John Monke will be writing a mini-series on why students take subject classes and how they can apply it to real life. This week’s article focuses on Science and how science classes can be used in the future after school. Check out Monke’s last article on Mathematics.

The word scientist is fairly new, first introduced by William Whewell in the 19th century. However, the concepts of science date back to the 13th century. The scientific revolution of the 16th century has shaped modern science.

The definition of science, according to Dictionary.com, is the “systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.” This includes every branch of science. However, the two that are required to graduate high school are biology and chemistry.

Science is more than just a topic that schools requires you to take. Students use science in their life almost every day.

Campus biology, AP biology and zoology teacher Dr. Karen Walters has taught both high school and college level. She believes biology is important not only to learn more about our world but also a closer understanding of God.

“I have been teaching science since 1992 in many different capacities,” Walters said. “Since joining FCS in 2013 I have taught high school level Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Zoology and AP Biology. I think it is critical that students take biology to simply understand the living world around them at a fundamental level.

“A huge part of God’s creation is the life of our Earth,” Walters continued. “We were given the responsibility to take care of that life. How can you take care of something unless you understand how it works? I think God also gave us a natural curiosity to understand His creation. From my perspective, when you study biology you get to know God more deeply. It is important to have a good, basic understanding of biology to be an educated person in this world.”

Current zoology student Alexander Rurik, ‘19, has taken AP biology, biology and chemistry. He has enjoyed taking classes from Walters and Scott Bucher. 

“It is important to learn about the world around us,” Rurik said. “We need to know about the place we inhabit so we can care for it. I’ve loved taking classes from both Dr. Walters and Bucher because they’re so knowledgeable about their respective fields and really make learning exciting.”

Chemistry teacher Scott Bucher has taught science and math for many years. He has taught high school physical science, chemistry and physics primarily.

“I have been teaching for 32 years and I have always taught science, although for most of my career I taught as much math as I did science,” Bucher said. “It is important to take Chemistry for several reasons. First, it gives an understanding of what the world is made of. Chemistry is the science of matter or materials and we live in a material world. Chemistry is often called the central science as every other science interacts with chemistry at some level. If you know a lot of chemistry it helps you discern the truth of claims made about all sorts of products; it helps you understand what is being put into our food; it allows you to make informed decisions about all sorts of scientific claims and it may help you earn a living.”

In an article by Professor Kate Susman called “The Importance of Science in our Education” she talks about how science helps with student’s thinking process.

“A basic human motivator is to try to understand WHY,” Susman said. “Why did something happen? How does something work? Curiosity about the world around us, about what makes it and us tick are at the foundation of invention, of creativity. Teaching science well can nurture that curiosity, can satisfy some of that yearning to understand WHY. Understanding why a year is what it is for us on planet Earth feels good. Understanding how organisms are all connected by the long thin thread of evolutionary change gives depth to our sense of stewardship of the Earth.”

Science will take students far into their future. The more science a student takes in high school the easier it will be for them to find a successful job.

For more articles about FC science, read Chemistry teacher uses science to instruct critical thinking, observation. For more articles read Blake Deffenbacher shows potential playing golf.

John Monke can be reached via email and via Twitter.