Did you like science at school

Question: Did you like science at school
- Keywords:
  school
Asked by zachemborough to Christine, Edd, Jess, Nicolas, Zara on 17 Jun 2011.
- Edward Codling answered on 10 Jun 2011:
  
  Yes….
  
  …but funnily enough I didn’t really like biology and ecology. 😮
  
  I much preferred subjects like maths and physics where the answers to questions were always quite exact and could be worked out using a formula or standard calculation. I found biology much too ‘fuzzy’ and didn’t like the fact that things weren’t as exact as in maths. However, the more I studied things in my maths degree, the more I started to lean towards biology and ecology in particular. I did a course on ‘mathematical biology’ where we learnt how to apply our maths skills and knowledge to biological problems and this is what inspired me to start studying the things I research now.
  
  I now like the open-ended nature of a lot of the problems I look at – there are no known answers to many of the problems I consider and this is exciting – I could be the first to find out what is going on!
  
  Believe it or not, I don’t actually have any formal biology / ecology qualifications (except GCSE combined science)! It just shows how useful maths can be and how it can be applied in many areas. I am still learning about ecology everyday which is why it is important I work with lots of other scientists from other backgrounds so that we can share our knowledge.
- Jessica Chu answered on 11 Jun 2011:
  
  Yes I did!
- Jessica Chu answered on 11 Jun 2011:
  
  Yes I did!
  Biology was one of my favourite subjects because I found it fascinating how (simply speaking) everyone’s cells in the brain and body are made up of the almost the same chemicals such as carbon, nitrogen, phosphate etc. and by having more or less of certain chemicals (or how the chemicals are put together) can have such big effects on how we look, think and act!!!
  So in other words our DNA (genetic material) codes for who we are and everyone is very unique in their own way yet everyone’s DNA are made up of 4 base pairs (millions of base pair link together makes DNA) but the difference in base pair levels have big effects.
  
  I found chemistry the hardest of the 3 sciences back in school but looking back i am glad I chose to do it in my A-levels because I found it fascinating!
  Also, I find it very useful as biology tries to explain how molecules inside/outside the cell interacts due to the properties of the chemicals we are made up of! For example, if someone was designing a drug and the chemicals that makes up the drug is hydrophillic (usually contains a charge, usually like being in very polar environments like water) then it can be very hard for the drug to diffuse across the cell membrane, which is hydrophobic (repel water).
  
  I also enjoyed learning history and business studies 🙂
  It’s amazing that I can find out all the things that has happened before I was even born – big events and changes affecting all of us! Loved learning about inspiring people like Rosa Park and Martin L. King!
  Business studies was a great fun mainly because I sat next to a few funny friends and a lot of research skill is needed and we do need businesses going so everyone can have a job. So e.g. our university is a big big business with tens of thousands of students so they need to hire many teachers and IT staff and people to run the library, cafe etc.
- Zara Gladman answered on 11 Jun 2011:
  
  Yes – I did biology and chemistry and enjoyed them both!
  
  Some of the chemical reactions we studied in chemistry were pretty exciting! My favourite was definitely adding alkali metals to water (check out this video and see what happens – make sure you watch it right to the end! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uixxJtJPVXk ). One of my best memories of chemistry is the teacher playing us the periodic table song (we used to beg her to play it!), have you heard it? Link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFIvXVMbII0
  
  Biology was my favourite science at school. In my last year, we went on a field trip to Arran (a Scottish island). We explored the rocky shore and saw a huge diversity of animal life, including seals! After the trip, I decided I wanted to study biology at university.
  
  I didn’t study physics at school, although I’ve always been fascinated by space (especially after watching Brian Cox’s TV shows!).
- Christine Switzer answered on 12 Jun 2011:
  
  Yes. I studied chemistry, physics and biology in school and liked them all. Physics, maths and chemistry were my favourite subjects, which led me into engineering and then eventually into the speciality of environmental engineering. I really like the problem-solving that comes with engineering and the challenge of working with environmental problems. My work tries to take what we learn in small, controlled lab experiments and apply it in the field. Like Edd, I work with scientists in a lot of other fields because there is so much still to learn. I share an office suite with a microbiologist, a chemist, an economist, a geologist, a geographer and an urban planner. We always have fun things to talk about.
- Nicolas Biber answered on 17 Jun 2011:
  
  Yes I did … mostly. I always found science classes more interesting than languages and history. Science classes were not quite my favorite though, my favorite was art. I still practice art in my spare time, and in a way I also use it in science when I draw diagrams by hand for instance.
  Maybe the reason I liked science at school were my teachers, I always had good science teachers (except in chemistry, which I still don’t like by the way).

Question: Did you like science at school

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