My Earliest Scientific Memory
When the words "experiment" and "variable" didn't exist
Alola, kidlokers!
In the midst of this hectic time of high school—working on projects, prepping for test, and begging for rec letters—some (including me) have tried to remember where this all started.
Obviously, in high school: but why? Did I really discover the excitement (and stress!) of learning just a few years ago?
Specifically, the elementary subjects like Math and Physics; these are the courses which cause the most headache (trust me, I know). But where did my Physics journey start—even before school?
That got me thinking—when and where did I first engage with a science of the real world? As soon as I was born, clearly someone didn’t pre-load me with all of Newton’s equations in my brain: I had to start somewhere.
What I realized over the course of this reflection, even though it sounds a bit cliché, is that STEM is all around us. Whether performing arithmetic in counting apples, solving equations in counting change, analyzing angles in optics when I squint my eyes, or just BREATHING!
One of my earliest STEM memories happened on a swing. I was 3, living in San Francisco, four years before moving to India. We used to live directly across from a park: It was the highlight of my toddler years!
I learnt skateboarding, practiced scooting, and rode the slide. But the swings fascinated me the most.
At first, I did what everyone does: I sat there and waited for my dad to push me. But one day, I noticed something: if I bent my legs when the swing moved backward and then straightened them in front of me sharply as I swung forward, I went higher. Not by just a little: much higher!
Even though I didn’t realize it at the time, I had just discovered the two most elementary concepts of aerodynamics: transfer of momentum provides a boost, and a streamlined body moves faster!
No one had told me this trick—I hadn’t seen it on Youtube or anywhere else. There was a rhythm to it: bend, extend, bend, extend. If my timing was off, I would lose height. If I timed it exactly right, I went higher and higher. Suddenly, I didn’t need to be pushed as often!
Always a curious child, I remember thinking: “Why does this work?”
I started experimenting: What if I leaned back more? What if I leaned forward? What if I delayed extending my legs a bit? What if I gripped the chains lower, higher, or tighter? Maybe wiggled the chains as I zoomed forward? I must have looked crazy, but I was running trials without even knowing the word “trial”! I was adjusting my independent and dependent variables before I even knew what a “variable” was!
At school in 1st grade, swings became one of my specialties during recess. Everyone was taught the “cool new method” to swing. The teachers were so confused as they saw ten of my friends and I scissoring our legs and shaking the chains as we howled with laughter!
Looking back now, I know this was physics: conservation of momentum and energy, angular motion, and aerodynamics. But I didn’t want to memorize a formula: When I was 5, I just wanted to reach the sky and test the world!
Even in preschool and kindergarten, I had strong opinions about playground efficiency. Everyone came to me about the best grip for the monkey bars, the right angle to launch off the slide without scraping elbows, or the correct way to run to spin the climbing net! As the local “playground strategist,” finding the latest new “trick” was what kept me going!
What I loved the most was the feedback loop. The swing told me immediately whether I was right or wrong. If I extended too early? I fell. Too late? I stall. Perfect wiggle? I fly!
All throughout my time in India, I was teaching people how to commandeer the swings using physics—whether I knew it or not!
This simple process of noticing a pattern, adjusting, and experimenting is the exact same kind of feeling when I’m researching a cool new debate argument or debugging some code!
So, in light of this—I encourage you all to think: when did it start for you? It could be as silly or as random as swinging, or something completely different!
Comment down your first memories below!
Sayonara,
KidLokSe