Chapter 2 of Marilyn Fenichel and Heidi A. Schweingruber’s Surrounded by Science opened my eyes to the many different methods that scientists use to explore and examine the world around them. This is accomplished in ways many people wouldn’t think science is learned. The chapter stresses that science is a very social field and argues against the mad scientist/Frankenstein stereotype, which paints scientists as secluded and introverted individuals. Instead it highlights the importance of the culture of science which includes specialized “norms, practices, language, and tools” (20) that allows people within the scientific community to share their knowledge. Science thrives on the exchange of information, for this is what allows the field to grow. Ideas build on one another and viewpoints change as new evidence emerges that challenges existing explanations. Scientists, themselves, are shaped by their different experiences in cultural, political, and economic environments. This is why working as teams to solve scientific problems becomes much more effective. The chapter mentioned that the Human Genome Project, which I learned about in AP Biology, was actually the product of a collaborative effort. In school, we never really learned about how the information was collected for this huge scientific breakthrough. This got me thinking about how so many advances in science were possible because of the exchange of information between scientists. For example, Watson and Crick worked together to figure out the structure of DNA and arguably couldn’t have accomplished this task without important contributions from an X-ray crystallographer named Rosalind Franklin.
My favorite quote was that “Learning science is a multifaceted endeavor” (32) because it encompassed the central idea of the chapter and it was so eloquently put. Science is “multifaceted” in that there are many layers to acquiring knowledge that can be applied to everyday life. And it is an “endeavor” that requires interest and motivation to actively pursue knowledge that isn’t always easy to grasp. The “stands of science learning” framework shows that in order to become a part of science and its community it is crucial to learn more than just scientific concepts.
A nice example of these six strands of science in action was Project FeederWatch, which gives enthusiasts a fun way to learn about the accessibility of science. With ready-made materials in hand, a support staff, and helpful online resources, these citizen-scientists gained exposure to hands-on scientific inquiry which allowed them to become more comfortable with the methods of science. This activity and others like it reaps tremendous benefits for both the scientific community and for the participants. Only 6% of participants said that they didn’t learn anything from Project FeederWatch. As evident by the Seed Preference Test, citizen-scientists can even disprove scientific institutions and contribute to journals through their experimentation and collective observations. Another thing that I found very interesting is how participants of lab-organized research projects form their own research projects. Science, in turn, becomes a chain-reaction as the participants decide to take initiative and pursue their garnered interests. This chapter makes me appreciate how science is truly a collaborative effort of people who engage with science in a variety of ways.
