The Start of Science

Today was the first day of class. The first activity that Dr. Simrnova had us do was to draw a picture

of what you thought a scientist looked like.  My scientist is a young lady trying to find a new way to cure some of a terrifying disease.  When we were done drawing our scientist, we did a walking gallery and observed all the other students scientists. As I looked at all the other students scientists, I started to see a lot of stereotypes.  The majority of the drawings had the scientist in goggles, working at tables and named with doctors.  Not all scientists have a doctorate in science, and they also do not all work in labs.  Some scientist gets to explore the depths of the ocean or the farthest reaches of our solar system.  But the stereotype that I found fascinating is the majority of pictures were men even if the drawer was a woman.  This stereotype made me feel a little sad that people still think that women are not a part of science.  A stereotype that I would like to see a change in the future, by getting girls to understand that science is for everyone.  


The second activity Dr. Simrnova had us do was called "What's in the bag".  This activity was to help understand the scientific method.  She asked what do you think was in the bag without touching the bag.  We then made a list of the possible thing that could be in the bag.  When the list was formed, we then came up with a hypothesis for what was in the bag.  We came up with ways to test our hypothesis.  Some of the suggestions were to hold it, put it in water, or burn it.  We pick to hold the bag for five seconds.  We could squeeze, shake, or manipulate the bag (just not open it) to figure out what was in the bag.  After everyone had a turn, we then made a different list of what we thought was in the bag.  We then grouped were generalized into two categories.  Unfortunately, we still do not know what was in the bag.