The science of kindergarteners

Ever since I was a kid, I knew that I loved science. Everything about it fascinated me; I have always been entranced by biology, and then I discovered chemistry in high school. College introduced me to astronomy and physics, and additional chemistry and biology. I have now found my way to the geology major (although it was hard to pick just one discipline!). I’ve been aware about my interest in science for years; it just wasn’t until last year that I realized how much I love teaching science.

A year ago, I was in Chemistry 104, one of the major chemistry courses taught on this campus. As a James Scholar needing to fulfill my honors credit for the semester, I decided to take part in the Chemistry REACT Program, a program where you go to an elementary school classroom for a day and teach science to the kids. We taught them a few basic experiments and ideas, and it was an absolute blast.

I came out of the classroom that day thinking that maybe I should have been an education major. I didn’t think I would get another opportunity to teach children about science for a very long time. Then, at the beginning of this semester, my roommate told me about a class she was going to take: CHEM 199, a course where you’d go into a classroom once a week to teach science. It was perfect! I immediately signed up, and since then my partner and I have been teaching science lessons to a class full of kindergarteners once a week.

This teaching experience has been slightly different. Kindergarteners barely even know their colors; let alone what the word “experiment” means. The one thing they have learned very quickly, however, is what the word “explosion” means—or, as they say it, “splosion.” One day we brought them outside and showed them what happens when you mix baking soda and vinegar, and they haven’t been able to stop talking about it since.

The major lesson I have learned from these great experiences is that not only is it amazing to go to school for a subject that you love, but it’s equally as fun teaching that subject to others. The kids are fascinated by the most random things, and they’ve taught me to keep an eye out for science in everyday life. This idea of seeing science in everyday life is a lesson they try to teach in all intro college chemistry classes, but for me, it didn’t sink in until I stepped foot into a kindergarten classroom. Sometimes the teachers learn just as much as the students.