Science is Awesome!!!, Class #1, Period 3, January 4th

[the_merriest]

Rikku hoped she didn't look as nervous as she felt. She could barely believe she belonged on this side of the teacher's desk. ... Not that there was actually a desk, today. They weren't meeting in a classroom, but rather, in the Danger Shop, near the edge of a cliff.

She had remembered to put in plenty of safety protocols, for that one. See? She was thinking like a teacher already.

"Hi, everyone," she said, leaning against a convenient outcropping of rocks. "My name's Rikku. Some of you already know me; I used to go to school here a couple years back. If I already know you, then hi and it's great to see you again! And if I don't, I can't wait to get to know you. Either way, don't worry about formalities, okay? Just call me Rikku. This class is called Science is Awesome!!! And that's because it is. This class is gonna give you guys a general overview of some of the different branches of what are known as the natural sciences. And I'm even going to explain the distinction between natural sciences and other kinds of science, but not today, 'cause I thought we should start with a bit more of a bang."

Although, happily, she wasn't talking about explosives. At least, not yet.

"So we're gonna start, before we get to the branches, by talking about something called the scientific method. The point of science is to observe the world around us and try to make sense of it. We don't just want to look at it; we want to explain it. Here's a simple example: plants need light. They use it for something called photosynthesis. But even if we don't know what photosynthesis is, we can come up with an experiment that'll prove that plants need light. Take two cups of dirt, put a seed in each, and put one on a windowsill while the other is in a dark closet. The one in the dark closet won't bloom, but the one on the windowsill will. That's basic, but that's science.

"The scientific method is a way of setting up experiments so we can run tests. We have a hypothesis: in this case, that if you keep a seed away from sunlight, it won't grow. We come up with a way of checking it -- by taking two identical seeds, and keeping everything the same except what it is we're testing. In this case, sunlight is known as the variable. So we want everything else to be exactly the same -- no putting one seed in a bigger cup, or watering one but not the other. I mean, if you never water the closet one, it won't grow, but how will you know if that's because of the watering or the light?

"In this case, the plant on the windowsill is the control. If we just had a plant in the closet, not growing, that wouldn't prove anything, either. Maybe we had dead seeds. Maybe we watered too much. That's why we need the control one, to be all nice and normal and prove that it's our variable that made things change. Does that make sense?"

It was at this point that she gestured to the edge of the cliff. "We've got three stations over here," she said. "At the first one, you're going to pick up a rock and drop it off the side of the cliff. There's a stopwatch; make sure you time exactly how long it is from when you let go, to when it smacks into the ground at the bottom. There are plenty of rocks, so feel free to do it a couple of times to be sure you've got the time down. When you do, write that time down, okay? And then you go to the second station."

At the second station was a pitching machine, except that it wasn't propped up on its tripod, but rather strapped down on the ground, mouth facing the abyss.

"Then you go to this bad boy," she said, patting it, "and it'll spit out a rock at 15 miles per hour. Do the same thing -- time when it leaves, and when it lands, and get a good sense of the variations. Also, don't try this at home. You're really not supposed to put rocks in these things, but I tweaked the specs a little."

She pointed to the third area. "And those rocks, you drop again," she explained, "but this time, they've got parachutes attached. You'll be timing it, once more. And then we'll talk about this experiment -- the controls, and variable, and what changes we could make -- and you guys can do that introduction stuff that everyone makes you do the first week."

She beamed at the class, happy she'd gotten through all of that without rambling too badly. "Any questions?"

Comments

Sign In - SCI01

[the_merriest]

EXCITED ABOUT SCIENCE!

Re: Sign In - SCI01

[notlikebobby.livejournal.com]

Jack McCallister

During the Lecture - SCI01

[the_merriest]

Wonder about your teacher's sorry excuse for a fashion sense, or how flinging rocks off a cliff counts as science.

Re: During the Lecture - SCI01

[notlikebobby.livejournal.com]

Now this was more like the science he knew, even if it was remedial compared to what he was used to. Jack had pegged Rikku as a former cheerleader whose hyperactive streak hadn't worn off. Sometimes he missed cheerleaders just like he missed track meets.

Re: During the Lecture - SCI01

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

That was... a lot of talking and Hinata found herself glad that she'd had the two days she'd been back on the island to mostly rest before having to deal with it.

Even so, she took notes just to make sure that when time came to review she wouldn't be lost.

At least, she thought, the activity seemed simple enough. Which was good for she was still quite tired.

Re: During the Lecture - SCI01

[i-am-the-rat.livejournal.com]

Hank was confused. She hadn't at ALL mentioned the part about creating abominations of nature in your lab while ignoring your kids. Heck, the way she was talking about science, it sounded almost... NOT-stupid. Whoa!

Re: During the Lecture - SCI01

[faithandscience.livejournal.com]

Well, having Rikku as a boss these past few months meant William was somewhat accustomed to both her manner of dress and her exuberance by now, so there wasn't really any wondering about that. Or about the assignment, really, because he made judicious use of the scientific method in his own experiments.

Re: During the Lecture - SCI01

[heromaniac]

Momoko was TRYING not to bounce and wave and instead look incredibly serious as she listened to Rikku's lecture.

Great subjects and teachers? This semester was shaping up to be AWESOME!

Station #1: Dropping Rocks By Hand - SCI01

[the_merriest]

Self-explanatory. Either by yourself or with a partner*, drop the designated rocks from ground level. Whoosh!

There's nothing special you need to observe, except that the rocks will give off a splatter of brightly-colored paint when they hit, so that it's easier to see the exact time of impact. Because Rikku's nice like that.

