The Secret Life of Scientists & Engineers

Secret Life is a Web video series and site from the makers of PBS's NOVA. Every two weeks, Secret Life premieres another set of videos about a new scientist or engineer, who happens to have a secret. Each video series features four videos that cover different topics, depending on the scientist being interviewed. They all have, however, a "30 Second Science" video and a "10 Questions" video. Each video series also contains some blogs and posts about the scientist or their research.

For Educators

You can use this resource to show your students the various types of careers pursued by people with science degrees. It is also a good resource to use to help dispel some common misconceptions about science and scientists, i.e., that scientific work is dull and rarely rewarding, and scientists are bearded, balding, working alone in the laboratory, isolated, and lonely. The "10 Questions" videos would be particularly useful to help address some of these misconceptions. Also useful are some of the blog posts, which show scientists in a whole new light. You could challenge your students to come up with a list of their own questions for a scientist or engineer and then invite one to your class, or you can post some of the questions on the Secret Life website. There is a Teachers section where you can go to get tips on how to incorporate the material on the site into your classroom.

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The Secret Life of Scientists & Engineers

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