Ilanit Zada

11-10-13

Science and Technology in NYC

Professor Adams

The assigned reading for this week was chapters 5 and 8 in Surrounded by Science by Fenichel and Schweingruber. The chapter that intrigued me most was chapter 5, which discussed the importance of interest in informal science settings. It referred to the initial spark of interest and then went even further to explain that in order for this initial spark of interest to develop, “longer-term engagement and multiple experiences are likely to be necessary” (88).  In order to put things in perspective, the chapter gives an example of such a situation. The example presented was the instance when Dana Fusco, along with a group of teens, worked together to build a community garden.

Reading through the steps of this project reminded me of the final project that we will be presenting at the end of this semester and the different steps necessary to get to our final (desired) product. Similar to the teens, we were given the opportunity to explore an area that we were familiar with or simply an area that intrigued us. Then, we were forced to investigate the different things that we could do to help the problem and/or inform the public about the matter (which we would present at the end of the semester). Through this process, we had to gain a better understanding of the matter and research the area of interest.One way that we expanded our knowledge on the topic was through interviews with professionals that were learned in the field. At the end of this project, my group and I hope to inform the public about the problem that we are facing (as a nation) and inform them about the course of action that they can take (as citizens) to help solve the problem.