Science Autobiography

Science is a subject I had little exposure to in grades 1-4. I had more exposure to what I would consider Science in Kindergarten than any other elementary grades. We played in a daily rotation with the water, sand, Lincoln logs, blocks, and finger painting tables. But it wasn't until we moved into our 5th grade year (we went to a fifth grade school in New Bern, there was no 5th grade in elementary school)that we gained Science as part of our curriculum. I truly enjoyed what Science we did. The Science fair at our school was incredible. I entered my plaster volcano, a project I was more than proud of (my mother's hands were involved in helping to create it, making it all the more special).

The most exposure I got of Science was from home: making mud pies, catching critters (bees, rolly-pollys, lightening bugs, frogs, caterpillars, etc.), and listening to my parents discuss anatomical parts of the human skeleton (step-father, Orthopaedic surgeon, mom-his nurse). This was especially true whenever we would break a bone or sprain some part of our bodies. Having mom as your personal x-ray technician was quite cool. She would always show us exactly what had happened and our x-rays always got to come home with us. My most proud moment was being able to take in a prosthetic knee and show how my parents did knee replacement surgeries. My classmates thought I was something that day. Heck, I thought I was something that day!

Middle school really piqued my interest in Science. In 6th grade we did a study on the different systems of the human body, making t-shirts to show our "insides." These kinds of studies continued through all of our PE classes, making health and fitness a class I really enjoyed. In 7th grade with Mrs. Woods we started dissections of the earthworm and frog. It was simply AMAZING!! 8th grade we studied weather, climate, and the wild world of outer space. It was during this year in Mrs. Littleton's class that we sat in awe and horror as we watched the launching and explosion of Space Shuttle Challenger. I was distraught! Christa McAuliffe had become a hero of mine and witnessing her demise was nothing short of devastating.

Like 5th grade, we had also had a separate school for our 9th grade year. Here I studied Biology under Mrs. Betsy Ipock. It was not the Science classes I was used to in middle school. The funnest thing we did in this class was our bug collection. Other than that, we were reading the textbook, finding the "high-lighted" words, taking notes and memorizing for tests...boring!!!!

10th grade came, "mommie wow, I'm a big kid now!" I had more flexibility in the types of classes I could take. I filled my schedule with both Art and Science. My first semester I took Astronomy with Ms. Stockton, a class that I loved. Our teacher would have us meet in remote areas around town at night to locate constellations we had been studying and draw them as we saw them. As if that wasn't exciting enough, my next semester was "Human Anatomy," with Coach Pascall. Although, we took many notes in this class, we used the information from our notes to solidify our knowledge with the many dissections we did in our classroom. With lab partners, we dissected fetal pigs, cats, cow hearts, frogs, etc. This class really got me excited about Science.

My 11th grade year came and with growing problems my family was experiencing at home and the now nothing more than direct instruction I was getting at school, my interest in school became non-existent. This trend continued through my senior year.

Many years passed and I am now finally back to finish up what I began so long ago. I can't wait to get into our Science class to help me find as many hands on activities and experiments as humanly possible to aid me in getting my students excited about Science. I'm sure this is a subject some will find is not for them, but I think it really could be for everybody with the "right" exposure.