Science related careers

December 16, 2010 by Leave a Comment

How many times have you said or hear your child say, When am I ever going to need this. Many students face this same question day in and day out. For those students who are not interested in science, providing them with some real life examples of industries that use science skills may be helpful. Students always benefit from making connections to their personal lives, interests, goals, and experiences.

So what kinds of careers require science knowledge, which students many not think of?
Several career fields use scientific information. Among these may be a few that students do not think about or that they only know some aspect of. Examples include zoologist, nutritionist, environmental scientist, physical therapist, pharmacist, and marine biologist.

Zoologists and marine biologists study different types of animals and require extensive knowledge about biology. Nutritionist help patients develop nutritional diet plans and have to have extensive knowledge about human biology as well as chemistry to help determine what types of foods a person can eat and how foods interact with each.

Environmental scientists are another set professionals that have to know about several fields of science. These scientists have to have knowledge about biology, chemistry, and botany to understand how different factors impact the environment.

Finally two other options include physical therapists and pharmacists. Physical therapists require knowledge in anatomy to understand body parts as well as physiology to understand body movements. These sciences help the physical therapist determine the best treatment options for patients who are injured.

Pharmacists have to have knowledge of chemistry and anatomy to understand dosage requirements for patient prescriptions as well as possible side effects or medication interactions.

A variety of fields and jobs require some basic knowledge or use of science concepts. Helping students make these connections can improve their interest or participation in the classroom.

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Branches of Chemistry

November 5, 2010 by Leave a Comment
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Chemistry is one of the three main branches of science. Chemistry studies the properties and composition of matter, and what types of changes matter undergoes. Matter is a generalized term, that means the substance that all physical objects are created from. Chemical reactions, also known as the changes of the substances that matter is made up of, is what chemists study. There are different branches of chemistry, depending on the type of matter that is being studied.

Analytical chemistry focuses on analyzing different substances. In analytical chemistry, there is the study to find out what type of substances are within a particular item or how much of the substance there might be.

Biochemists focus on the chemistry, as well as the biology of living organisms. Someone studying biochemistry will generally focus on studying molecular level chemical reactions in a living organism. Things like metabolism, respiration, digestion, and more are studied by biochemists.

One of the newer scientific areas of study is biotechnology. Biotechnologist codify or create genetic material, as well as organisms, for purposing of furthering science. Things like creating crops that are resistant to disease, as well as cloning projects, are done by biotechnologist.

Inorganic chemistry studies compounds and items that are inorganic, or not alive. For example, salt is an inorganic item that these chemists study. These scientists study the actual elements of the compound, see how they react to each other, and overall find out what these items are made of.

Organic chemistry studies carbon and how it works. Basically, they study living items, as well as other carbon based items. Organic chemists are depended on for many industries, including the pharmaceutical industry.

When specific chemical systems are studied, this is physical chemistry. The physical behaviors and properties of matter are studied in physical chemistry.

There are many fields of study in chemistry. People who enjoy how things react to each other may enjoy chemistry.

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Chemistry in the Kitchen

October 22, 2010 by Leave a Comment
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Many people may not realize that the basic skill of cooking is also all about chemistry. When you cook something, the end product is a result of chemical reactions in a series. Because of this, knowing a little bit about chemistry can help make a person a better cook. In fact, understanding the chemistry behind what you are doing can help you understand what went wrong with your last bad meal. With everything from how something may taste different before it’s cooked than after to why colors change when you add heat, is basic chemistry. For example, we can take a look at red cabbage. If you put it into a hot pan, you may notice that the color changes. The heat is actually breaking down the pigment and changing the makeup of the cabbage to an alkaline, rather than the acid that it started as. If you were to increase the acidity, by for example, adding vinegar to the cabbage, it would become red again!

If you have a fruit that you want to ripen quickly, put it in a paper bag along with an apple. The apple gives of ethylene gas, which has been shown to very quickly ripen other fruits when left in close proximity. Knowing little tricks of the trade like this can make your cooking that much better. Many people also feel a sense of accomplishment when they take the chemistry that they know and put it to real life use in the kitchen. Of course, we all mess up at times, and the meal you are trying to make may end up with a flop, but if you understand the chemistry behind what you are doing, you will understand why this happened, and what to do next time to fix it.

Using chemistry in the kitchen is one of the funnest, and yummiest ways to put your scientific knowledge to use.

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Science has Many Interrelated Branches

September 2, 2010 by Leave a Comment
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There are so many avenues to consider when it comes to choosing a scientifically based area of study for a degree that it can seem overwhelming, with the various choices often leading to interest in other fields of study. An interest in helping other people seems straightforward enough—one could study nursing. However, a common refrain among nursing students with practical experience is that dealing with people in pain is a very trying experience. Often, they’ve dealt with people who treated them badly, perhaps as a direct result of perceived pain or even just because some people haven’t learned to ask politely for help from others, even medical staff whose job it is to provide care. Or, witnessing baseless claims of injury, an astute observer might think they’d prefer to deal each day with food science, where the subject matter is less subjective and tempermental, yet the microbes and bacteria are similar to those found in living patients.

Given time though, staring at strains of cheese mold through high powered microscopes can become a cheerless, somewhat limiting proposition. The curious mind might wander towards learning more about all strains of mold and bacteria, which leads straight to chemistry. Chemistry is widely regarded as the study of everything, which can be quite taxing in its own right.

Looking to then narrow one’s focus, one could visit the chemical engineering field, where science and mathematics intersect. From here, perhaps bored with the status quo, one might see opportunity in the creation of new things—leading to materials science, or perhaps be drawn away from science altogether, pulled into an electrical engineering direction. All of these fields of scientific study are interrelated in their own right. However, the aspiring, entrepreneurially thinking scientist would want to round out their experience roster by achieving a Business Administration degree online. Thus prepared, they could begin their own science based business.

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