Hi my name is Aubrey, I am a 5th grader who has an interest in becoming a vet. Being a vet requires STEM. It involves science because you have to know the body of the particular animal and how it works, it involves technology because, for example, if you need to x-ray an animal you need to know how to work the x-ray machine, it involves engineering because you may want to design your own office and medical center and it involves math because you may need to calculate the amount of medicine an animal has to take each day.
I went to the introduce a girl to engineering day at UT. While I was there, I learned about different animal skulls, which may be useful when I become a vet. I also saw a chemistry show where they showed some cool things that can be done with chemistry. Vets use chemistry because they need to mix the medicines for their patients. We also did many cool things with circuits like making LED butterflies.
I also went to an I <3 STEM day at Emerson. We were demonstrated how control systems work through an interactive mini game in which we made cookies. We also learned about chemistry through making slime. That was fun! There are more STEM facts & resources on the I <3 STEM social media page.
I did a project at my QUEST class at school at Faubion Elementary. The whole class is building a town where we can all work in our desired jobs. I had to build a vet’s office out of a shoe box. I took the project home and my parents helped me move around the interior walls to make the layout more efficient. It taught me how engineering involves trial and error and how plans may not work out, so you should have a backup plan and be open to change. I also learned some necessities for a veterinary building.
You can also learn science on your own and I have to admit I tend to learn better from books, videos and hands on activities than someone explaining it to me through a lecture. Some good YouTube channels that teach science include Hank Green and Ted-Ed. I really recommend Ted-ed because they have animated videos that really help me learn. There are also a bunch of websites that have hands on experiments that you can try at home or if you are a teacher, in the classroom like Science Buddies.
For my science fair, I did a project that I found on Science Buddies. I went to a dog park and recorded which paw or paws a dog used to get a treat from a toy as well as to shake hands. I was able to turn all the data into a graph and pie chart using Excel. During the experiment, one of the dogs took the toy into a pond. I learned you should have backup equipment and plans with your experiments. From my data, I determined that, like humans, there are more right pawed dogs than left pawed dogs.
I think educating kids in STEM is important because we need to get them ready for a good and satisfying future and most jobs include something that requires at least some knowledge and understanding of STEM. Also kids are our future, so we need to educate them in STEM so they can innovate technologies for the future.