How's That Human?

Rita Claire, known to students as Ms. C, was born a very curious kid and fell in love with math and science at an early age. Throughout middle school and high school she also found herself tutoring, teaching, and coaching students her age or younger. Although she graduated college with an interdisciplinary Bachelor's degree in Cell Biology, Microbiology, and Molecular Biology, her most memorable moments were teaching labs as an upper-level teaching assistant.

Her first science job out of college was working for National Geographic on a genetics project, but she couldn't get viruses off her mind. She committed to pursuing a graduate degree in Molecular Virology from Purdue, but quickly found herself completing a Graduate Teaching Certificate so she could teach college-level science labs at the same time. The experience gained from working with viruses for the USDA as a Ph.D. candidate was invaluable, but the teaching bug kept biting.

Ms. C and her family moved back to Colorado where she attained an Alternate Teaching License in Secondary Science and taught in the classroom for 5 years in a public institution. As a scientist, Ms. C never taught classes the same from year to year, always experimenting and pushing to learn more about her students and herself. She furthered her own education with a Master's of Science in Science Education from Montana State, and published a study on the use of technology in the classroom.

Family is extremely important to Ms. C, and she found herself moving to California for her kids to pursue acting. She was granted her second state teaching license for General Science K-12, with emphasis in Biology and Chemistry for high school and adult learning. She taught Online Science for a Project Based Learning (PBL) charter school for 4 years, and currently teaches several science classes for a Homeschool Co-op. Ms. C has always been passionate about teaching science in a more relatable form for students and has dreamed of writing a book that can inspire every student.

Since humans are already an icon for life science, what better way to reach kids than through the study of themselves and the things they use and see in their environment? The How's That Human? series addresses important scientific concepts from Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science, and Space Science, and ties them to humanity — whether inside the body itself or in everyday items, tools, and processes students interact with. Ms. C believes in the potential of all students: the more we introduce to young minds, the more we inspire the problem solvers of the future.

*Book and included experiments aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)