Girl Power in Science and Politics
One of my friends, Donna Simmons, just pointed out a very interesting thing.
Sierra Club just published a description of how Otana Jakpor, 16, of Riverside, CA, a student at Woodcrest Christian High School, did an experiment when she was 13. Her experiment and the way she presented it to the California Air Resources Board affected the regulation of ozone production by air purifiers.
Otana's mother has asthma and she had equipment at home to measure her lung functions. Otana worried because when her mom turned on the air purifier, her asthma seemed to get worse. She decided to do her science project on lung function during use of that air purifier. Otana was quoted by the Sierra Club as follows, "I had parties where I'd invite friends over, and I'd say, 'We'll watch movies and eat cookies, and I'll do my science experiment on you.' I got a lot of guinea pigs that way. When they'd arrive, I'd test how much air they could blow out, and how fast, and then test them again after two and three hours." Asthmatics had decreased lung function after two hours of exposure to the air purifier and the overall population showed decreases after three hours.
Her results were convincing to her mom and to her science class, but she went further. She said, "When doing research for my experiment, I read that the California Air Resources Board was writing a regulation to limit ozone emissions from indoor air purifiers. I decided to share my research with them as they were drafting the legislation, and I was asked to present it at their hearing in 2007. I was 13. People fighting the regulation were saying that there was no direct proof that ozone-generating air purifiers harmed people's breathing. And I had direct proof. I don't know if my research changed the end results of that legislation necessarily, but I think it made the process go more smoothly." So Otana took politics into her own hands and made air better for asthmatics all over California.
I am tremendously impressed by this story and wonder if any of you have seen cases where a student studies something scientific with a societal dimension. Perhaps this kind of linkage would be helpful in attracting more girls into science. I'll post some research about this next week.
cheers,
Laura
A. I have seen students get excited about the societal aspects of science
B. I can imagine this connection but haven't seen it.
C. I don't get why this would attract more girls. It seems like a different thing altogether; science and politics are so separate.
Hi Looking on the Bright Side,
I just reread your post and realized you are recommending that we describe how we can help people using our science. I didn't catch that the first time I read it. Yes, I agree. What can science do for you and me, for society? And how can our students contribute to that? I've found that even if it's just a contribution to the total of scientific knowledge, like better annotations of fruit fly genes that will end up posted for all to use, my students want to do it more than they otherwise would.
cheers,
Laura
Hi Laura,
I like this story very much and I'm going to tell my intro bio students about it. The empowerment is so obvious and my students sometimes feel so dis-empowered when they start biology that I think it might help them.
If you replace science content with social science, you can bet the social scientists won't replace any of their content with science! So it seems to me the students will lose because they will get less science background.
I just scanned the Sierra Club article and you didn't say she was black, but she is, so it's even more amazing that she has so much confidence and ability in science. I just want to say, "You go, girl!"
I agree that if we could put some way to help people with science into our classes, it would make women students get a lot more interested.
Wow, Donna, this is such a matter of fact young girl, never thinking that perhaps people won't listen to her because she's a girl and only 13. I really loved reading about it on your Facebook and then on Sierra Club's posting. She is 16 now and a great role model, even for those of us way older than she is!
cheers,
Laura
I found this piece somewhat by accident in the popular media -- while idly paging through my Sierra club magazine. I thought it was absolutely fantastic and have shared it with friends on my FaceBook page (many of whom are fellow- and sister-scientists), and encouraged them to pass it on. Our local Association for Women In Science group will post it on their newsletter/website and I would hope there is some way of getting it out to middle and highschool teachers, especially science teachers...
Many of us know the motivating power of a personal connection to our research questions, and I think it would be valuable for (all) teachers to see this example from their own world.
The original article
All that said, one of the first things that occured to me on reading the article (after, wow, how cool) was that as an 'adult' researcher, she'd probably have trouble getting the experiment approved by the local human subjects review board! :)
As for Laura's questions above, I'd say yes to A - seen in science fair participants, somewhat yes to B because I don't have any other contact with secondary students, and a resounding No to C. Politics are, in their best essence I think, about betterment of society and helping people -- a general topic which often interests young girls. Our challenge is to help them see the connections between their social consciousness, the scientific endeavor, and action in the political system.
I'll be quite curious to read what others have to say.
At 13! I can hardly believe it, yet she really did that. Well, yes, it do think it would be motivating if people thought their science work was helping people. I guess drug research really does help people, but it feels kind of indirect some times.
