Cookies, Volcanoes & Surfing with Zoe Lake
June 2011 This month, we’re spotlighting a community members that makes science class where fun and learning go hand in hand. We recently sat down with Zoe Lake. She is an educator at the Lawrence Hall of Science and she is Managing Director of Act Out Science, a group committed to engaging people in positive experiences with science through theatre.
Zoe Lake is an avid science explorer and has been teaching for the last three years. From performance art, to interactive inquiry, to hands-on experiences, Zoe has found that these are effective ways to learn and teach science.
“I tell students that whenever they look and think about the world around them, they are scientists. I tell them that observations and careful thinking will help them understand even the most complex issues. ”
Complex issues like baking cookies? But, of course! “I love finding out how people like their chocolate chip cookies–cakey, chewy, crispy,” she says. “I’ll use cake flour or add brown sugar. I’ll adjust the baking soda versus the baking powder. I’ll play with the amount of butter. It’s rare to get it just right, but it all tastes good in the end.”
But science isn’t always pretty or delicious. In fact, one of Zoe’s most memorable science experiences was quite the opposite of experimenting with butter, sugar, and chocolate.
“In third grade, my classroom teacher brought in a goat that had died on her farm and we dissected it as a class. I remember being nervous and excited. I thought it smelled bad and dramatically held a handkerchief over my face. In honesty though, I thought it was fascinating and asked lots of questions. ”
Zoe has continued to give in to the fascination she has with the world around her. She lets it fuel her passion for teaching others about science and she doesn’t let anything get in the way of a good science lesson.
In a class she teaches on plate tectonics, Zoe talks about volcanoes and recreates them with the classic vinegar and baking soda reaction. “One time I forgot to put trays under our mock volcanoes,” she recalls, “and I had vinegar and baking soda oozing onto all my tables. The kids were having so much fun I couldn’t ask them to stop so I could slip the trays under. ”
Zoe is dedicated to getting kids to participate and get their hands into science, be it through theatre, through making erupting volcanoes, or through baking cookies. Her advice to teachers is the same as for students. Keep observing and remember that science is everywhere. She wonders; “If science seemed less intimidating would people invest more time and energy in its instruction. ”
By teaching at Lawrence Hall of Science and with Act Out Science, Zoe is doing her part in spreading her love of observation and science to the public. “I know we are all stretched thin, but a deeper appreciation of the systems that support our survival would be a wonderful thing.”
That is, except when you’re about to get crushed by a wave!
Recently, Zoe has taken up surfing. The only problem is staying focused on the task at hand. “I often get distracted from catching the wave because I’m thinking about the mechanics of the wave. ” She pictures the depth of the sea floor, what kelp and other life are surviving below her board, and how the moon affects the tides and then –wham!
In science you have to take the good with the ugly, but luckily nothing is truly bad. Goat dissections and getting slammed by a wave are a bit ugly but they spark just as much fascination as baking cookies and reproducing volcanic eruptions. Heed Zoe’s advice, observe everything around you and allow your curiosity to unleash the scientist in you.