August 2011
Connie Branson, a CRS member for the past three years, is a Lead Science Teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in Oakland. We asked Connie some questions about her experiences with science, both in and out of the classroom. She credits her natural interest as a child – and to this day – in science, nature, and experimenting for her incredible scientific experiences.
The following is from an interview with Connie about her science teaching and inspiration. Thank you for sharing your experiences and stories, Connie!
CRS: Are there hands-on science experiences that you remember from your own childhood?
Connie: Once past putting every crumb, bug, leaf and speck of dirt in my mouth, my first remembered hands-on science experience from my childhood took place when I was not quite three years old. I stuck a spoon in the wall socket. ‘Twas quite an electrifying moment! What power the spoon had! So I wondered if a fork could also make the beautiful mini lights. Of course, it did. I decided not to try the table knife. My next set of science experiments involved earth science wherein my siblings and I constructed all kinds of waterways and dams in the almond grove. We dug halfway to China, discovering ways of minimizing erosion and maximizing depth. For “play” my father brought home old radios which I would take apart and put back together so they would work. Our family was large so we always had a large garden. Along side of my father I experimented with plants…how to get the best carrots, the sweetest peaches, the juiciest tomatoes, the biggest blueberries and the black berries with the fewest thorny branches. We also had farm animals…and pets… I learned to love them, care for them and what to do to get the best eggs from the chickens, the most milk from the cows and the fewest kicks from the goat. On vacation I experimented at the shore with waves and sea life and in the forest with animal and plant life. Wonderment was my constant companion.
Oh, but perhaps you mean the SCHOOL hands on science memories. Oh, those. Sorry. I never had a science lesson until I was in high school. My happiest memory of those years was building an observatory with Mr. Shazeday…and then using it to observe the nighttime sky.
CRS: Is there a favorite science-related activity that you like to do now for yourself or for your family?
Connie: My children have perhaps been indoctrinated by having spent their childhoods with me. We all love to go out to greet nature with wonderment. We never pass up an opportunity to love it and learn from it. We also take advantage of every opportunity to visit places housing hands-on science activities. (Fortunately, none of my children or grandchildren has chosen to recreate the spoon – fork experiment.)
CRS: What was your favorite classroom science experience?
Connie: Several years ago for a science fair project one group of students decided to see how fast a giant millipede could find its food when placed in a maze. They created a rather intricate maze in a large firm sided doughnut box. On the first try the millipede took ten minutes to find the mushy apple, the second try – 5 minutes, third try – 2 minutes and there after less than a minute. In our follow up discussion the group decided to create a duplicate of the maze to see if the millipede was following a scent he left or if he really had learned. In the new environment the millipede again found the mushy apple in under thirty seconds proving the millipede was capable of learning. What this also proved was that kids can do real science, regardless of circumstances of poverty and difficult home circumstances.
CRS: What was your funniest classroom science experience?
Connie: Oh, we had put in a school garden, grew a lot of tomatoes. So in the fall I decided that we could get a lot of science in by turning the tomatoes into tomato sauce and canning the sauce which we would then take with us on our camping trip in the spring. The children did learn a lot of science. The funny part was the mess made in the process. Picture a class of thirty-three fifth graders in a truly red sea with the smell of tomatoes, garlic, onion, basil wafting through the air. Great Fun! Great Science! Great Mess! (But I did do this for the following several years…though did figure out ways to make it a less messy project.)
CRS: What was one your hardest science classroom experiences?
Connie: Working with the light spectrum with third graders is difficult. I think that they catch a little of it but I think that I have not yet found a way to truly help them understand it. They like “making rainbows” and maybe for some that is the best they can do – to understand what is happening to create the rainbows.
CRS: Do you have a science related hobby?
Connie: Sketching & writing children’s stories related to science.