The Science Experience rockets students
Written by Chris Thomas
Rocketry, live snakes, chemical reactions, computer gaming and DNA extraction are being pitched at teenagers in a bid to get more people studying science at a tertiary level.
It’s all part of The Science Experience, a program designed to refresh teenagers’ interest as they choose upper school subjects, hopefully leading them on a pathway to study science and maths in Years 11 and 12 through to university.
Coordinator Nardia Bordas runs the program at Edith Cowan University’s Joondalup campus and says more people studying science and engineering were desperately needed, so there were enough skilled people to push the State forward in the future.
“Young people have the most energy and originality to discover better ways of doing things,” she says.
“This means we have to find better ways of getting people to study science and, with so many choices available these days, we need to develop this passion for science early.”
The Science Experience is not a traditional classroom environment – Ms Bordas said it’s more akin to a science day camp where people can try fun activities without any pressure to remember everything to pass a test.
“They can simply enjoy what they're doing and find out what they like and don't like to do,” she says.
“Now and then a student might not especially enjoy some particular session but, in a way, that's the whole point.
“I want them to experience lots of different aspects of science and technology to get a glimpse of what’s out there and think about what they might like to pursue later on.”
While The Science Experience program varies from year to year, it usually includes aspects of chemistry, engineering, biology, computing, environmental science, sport science, human biology, genetics and physics and sometimes nursing, nutrition and psychology.
Ms Bordas said she offers a broad range of disciplines to get away from the stereotypical idea of people in glasses and white coats mixing chemicals in labs.
“You can be outdoors up to your knees in river water, capturing and releasing live snakes, using huge expensive machines to help solve crimes and growing tiny plants in special pots, as well as popular things seen on TV such as pipetting on to microbial plates,” she said.
“I want to bust a few myths, too, because TV and movies can be very misleading about science and the people who do it.”
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This article is courtesy of ScienceNetwork WA.
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