In regard to a previous entry

I had my Secondary Science Education class this afternoon, also known as "How to make Science INTERESTING to teenagers". After it was the stats class I was a little concerned about, which goes from 4 to about 5:30pm

Oh. Dear.

Electron Micrographs of a Plasma Cell, GTAC

Science ed goes from 2-4pm, but we started at 1:30 so we could have a fascinating visit to the Gene Technology Access Centre, a place where school students can have hands-on biology research sessions. The students from Year 12 that we saw were researching chromosonal issues in fetal testing, while Year 8s can be tracking down the true source of a gastro outbreak through investigation of the type of contamination. Awesome stuff!

But then? Then I went to Mars.

Or, at least, the Victorian Space Science Education Centre, where kids get to wear space suits and do testing on a setup that is as close as you can get to the real Martian Surface without an anti-gravity machine. Or they sit in the Control Centre and direct things. And then the two teams swap around. Or they get to play with meteorites and urine testing kits and stream tables and and and...

And, alas and alack, by the time we finished at VSSEC, it was 4:40.

Now, to get back from VSSEC to the Uni for my tutorial, in afternoon peak-hour traffic, would have taken about 30 minutes. Which would mean that I would be there for the last 20 minutes of my hour-and-a-half tutorial.

And this place is 4km from home.

So not only did I have an awesome time, get to *really* talk with a couple of my fellow students, see an education centre that has me SO JEALOUS and ENVIOUS that they didn't have this at school when I was a kid, and get called "The One"¹, but I also got an early mark that I really, really needed.

Best. Monday. Ever.²

1. So the scientist showing us around talked about the geochemical testing and the geological analysis the kids could do on the rocks, and I asked "surely, if it's on Mars, it's Areology, not Geology". And three - I kid you not, THREE - of my fellow students chanted in unison "There's one in every class - and you're The One."

2. Even if I had to bath Captain Poopy Butt when I got home. Still a pretty awesome day.