A Recap of the Science and Us Makeathon
“This is not a science event.”
About Science and Us
Science and Us is a student-led organization helping teens discover science communication, media, policy, and related fields. We began in February 2018 with a handful of students in greater Boston. Since then, we’ve held three events, grown our team nationally, and shared our experiences at international science communication conferences — and that’s just the beginning.
About the Makeathon
On August 17, 2019, we held the Science and Us Makeathon — our third event — at Harvard University. Our goal was to help students create projects explaining STEM topics that they’re excited about. Through this, they learn how to make complex ideas in any field engaging and clear.
We embrace the reality that not everyone needs (or wants) to be a scientist.
Although STEM impacts everyone, we embrace the reality that not everyone needs (or wants) to be a scientist. We don’t teach science or directly encourage students to pursue it. Instead, we raise awareness of science communication—a field that’s fulfilling and important, but rarely mentioned in school.
Overview of the Day
Keynote by Sue Shi
The event began with a short keynote by Sue Shi, a doctoral student at Brown University and winner of 2019 National Quantum Matters Science Communication Competition, held by the Museum of Science, Boston.
After a Q&A with Sue, our organizers led an icebreaker activity, helping all the participants get to know each other and get comfortable.
Writing Workshop by Aleszu Bajak
As students trickled in from the icebreaker, Aleszu assessed his audience members by asking what grades they were in and, “Who thinks they came the farthest?” It turns out we had students from Singapore, New Jersey, and New Hampshire!
Aleszu shared his experiences of transitioning from doing wet-lab research to writing about it. He touched on points like how his deep knowledge of Latin America better enabled him to pitch and write a story about academics protesting in Colombia, and how to approach current events from a scientific perspective.
Aleszu introduced techniques for organizing an attention-grabbing story, like “and… but… therefore…” Students brainstormed a variety of topics they found interesting — from neurology to ethology — and worked together or individually to draft paragraph-long blurbs. A couple participants explored the workings of quantum computers, while another group delved into osteoarthritis.
Podcast Workshop by Michelle Frank
After an outdoor lunch where students got to chat with our panelists and workshop leaders, Michelle led a workshop on science podcasts. Since not everyone is familiar with podcasts, she started by playing snippets of various podcasts. From interview styles to sound effects, students identified qualities that made them interesting and easy to follow along. Our participants then brainstormed topics, wrote scripts, and went into different parts of the hallways to record their episodes.
Panel
This is how I introduced our (unplanned) panel session: “It’s like a fireside chat, but without a fire… well, I guess you all provide the fire!” We’re grateful to have had a diverse group of panelists who are undeniably passionate about what they do and enthusiastic about sharing their knowledge.
Comics Workshop by Maris Wicks
Comics aren’t necessarily a better medium than other formats, but it is a different one — one that people don’t often associate with science. Because of that, Maris spent some time explaining elements of comics, like how drawing over the borders of a panel can immerse the reader in a scene.
In the first activity, students experimented with drawing facial expressions, and Maris’s examples showed how subtle changes — in a mouth, eyebrows, or eyes — could transform a face from sad to happy, or greedy to angry. Once they established the fundamentals, we brought out the markers and crayons, and students began their projects. Comics about otters feeding, emojis, and eels came to life with color and articulate detail.
Our Impact
You can view some of the projects that students started at the Makeathon at scienceandus.org/gallery. Here’s some information about our students and their knowledge/interest in science communication before and after the Makeathon!
Although not everyone wanted to continue exploring science communication, that’s okay with us. If science communication isn’t for them, they’ve learned something about themselves, and hopefully gained a greater appreciation for the work that people to do connect STEM with the public. And if it does interest them, that’s a potentially life-changing discovery that they probably wouldn’t have realized in school, where science communication careers are rarely presented.
Get Involved
As organizers, we’ve learned a lot from this event and truly enjoyed putting it together. We’re actively improving our organization and working on new, exciting, and impactful projects.
For updates and science communication content, follow us on Instagram (@scienceandus), Twitter (@scienceandus), and Facebook (@sciandus)! If you’d like to get in touch, feel free to email us at team@scienceandus.org.
Thank you to Dana Boebinger from Harvard’s Science in the News and Gabi Serrato Marks from ComMIT for helping us coordinate our venue! Special thanks to Emma Colaco, Hadiya Giwa, and Parin Shaik for contributing to this article.
