An "Experiment"? Really?
Last week the interwebs reverberated in shock over news that a student had been expelled from school for conducting a science experiment. I was shocked too, certainly I've been extremely active in science fairs, elementary school science education and fostering the adoption of STEM disciplines by minorities and young women. This is an outrage! Until you read the details. I don't know why the world has rushed to her defense. To me, this is entirely different than a science experiment gone bad, as it is described in the press . A science experiment gone bad? Are you serious? This is an insult to every child in a science fair that does a hypothesis-based, replicated, rigorous science experiment. I contend that she was curious and put a caustic chemical into a container with a catalyst and it exploded. That's not an experiment. Of course, her parents have lawyered-up, the public is in a state of outrage and many are screaming for justice. I just have a f