MDS Messenger Volume 13, Issue 17 | Page 13

Science Section

by Krishan Khanna, [email protected]

How do you become a scientist?

Discussion with Sarah, Rachel, Victoria (5G)

Did you know you are already a scientist when you do the investigations in your science class? If you want to make a career of being a scientist, it depends on the type of science you want to study. For example, if you want to become a geologist, you will want to attend a college or university that has a geology department. You will need to take classes in both science and math, hopefully someplace where you will get some hands-on experience conducting scientific investigations. Many students are not really sure about what field or major to pursue until at least their second year in college. You can begin working as a scientist after you finish an undergraduate degree, but you may want to continue with your studies with the goal of gaining a Masters or PhD.

A career in science can be very satisfying!

Science Section

by Shaina Davis, 6G

Cantor Muller visited classes 6G and 6B recently to discuss how the mind works. Through a power point presentation, and

a video called “The Monkey Business Illusion,” Cantor Muller talked about how the mind focuses on different things.

In the video you are asked to pay attention to how many times a ball is passed between players in white shirts, there are also players in black shirts who are doing the same thing. As the video goes on, most people find it “normal” and nothing unusual. In the end of the video it tells you that during the video, a gorilla walks in, the curtain in the background changes color, and a player with a black shirt left the frame. Most people watching the video didn’t notice these big events happening, because our brain was focused on counting!

After the video, Cantor Muller talked about which part of our brain makes this happen, and why it does. After he went through his power point presentation, which discussed

neurons, what they do, and also highlighted the different parts of the brain, followed by their purpose.

It was a very interesting lesson for the sixth graders. We were lucky that Cantor Muller came and took time out of his busy day to share his knowledge with us. There was no gorilla in the classroom, but we all focused on what Cantor Muller had to teach us!