Science at Home (updated)

So far on this blog, I've focused on space and girls/women in science. So I thought I'd show myself as a girl, when I was just 10, doing chemistry experiments at home using my chemistry set home kit, which you can just see in front of me in the picture below. These kits included lab equipment e.g. test tubes, pipettes, litmus paper and various chemicals. 👩‍🔬

In the picture below, you can see me placing some powder into a row of test tubes to check for chemical reactions. I'm wearing protective gear - I have safety goggles on as well as safety gloves because I'm handling chemicals. 

Here, in the photo below, I have a test tube in my left hand and a pipette with a solution in it in my right hand. I'm carefully squeezing a specific amount of drops of the solution into the test tube. As you can see, I have my paper right next to me to write up my experiment method and results! 

I really enjoyed doing chemistry experiments at home. I looked forward to them! 🙂 There were a variety of science experiment kits available to buy. I started with the simple ones and then I was bought more complicated ones. 

And this turned into studying Chemistry at GCSE level as a single science rather than as part of combined science. Every course had 14-15 assignments so I've just taken a few tutor comments to show that it was valuable having a broader education and including all 3 sciences rather than just focusing on one or two theoretical subjects e.g. Maths which was more the norm. 

And there were other positive comments and great marks such as this one below about my chemistry experiment which was a 9/10:

So Physics isn't left out and because I was particularly keen on Physics, I'm including one GCSE and one AS example. Both GCSE Chemistry and Physics were taught and marked by a person who has the same qualifications and title as most lecturers ie Dr. Why is this significant? Because it shows that, 7 years prior to starting my BA Philosophy, I was used to having my work marked and commented on by tutors who sometimes additionally worked as lecturers while others had the same qualifications as them. That's an unique experience in itself to have positive feedback from someone who is used to university students when I'm only 15 years old. Therefore, I knew what to expect prior to uni! When you go to uni, lecturers have this mistaken notion that they are the most highly qualified people you have ever met. Well, for me, that certainly was not the case! 

At home, I had physics and chemistry sets, microscopes 🔬🔬with slides to view, some were pre-prepared samples and some were blank so I could put my own samples into them to observe. I loved that bit! In addition, I have 2 telescopes 🔭🔭.

As a child and teenager, I also had biology and environment kits, for instance, a view-finder container which magnified bugs you catch to better study them in detail. I wasn't bothered by bugs because I had already received vivid books on them by the age of 2 e.g. The pop-up 3D book below: 'Insects: A Close-Up Look':

Here, I'm having a great time, touching and exploring the paper insect! 🙂 

I continue to have a lifelong fascination with bugs and insects. When I was a teenager, I collected specialist magazines with preserved insects samples organised into display cases. Here's one such display case:

I've always loved looking at rocks and fossils around coastal areas and on beaches in the UK from childhood. This led me as a teenager to want to collect a rocks/gems specialist magazine complete with rock/gems samples. Here's one of several trays that I have:

I think I've mentioned that I love Biology! 🙂❤🔬 So I did it as a separate science at GCSE (as I did all of them as separate sciences). I think my enthusiasm shows on my double-sided GCSE certificate assignment report card! Full 10/10 marks for me in every assignment! 🙂

(I've painted over personal details e.g. Home addresses and IDs etc.)