Experiences
Getting girls into science
Inquisitive students were blown away by the magnitude
and complexity of the wind tunnel
One by one they descended the steps and formed a semi-circle. Their attention and eyes fixed on me, an outsider. There was no escape and no backing out. Taking a deep breath, I smiled and began “Hi everyone. Welcome to Monash University. I am Jerani…”. Instantly I noticed the friendly smiles the girls were returning and it dawned on me that this was to be a new experience for us all...
When I first learnt of the Scientists in Schools (SiS) program I thought it presented a great opportunity to not only experience my childhood ambition of being a teacher, but to also help prospective students explore extraordinary careers in Science. I was partnered with the science co-ordinator, Phillip Carmody, at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart high school. Both Phil and I were new to the program and initially had no idea what to do, but as we discussed our backgrounds and the things we wished to achieve, ideas began to evolve. We decided to organise a visit to the University for students interested in science. The visit had to be educational, inspiring and fun. Of course, we had ulterior motives too.
Students having a smashing good time breaking different
materials to see which is the strongest
I wanted to encourage girls to consider science careers outside the general stereotype of a laboratory worker. There is a world of opportunities and exciting careers in science that involve more than mixing chemicals and dissecting animals. On the other hand, Phil wanted to encourage girls to undertake physics in VCE and thought that a female engineer was the perfect mentor. Little did Phil know that I haven’t done physics since VCE. However, I could understand the girls’ lack of motivation to do it – another maths subject. It was then that I decided to seek expert advice and ask my first year engineering students what they enjoyed about physics. A little bit of reminiscing revealed the key answer: the practicals! And so I began organising things for the visit, making new contacts with people at the University and drawing on existing friends for assistance.
The day of the visit finally arrived. The girls and I toured the University visiting the Advanced Microscope facilities, where they looked at a metal specimen using a Scanning Electron Microscope, followed by a tour of Monash MotorSports where a race car is being built by students. We were in luck that day, for a spontaneous tour of the wind tunnel was organised with a demonstrator car ready for testing in view. That was a new learning experience even for me.
Our next stop was the BioEngineering tissue culture lab where the students were in awe of the rat brain and cancer cells on display, so much so that one student piped up “Would you get cancer if you drank that?”. No you wouldn’t get cancer from drinking cells as they would not survive in your stomach, but I don’t know why you would consider drinking it.
Discovering even bullet-proof glass can be
broken by applying strain and nail polish
remover.
The last part of the day was to be the most memorable for all the students. First up was a $50 challenge to break through bullet-proof glass (this little fact being unknown to the students) by throwing a weight. This was followed by a hands-on demonstration of how, with the right environmental conditions, such as straining the material in the form of bending and applying simple nailpolish remover simultaneously, you can break it.
The grand finale for the day was an impact test practical where the students were given samples of different materials and they measured the energy required to break it. The students thoroughly enjoyed themselves and in the end Phil had to usher out a bunch of protesting girls. Now I am looking forward to an encore performance with another group of students.
