On May 28th CIERA graduate students Meagan Morscher and Joel Schwartz met with a group of over 100 2nd grade students from Rowe Elementary School in Chicago, who were visiting the NU campus. Meagan and Joel talked to the kids about what a scientist is, shared examples of some of the cool things that scientists work on, and did a couple of fun demos. They also addressed the negative stereotype of a scientist as a socially awkward person in a lab coat who cares only about science, by starting the presentation wearing lab coats, safety glasses and gloves (although neither of them actually works in a lab coat!). They explained to the kids that not all scientists even work in a traditional lab (off came the lab coats!), and that scientists are real people who also like to do some of the same things that they do, like hang out with friends, play sports, listen to music, enjoy the outdoors, and even play video games!
