Science Education: What It Takes To Be A Scientist

Motivation: We Are All Scientists Now
Anything can be science...and any detail could be important...(example: Future Perfect Moon Rock episode)

What it takes To Be A Scientist
Attention. You have to care.  Notice something.
Passion. You really get into something. Become an expert. This is more important than grades, social approval, etc.  Do you know what you're talking about?  Be Authentic.
Record.  Journal. Journaling.  Observations, names, dates. Data.
Analyze.  Logic!  Math!
Share.  This used to mean publishing in a journal.  Now it means put it on the cloud somehow: blog, social media, whatever.
Engage.  hang out with other people who share your interest.  This last step can be overwhelming and counterproductive if you skip the other steps.  Don't fit yourself to your group, find a group that fits you! This is part of growing up.

Examples of Things to Notice
shopping: prices
diet: food log
sports: hot hand
environment: observations of birds, insects, plants, plant diseases, mushrooms (need to know names!)
weather: compare forecast to observations

While doing science with humans is possible, the best thing is to get out in nature where there are unlimited questions and more freedom to ask them.  Also, nature is the origin of the traditional sciences, like geology, chemistry, astronomy, biology. 

To teach sciences like chemistry, that can seem abstract, going through discoveries, the exploratory process, alchemy, etc can be helpful. 

Teach science from the basics.  Like how chemistry discovered metallurgy, and how that was made possible by high heat.  Astronomy and biology were made possible by lenses.  Or teach botany by looking at botanical explorers from Textbook of Pharmacognosy by Wallis, T. E. (Thomas Edward).  Another way to make science relevant is by teaching practical applications, like chemistry in baking/washing clothes.

Resources

https://get21stnight.com/2019/12/27/why-introductory-chemistry-is-boring-a-long-term-historical-perspective/

science? example: https://wefunder.com/lppfusion?auto_login_token=cqcK4xYxqbRvcbLm

Questioning is part of science: Socratic Grilling  https://slatestarcodex.com/2020/03/06/socratic-grilling/

Chemistry table of smells: https://jameskennedymonash.wordpress.com/2013/12/30/table-of-organic-compounds-and-their-smells-250-smells/