Be a Scientist – Spring 2020
What happens when you bring dozens of caring, creative grad students and post-docs into middle school classrooms to mentor 7th graders on their first authentic science investigations?
In the case of our Be a Scientist mentoring program in Berkeley middle schools, the answer is: Kids get inspired, engaged, and make amazing discoveries about the things that they care about.
After participating in the 6-week program, 7th graders at King Middle School, said:
“Science means testing multiple questions to find the mysteries in life.”
“In my life, science is awesome, because you can find out important things in life and have evidence for everything you say.”
“Science is important to me because it helps you make decisions throughout life and it helps you grow.”
School doors closed just as the fourth, and final, session of Be a Scientist was set to begin at King. After the dust settled, the King teachers and CRS team reimagined a “virtual” version of the role model program. A dozen scientists jumped at the opportunity to make a brief video to share with students, highlighting their science journey and demonstrating a phenomenon related to their research. The scientists will join live online class sessions with students.
“We’re giving it a try — there is so much enthusiasm to give these students some opportunity to think about science in new ways and to talk with amazing scientists and engineers,” says project coordinator Darlene Yan.
Co-coordinator Betsy Mitchell adds that the Spring sessions will give the team a chance to explore ways the program may need to be modified in the coming school year when it’s likely we’ll need to limit in-person interactions in classrooms.
