Do you ever catch yourself wondering who someone really is at BAVPA? Wonder no longer! Senior Theatre major Joy Perry is on a mission to interview students, staff, administrators and faculty at Performing Arts so you can stay in the know.
Joy
Hi, my name is Joy, and I am here with…
Mrs. Koscielski
Mrs. Jennifer Koscielski. I teach Earth Science Lab and AP Dual Credit Environmental Science.
Joy
So Mrs. Koscielski, what motivated you to teach environmental science?
Mrs. Koscielski
Well, I became a science teacher because throughout my education in high school and college, I always had really engaging science teachers that got me really involved in inquiry and learning about how the world works. I especially fell in love with rocks and minerals; and the way plates move around Earth and how the earth basically recycles itself. My teachers just made it really interesting for me.
Joy
Well as a teacher, how do you think the role of science education has changed over time?
Mrs. Koscielski
Well, most recently, the state has adopted these new standards, and it's going more towards a phenomenon where everything is connected. So it's not like you're just taking chemistry and learning about the periodic table; or you're just taking Earth science and learning about rocks and astronomy; or you're just taking biology and you're learning about cells. All the sciences are now more interconnected. So we're teaching similar themes throughout the different sciences and throughout the different grade levels, and it's all just intertwined.
Joy
Ah, gotcha! On to the next question, what science fiction movie or book gets science right or wrong and why?
Mrs. Koscielski
Okay, well, I call them doomsday movies. And these are movies such as Deep Impact or Armageddon, where the premise in those types of movies are like a giant comet coming to hit Earth or like a, you know, a huge crazy disaster happening. These movies are completely scientifically false and I take great disdain in them because of this.
Joy
Wait, they're really entirely false?!
Mrs. Koscielski
There's a lot of not real science in them, yeah.
Joy
Can you give an example?
Mrs. Koscielski
Not specifically. I don't typically watch them because I think they're so, like, corny and completely scientifically incorrect. Those genres of movies like Deep Impact or Armageddon, like, where these crazy occurrences are happening, and there's just a lot of fake science in them.
Joy
Okay, I get you. So, how do you relate science to everyday examples in your teaching?
Mrs. Koscielski
Oh, I really try to immerse the students in the things that are relevant to their life, such as growing your own food. We've got the tower gardens in the back of the room where we're growing lettuce and herbs, and we'll end up having a harvest day. I think a lot of what I talked about earlier in terms of everything being connected, you know, it is connected to all the students. For instance, you know, global climate change and the things that are happening to the Earth. I teach things that students can do to make a better planet for themselves.
Joy
That’s great to hear. Just one last question, if you were a superhero in a fight against climate change, what would your superpower be and why?
Mrs. Koscielski
I think I already have a superpower in that I am educating students on things to do to be able to slow down climate change by taking actions such as reducing carbon emissions and finding alternative energy sources.
Joy
That’s a cool way to think about it! You don’t need any powers, all you truly need is knowledge. That’s pretty clever! Well, thank you for your time!
Mrs. Koscielski
Oh, anytime.
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