Let’s Catch Up!

I am so behind on my blogging! The last couple of weeks at the museum were filled with early mornings and late nights. After being home for a week, I’ve had time to reflect…so let’s catch up!

Internship Goals: Working at the museum for the past three weeks was an eye-opening experience. I was able to put to rest some of the stereotypes that I had about scientist and the work that they do. It is my ultimate goal to do the same for my students. I want them to know that they can be scientists! They can have a passion for something and learn more about it. They can do real science in their classrooms that relates to the real world. I think that’s what I love so much about citizen science. I am not saying that students are not already doing science or doing science experiments, but what is that information used for? A lab report? The data collected with citizen science actually goes back to real scientist and means that students are working with scientist to gather new information. That’s awesome!

Benefits to Paleo: One thing that I noticed about the scientist is that they were always trying to pick our brains about how to get science into our schools, into our classrooms, and into the lives of students. That’s the benefit for Jason and the other scientists. They are able to get into the brains of teachers and figure out ways to make connections to students. We are the link. In actuality, it is a win-win situation. We as teachers are able to have experiences in these labs and can share these experiences with our students and the scientists are able to get ideas from us and have a bridge to classrooms.

I am super excited about all of the opportunities that will be available to my students after my time at the museum.

Until next time…