Science, Mathematics and Research· Beginner level

Very few science graduates spend their days making discoveries. They test water samples, run quality checks on food or medicine, analyse survey data, monitor rainfall and river levels, help farmers choose seed and fertiliser, keep hospital laboratories running, or teach.

In Ghana, people with this training work in hospital and clinic laboratories, food and drink factories, mining and water companies, agricultural extension work, and research bodies such as the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, the Ghana Standards Authority and the Ghana Statistical Service.

In Canada, the same skills go into hospital labs, food and agriculture companies, environmental consulting firms, provincial and federal agencies, and university research groups.

Pick two of these and find out what a normal Tuesday looks like in each.

Subject choices at 15 or 16 quietly decide what you can apply for at 18. Fix this early.

In Ghana, the General Science programme at SHS usually means electives in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Elective Mathematics, on top of the core subjects: English Language, Core Mathematics, Integrated Science and Social Studies. Elective Mathematics matters more than students expect for physics, statistics, engineering and economics. The Agricultural Science programme is a real route into agronomy, food science and veterinary support work.

In Canada, most science programmes want Grade 12 science and maths at the university-preparation level. In Ontario that usually means courses such as SBI4U for biology, SCH4U for chemistry, SPH4U for physics, MHF4U and sometimes MCV4U for mathematics, plus ENG4U. Other provinces use different course names for the same thing.

Requirements differ between universities and between programmes inside the same university. Read the programme page itself, not a summary someone posted.

Reading about science is not the same as doing it. Do one small thing properly and you will learn more about whether you like this work than a term of reading will tell you.

Good starter questions are boring on purpose, because boring questions are measurable. How does the price of a staple food differ across three markets over two weeks? Do bean seeds germinate faster with more or less water? How long does your phone battery last with the screen dim compared to bright? How much water does your household use in a day?

Measure the same way every time. Write every result in a table, including the ones that look wrong. Then write about two hundred words: what you asked, what you did, what you found, and what you would do differently.

In Canada, school and regional science fairs feed into a national fair, so a project like this can go somewhere. In Ghana, school science fairs and quiz competitions such as the National Science and Maths Quiz are a different kind of practice, but a written log still helps you.

A mentor cannot get you admitted, get you a scholarship, or predict your grades. What they can do is tell you what the work is really like and where they think you are wrong about it.

Useful questions for this field: What does a normal week look like in your lab or team? How much of your job is maths, and which maths? What did you study, and would you choose the same thing again? What do people in your field get wrong when they are starting out?

Bring your investigation log and ask them to pick holes in it. That is worth more than a general chat.

Keep yourself safe. Do not send your home address, your school ID, your exam index number, your date of birth or any password. If you are between 12 and 18, show your guardian the plan and the questions before the session.

Small and finished beats large and abandoned. Pick four things you can complete in a month.

A realistic month looks like: fix one subject gap, finish the write-up of your investigation, read the admissions page of two programmes properly, and talk to one person who does the work.

Write the four things down with a date on each. Tell someone else what they are, so you have to report back.