*(if you want a partner and don't get one, Rikku's happy to oblige, just tap me OOC)

Re: Station #1: Dropping Rocks By Hand - SCI01

[notlikebobby.livejournal.com]

Jack got himself a stopwatch, his notebook and his pen and waited his turn for the rock drop. At least they didn't have to work out the speed or do any physics today. He needed time to work his way up to that kind of school work.

Re: Station #1: Dropping Rocks By Hand - SCI01

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

Hinata glanced around for a partner, figuring that it would be simpler if there were the two of them to work on this situation.

Re: Station #1: Dropping Rocks By Hand - SCI01

[twintuitionist.livejournal.com]

Juliet was a little dubious about this whole science thing, but dropping rocks sounded about her speed. She had her notebook handy and seemed to be very serious about the experiment.

Re: Station #1: Dropping Rocks By Hand - SCI01

[mathletenomore.livejournal.com]

Lindsay, notebook in hand, was ready to observe and drop some rocks. She'd be glad to work with a partner if anyone needed one.

Re: Station #1: Dropping Rocks By Hand - SCI01

[heromaniac]

Momoko had her notebook ready and was dropping rocks like a fiend. She'd timed the first few, then spent a few more minutes trying to see how many colours of paint Rikku had used. Now, THIS was SCIENCE!


Somewhere, the Professor and Ken were twitching.

Station #2: The Pitching Machine - SCI01

[the_merriest]

The pitching machine has been modified in a couple of ways. One is that it can handle rocks without blowing up. The other is that it now releases a ball (or in this case, rock) with the press of a button. And so, yet again, by your self or with a partner*, press the button, watch the rock go flying, and try to time the moment of impact. These rocks, too, will give off a splash of paint on impact.

*(same deal in re: partners)

Re: Station #2: The Pitching Machine - SCI01

[i-am-the-rat.livejournal.com]

"Oh, SWEET!!!"

Hank tried to turn the pitching machine to aim it at his classmates, and was disappointed to find it strapped down. "Aw, maaaaan!"

Re: Station #2: The Pitching Machine - SCI01

[heromaniac]

Momoko... didn't have as much fun with this one. A few rocks and she had her data and was done; it was actually a bit unnerving how fast the rocks flew and the splats weren't nearly as satisfying. Or pretty.

Station #3: Parachutes! - SCI01

[the_merriest]

This station is almost identical to the first one, except that there's a pile of rock-sized parachutes next to the pile of rocks. Put the rocks in the wee little harness-slings before plopping them to their doom. And, of course, either by yourself or with a partner*, time the release to the moment of impact on that handy-dandy stopwatch you've got.

*(same deal)

Re: Station #3: Parachutes! - SCI01

[i-am-the-rat.livejournal.com]

Hank put a rock in a parachute and contemplated it thoughtfully. He wondered how many of those parachutes you'd need for a whole PERSON. Probably at least, like, five or something.

Re: Station #3: Parachutes! - SCI01

[heromaniac]

"Awww! So cute! These are real, right? I can take some home? Riiiikkuuuuuuu?!"

The point of this section of the experiment wasn't lost on Momoko, but really, they were very cute parachutes.

Introduction and Discussion - The Rock-Flinging Experiment - SCI01

[the_merriest]

"Okay," Rikku said. "The point of this was to show you that even something like tossing rocks off a cliff can be science, if we put a method behind it. We set up an experiment, with a variable and controls, and we recorded our responses. So let's talk about it. One of the controls in this experiment was the cliff itself. We didn't use different cliffs, and I programmed in that it should be exactly the same height all the way across. Another was the rocks, which were all exactly the same size, shape, and weight."

"So." Rikku pointed at a student at random. "Tell me how it went. Was it harder than you thought, trying to hit the stopwatch at exactly the right time? Did you have other troubles with the experiment? Did you get useful results, or did you forget to write things down? And while we're at it, give me your name, year, and your background with science. Okay?"

Re: Introduction and Discussion - The Rock-Flinging Experiment - SCI01

[i-am-the-rat.livejournal.com]

"Aw, MAN! We were supposed to write it down?!?! You should have said!!!"

He sighed and gave the stopwatch a dirty look, as if IT was somehow at fault.

"I'm Hank," he told the class. "Junior. Awesome. Boy adventurer. My pop's making me take this class 'cause he's a superscientist, and I hate him. Science is stupid."

Re: Introduction and Discussion - The Rock-Flinging Experiment - SCI01

[faithandscience.livejournal.com]

"Experiments involving timing are much easier when one has a partner, and the results aligned quite well with my original hypothesis," William offered. "And my name is William Murdoch, I'm in-" he broke off, smiling sheepishly. Sometimes he forgot the different terms used in this time. "I mean, I am a freshman. My experience with science is largely self-taught, though the, er, teachers at my former school did encourage it to a degree." That degree usually stopped somewhere around 'trespassing in the science lab after curfew', but details.

Talk to Rikku - SCI01

[the_merriest]

She's here after class! She's in need of a TA or two, should anyone want to volunteer, and she's also here to talk about science, or rocks, or her unfortunate choice of clothing.

Re: Talk to Rikku - SCI01

[faithandscience.livejournal.com]

Oh, you bet William was going to be inquiring about whether she needed a TA.

"Miss Rikku?" He was getting better about the honourifics, really! He just sometimes slipped and forgot people wouldn't mind if he didn't use them.

OOC

[the_merriest]

It feels really weird posting class from this account.

Also! I love that her tag has an exclamation point!

And a special thanks to heromaniac who let me flail at her at 3 AM when I was convinced class wasn't working, zomg, and helped me make it make some shred of sense. ♥

Re: OOC

[heromaniac]

Which of course means an automatic 'A' for Momoko, yes? No? Cookie?

<3!