Interview Me (repeat)

I originally answered this in my LJ.. but no one has asked me to "interview" them.. so let's try it here...

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. i'll respond by asking you five random questions.
3. update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, ask them five random questions.

i asked Strangehours to interview me.. so here's what came of it...

1) In your experience, do kids like science? Do they "get" it? Where do we go wrong?
i'll assume that when you say "kids" you mean those of high school age (since that's been my audience for the last couple of years).

as with anything, some people like and some people dislike. it's the same with science. unfortunately there's currently a trend away from the sciences (i think most sciency courses at uni have dropped by about 20% in the last 5 years.. although i could be making that up - i'll find out at work..).

so i guess, in answer to your question (in three parts).. some like it, most seem ambivalent.
occasionally they'll "get" it - and that's something that's particularly good about presenting..
when you start with a room full of teenagers who are oozing "i'm not going to like this because it's science and because my teacher made me come to this", and by the end of the show, they're leaning forward in their seats, taking part and actually liking some of the stuff we talk about.
of course, i can only do this second-hand now.. ahh, living through my presenters. *grin*

where did we go wrong? i think we just neglected to make science relevent to the students. if science was taught along with their applications, students might understand it a little better. they'd at least then be able to see why they need to learn about chemical reactions (for example). *shrug* i'm not a teacher, maybe they're already doing this and science is just facing a very bleak future.. ..i kinda have to hope this isn't the reason - cos if it is, there's no point in me doing my job. if nothing else, the government think that science is important, and the lack of interest is something that can be fixed. *smile*

2) Is there any particular piece of kitchen science that tends to get kids fired up?
well... if it's little kids (and some big kids too).. the borax slime can be a winner
(borax in water, watered-down pva glue - the clear stuff looks best, some food colouring, mix it together and... shebam!.. slime.. just make sure it's washed extremely well in water before use because borax is toxic!).

other kitchen science that fires kids up.. hmmm.. farting cows...
take a toy cow, replace its stuffing with pipes (a T-piece on its side, block the bottom hole, the top hole goes to the mouth, the side hole goes to the butt), attach a balloon to the rear end of the cow, tip some vinegar in to the T-piece (cow stomach acid, it sits in the lower arm of the T),
feed the cow sodium bicarb.

in order to catch the cow's fart, one must block the mouth hole (stop the burps). the gas collects in the balloon which can be removed, tied up and kept if desired. sometimes the vinegar/bicarb reaction is so vigourous that some of the liquid also ends up in the balloon, leading to some disgusting jokes.

3) What do canberrans do for fun?
no idea - suggestions most welcome!
ooh.. just discovered that on a Sunday night, families in Canberra go to the Pancake Parlour in Civic!

4) How's the photography going?
i haven't done a lot.. we got ourselves a new slr camera that i'm supposed to learn how to use..
but this is an old house and i'm worried about keeping important stuff here.
so the camera is with timmy, and i've got a happy snappy one..

the picture in this post is one i took in Canberra a couple of weeks ago. it's a seat near the Carillion (could you guess?).

5) How are you and Tim coping with being so far away from each other?
i'd be lying if i said i hadn't considered moving back to melbourne again.
but i like my job, and it really is the best thing for the both of us (as far as work and career and learning stuff goes).

it's not an easy thing to do. but neither of us is willing to ask the other to leave what they're doing - and i think that's okay.
we're going to be together "until death parts us", so what's two years in 50?
i have my path, t has his..
unfortunately, for the moment, they're in separate cities.

we have decided that where-ever we are, whatever we do next, we're going to live in the same house! it'll be novel for us (we've lived together for up to 6 months.. but that's all).

i try to get back to melbourne every month.. it's kinda funny.. cos it takes at least the weekend to get used to sharing a house and bed again.. and then i'm gone again, back to the cold aloneness of canberra.
*sigh*
it doesn't pay to dwell..
many times i've wondered if i'm made the right decision.. (i've only been here three months so far)..

i guess i just hope that, in the end, i succeed here and prove that it was.