Conducted my first outreach activity today!

I recently became involved with the National Center for Science Education’s Scientist in the Classroom program. It pairs scientists, ranging from graduate students to established scientists, with teachers in local classrooms. The guest scientists have the opportunity to teach climate change and evolution lessons! Naturally, I chose to teach my 6th and 7th graders at Rose Hill Middle School about climate change, ocean acidfiication and oysters.

Here’s the talk I gave.

For the demo, I gave groups of four students beakers with water, straws and pH strips. They had to blow carbon dioxide into the water for a few minutes, then measure the pH. The goal was to show students that carbon dioxide does affect pH, but it does so on a relatively slow timescale. It was really entertaining to watch them blow bubbles into water! I also got to pass around oyster shells from the specimens we sampled earlier this month.

The students were really eager to learn how they could stop climate change. It’s pretty inspiring to see younger kids thinking about these issues! I went to middle school relatively recently, and I was not even aware of climate change at that time, let alone felt empowered to do something to combat a massive problem. Can’t wait to visit again in April or May!