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Why Chemistry?

This is the title of the paper we've been asked to write in our Chemistry Curriculum class. The purpose it to persuade a high school student to study Chemistry. Said high school student will also be the one assigning us our grade. They'll mark us on grammar, style, voice, content, and organiztion, all on levels 1 to 4. For example, for voice, level 4 is "Individual and powerful", whil level 1 is "This paper made me yawn." Yeah.
So here's my first attempt. Feedback is welcome, particularly if you're an Ontario high school student or at least pretending to be an Ontario high school student.

Why Chemistry?
Or How to be Awesome When You’re Still too Young to Vote

Why chemistry? Good question. Had I not been sitting pretty much where you are 15 or so years ago, I would probably try to convince you that chemistry is important by listing a bunch of the trivia you’d be expected to memorize by the end of the course—that the chemical formula for table salt is NaCl, that the atomic mass of Silicon is 28.09, or that John Dalton’s model of the atom was nicknamed “the raisin bun”—things you’ll only really find useful as a future contestant on Are you smarter than a former Canadian comedian? Maybe I’d rhyme off a list of glitzy, high-paying careers that require at least a basic understanding of chemicals and their interactions—forensic pathologist, pharmacist, high school science teacher. Perhaps I’d even try to lure you in with some sort of exciting, exploding demo—potassium in water, for example. As a final plea, I might even try to appeal to your inner hippie, and tell you how chemistry is all around you, that it makes you one with the universe—the Eggo you burned for breakfast, the Sun in the sky on your way to school, the Post-It you used to remind yourself to bring your gym clothes home for a wash, the bubbles in the beer you are much too young to drink.

I am not going to do any of that.

No, instead I am going to tell you the short, simple truth. To be blunt, I think chemistry is awesome.

The universe is big. Really, really, really, mind-numbingly big. To even try to think about how immense it is could quite probably cause your head to explode. To figure it all out, we’ve had to cut it up into more managable, bite-sized pieces. The Biologists look at all the living things, many of which are pretty slimey; the physicists look at all of the non-living things, a lot of them way too far away to actually see; and the chemists... they get to see the really fun stuff. Chemists see the whole picture.

Chemists understand why your Eggo burns when it gets stuck in the toaster and will someday, hopefully, build a better burn-resistant waffle. It was Chemists who figured out why the Sun’s rays damage your skin and a way to protect you from UV rays while still giving you a nice, healthy glow for March Break. If that weren’t enough, Chemists can usually be counted on to come up with the coolest party tricks—google “how to freeze a beer in seconds” if you don’t believe me. See? Awesome. Oh, and we get to explode stuff, too.

So, how does all this tell you why you should study chemistry? I suppose it doesn’t. These are all reasons why chemistry is important to me. But maybe, just maybe, if I’ve done this right, you’ll be tempted to find out how chemistry could be important to you, too, even if it is just for the cool party tricks.

Comments

This is very good. I really enjoyed reading it. First of all, your writing is entertaining and the language accurately aims to hit your targeted audience.

I wish I could have had someone as enthusiastic as you for a chemistry teacher.

Keep up the great work, Ms. Currie!

Sorry, Sarah. I was a bit trigger happy. There was a first of all. So I suppose I should include a "second of all". I think what was missing from much of what we read in high school was humour. I think it's a basic, but crucial, ingredient in captivating those fickle teenagers.

I'm confident that your judicious use of humour in this paper could encourage a normally slack-jawed kid to consider studying chemistry, someone who might otherwise pass it over as borrrrring, leading to zzzz....

So you've done chemistry a great service by writing well and being funny!

Now we return to our regularly scheduled program.

I think is it great...I even had to google “how to freeze a beer in seconds” (although it is not REALLY seconds, as the beer has to be in the freezer for a few hours, but I digress).
I agree with Marsha, any teacher worth listening to added humour and interesting things in the class.

I love it :-)

Puppy mama drama

The day after I started at school, we received a letter from the city notifying us that someone had complained about Zeppelin's barking. None of our neighbours approached us to let us know there was a problem, they went directly to the by-law officer. We were understandably upset. We've ben trying to curb Zeppelin's barking for almost 1 year now, and had thought we were making some progress. However, my recent return to school has thrown a bit of a wrench in the works. I know he's barking to get attention. He's ticked off that I am not longer at his beck and call, and wants to have a human to play with.
Yesterday, Capt Mike called the city to tell them what measures we had already taken, and what measures we were planning on taking. It was a pretty fruitful conversation. Apparently, in our neighbours' eyes, we are neglectful dog owners who never take the dogs anywhere. We are also seen as completely unapproachable. Translation: we're being watched and talked about.
And so here I am drafting a letter to our neighbours to let them know that we have been made aware of the situation, and that we are working on a solution, and would be more than happy to work with them on finding that solution. Let me know what you think:

Dear neighbour,

My name is Zeppelin. I am a Weimaraner, and I live with Mike and Sarah at XXXXXXXXX. Recently the city contacted my owners to tell them that my barking was bugging some of the other residents of the neighbourhood.

