April 24, 2010 4:15 PM
Would Watson and Crick have been competitive at the Science Fair?
Filed Under: Gerry Ward | 1 Comments
April 25 is DNA Day because on this date in 1953, Watson and Crick published their paper Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids. The 57 years that followed have led to remarkable advances in our knowledge of genetics and genomics. Scientific method taught in schools and judged at science fairs is a series of steps that guides the student to design an experiment including listing the problem, hypothesis, variables, and procedure. After the experiment is designed, there is the collection and interpretation of data. I know that some people champion the need to emphasize and reinforce the scientific method among science fair participants. At a recent science fair, I overheard some judges debating the value of “study” projects compared to “experimental” projects. One went as far as suggesting that by eliminating all but “experimental” the quality of projects would improve (additional descriptions)
While I generally support the concept, I had to ask myself, would Watson and Crick have got past the first round judges with their model?
