep my science
lesson very hands on. We already know that hands on activities help the
students learn better by keeping the engaged. I also hope that the lesson will
be more memorable to the students. By keeping my science lessons engaging and
memorable the students will hopefully have a positive view on learning science
throughout their school career. The students will want to learn and discover
more in the science field. I hope that by reflecting on my science experiences
and realizing what benefitted and what didn’t benefit my learning will help me
to better teach my future students. I hope that my future students will create
a love for learning new things in the science field.