I am a young hound, and my barking and howling has been a problem for a while. When I was a puppy, I used to bark just to hear the sound of my own voice (which I think is pretty great), so Mike and Sarah took me to puppy classes and did a lot of research to figure out how to get me to stop barking so much. They did a lot of training with me, and bought me a citronella collar that sprayed a lemony scent when it heard my bark. Unfortunately, I really like lemon, so I thought that was a reward. They also bought a sonic device that emits a high-pitched sound when I bark, but it bothers my friend Dexter a lot more than it bothers me, and they thought that was unfair to him. He hardly ever barks. They have tried to keep training me to only bark in certain situations, and they thought it was starting to pay off.

Now, when they are home, I only bark if I see something I don’t like. I really don’t like squirrels, or the bat that lives in my tree. A few weeks ago someone threw a golf ball into our yard. I really didn’t like that. It could have really hurt. Sometimes I will bark at you to get your attention because I would like to say “hi” and get a pat on the head. I really like pats on the head, unless they’re from a squirrel.

The city also told Mike and Sarah that some of you were concerned that Dexter and I were not getting enough attention or exercise. Sarah recently started going back to school in Kingston, and Mike works during the day, too. Dexter and I do spend a lot more time alone during the day than we used to, when Sarah would be at home to play with us all of the time. But we do have our own dog door, a big yard, and lots of toys to play with and water to drink. Every night when he gets home, Mike takes us to the dog park for at least 45 minutes. I get to run around in the forest, and Dexter gets to play soccer...those are our two most favourite things to do. We also get early morning walks before Sarah and Mike have to leave. The weekends are the best though. Sarah and Mike get to spend lots of time playing with us then.

Mike, Sarah, Dexter, and I are very sorry that my barking has disturbed you, and also that you felt you could not approach us directly to help work towards a solution. Mike and Sarah are both quite friendly, although they are a little more shy than I am. If you have any suggestions about ways you could stop my barking, please do let them know. A phone call or a note in our mailbox is all it takes. We would like to be good neighbours, and I think the bylaw officer would appreciate us working together, too.

Sincerely,

Zeppelin
Sarah
and Mike

xxx-yyy-zzzz

Comments

That's great - Send it to the presses!

It rocks. I assume that everyone in your whole neighbourhood is going to get one in their mailboxes? :-)

You should also send a copy to the bylaw office so they see what you sent out and can cut any more compainers off at the knees.

Unapproachable? How is it possible for someone to label you unapproachable if they've never tried approaching you? I know... it's the bagpipe. It can be very intimidating. :-)

Out of the mouths of babes

Perhaps the most interesting assignment I've had so far was for my Focus class on youth at risk. In groups of 3 or 4, we were asked to informally go to a neighbourhood near a school or schools and ask the people who live and work there their impression of the neighbourhood, school, and (or) people in the community.

The neighbourhood we went to is considered the worst/poorest/most dangerous neighbourhood in Kingston. It's definitely a rough-looking part of town, and certainly most of the people living there are on very limited incomes--pensions, welfare, disability, or employment insurance. They were also some of the most approachable, accomodating people I've ever spoken with. No one brushed us off as not having the time to talk to us. No one seemed suspicious of us being "outsiders". We spoke with mothers and fathers, employees and employers, adults and children. People who were just filling in for the day, and people who had lived there most of their lives. We listened as they told us about the problems in their community. Drugs. Violence. Absentee parents. A lack of discipline both at school and at home. A lost sense of community. Feelings of hopelessness for their children if they lived there much longer. An anger at the city for putting so many people with problems together in such a small area; for creating a place where so many children have so few positive influences or role models. No one had to pause a moment for thought. These concerns were foremost on their minds. It was as though they had been waiting for someone to come along and just ask them what they thought, and once someone, us, did--the floodgates opened.

At one point we were talking to a group of 7 young girls, all aged 12 or 13. We were asking them what sort of opinion people not from their neighbourhood seemed to have of that community. They told us how people from the so-called other side of the tracks called them trash, or told them they had no future. How they were made fun of for the way they dressed, or the fact that Children's Aid and the Police were such frequent visitors to housing development. I asked them if that made them angry or upset, or if it made them want to somehow prove all of those people wrong. The response I got from one of the girls was one of the most powerful statements I have ever heard:

"I don't have to prove them wrong. I'm not doing anything to prove them right."

Comments

Very powerful.

What will be the outcome of the assignment? Do you just present the findings or will you also be discussing and/or implementing any recommendations or focusing in on specific areas?

Hot for teacher

That's what the t-shirt Capt Mike wears to my graduation is going to say. We've already started looking for one. That's how confident we are that I am going to survive this year.

It's been a hard transition though, from career woman back to student. It's a very different type of school and learning from what I remember of my undergrad years. The biggest difference is the lack of pressure. I mean, I have work to do, and I want to do it well, but not because I need to earn a certain grade. The Faculty of Education has a pass/fail system. I either get my B.Ed., or I don't. You have no idea what a huge difference that makes to my ability to learn and retain the information I am being given on a daily basis. It's wonderful. I am still incredibly busy with work, readings, and assignments, but it's because I want to be, not because I feel like I have to be to accumulate percentage points.

The classes are all pretty much set up as seminars. There are very few lectures, and lots of collaborative learning and discussion. There is zero competition. Most of the major assignments are done in groups or in pairs. The idea of collegiality is strongly reinforced in all of our classes. That is a stark contrast to the win-at-all-costs mentality that was so pervasive in the Life Sciences program.

Yes, returning to school was probably the best (though also the scariest) decision I've ever made. I just wish it left a little more time for blogging.

Comments

See? You can do it! You are doing it! I never had a doubt :-)