Scientific Me

Jack Reilly

           My exposure to science started early. I was a curious child and so was my brother. My parents recognized this and bought us books and showed us videos. In fact, for a time in my life I probably watched just as many if not more educational videos than entertainment ones. Many of the books were the DK books. DK also put out videos based on these books and I watched many of them. There were also these videos hosted by Gary the Gecko or Larry the Lizard or something like that. Dinosaurs were the focus of much my early exposure to science as, like many young children, I was fascinated by them. I watched Walking with Dinosaurs frequently, even if the underwater part scarred me for life (I still can not look at large sea creatures without feeling uncomfortable). My brother was a much better reader than I was and also told me about whatever he read, so I picked up a lot of science from him. My family also had memberships at the local zoo and science museum and we took frequent trips there. I still remember one great trip to the science museum where they had a special exhibit on dinosaurs with a computer game where you could design your own dinosaur. We would also visit science museums when we travelled so as a natural history museum on Cape Cod.

           As I entered school science was not a huge focus in the primary grades. In kindergarten, 1st grade and 2nd grade we did science but it felt more token than anything. 3rd grade this started to change, with more focus on science as a subject. I remember we hatched chicks in an incubator. Unfortunately the power went out over the weekend and only one survived. We broke up the other eggs and got to see the dead chickens. We named the survivor Blackie because he had black feathers. I was appalled at my classmates’ lack of creativity. 4th grade is where science really started to pick up. Mrs. Decker is one of the best teachers I’ve ever had, and I had her for both 4th and 5th grade. She loved all subjects including science and we did several projects that I remember. We built a model of a cell (I did an animal cell). We did a large unit of geology in 5th grade where we had rock kits and tested rock samples for their various properties. We also had to research a major geological feature in the U.S. and then record our results on a large star. I can’t remember what mine was, but it border more than one state. In 6th grade we started changing for subjects and science was one of them. I also had the science teacher, Mr. Witham, for homeroom, so I was in the science room a lot. This started a period where I did really well in science, even getting 100 on a few tests.

           Moving into junior high school I had the same science teacher for both years. I continued to do well in science, and in 8th grade got a 95 in every quarter and on the final. What I remember most was not a standard part of the curriculum. One of my classmates was convinced that wood did not float. His evidence for this was the Titanic. So my teacher put a piece of wood in a water filled jar. It floated, but after several weeks it became waterlogged and sank. So we switched it out on him and continued to do so for the rest of the year. In high school my first year I had biology. We dissected fetal pigs. I named the pig my group had Lucky the Third (take notes 3rd graders, this is how you name animals). In 10th grade I had earth science, which I did okay in. Mostly I remember arguing over whether or not one lab was necessary with my teacher. In 11th grade I took physics instead of chemistry. I’m glad I did even though it was hard and I did not do that well. My teacher was fun and I enjoyed some of what we did, like creating rockets. In 12th grade I took human anatomy, which was a course for seniors who did not want or need to take a proper science course, but still wanted to take a science. It was pretty easy. In college I took earth science my first semester because I needed a lab science. It was hard at first, but once we moved out of geology and into Earth history, I did better. That takes me up to now. I have not taken hard science since, limiting myself to psychology. While my love of science has waned a little over the years, the enthusiasm I once had for it being replaced by the same enthusiasm for history, I still enjoy learning new science facts and keep up with a few science channels, such as Scishow, on YouTube.