I admit I was not a fan of my science classes in school. However, I somehow ended up on the "accelerated" track and therefore was in the more advanced classes through high school. In college, I flaked and simply re-took courses that I'd already taken in high school to satisfy my science requirements. (Balancing chemical equations! Ahhhhhhh!)
So, I worry a bit that my own lack of enthusiasm for science as a kid will rub off. I worry that I'm not instilling a joy of learning scientific things in my kids.
Although if I really think about it, we do science-related things all the time.
We experiment. "What do you think will happen if we mix red and yellow bathtub paint together? Well, let's find out." "What do you think will happen if we add more milk to the powdered sugar (when making sugar cookie frosting)? Let's see if you're right."
We discuss. "Why do you think the sun is orange tonight?" "What is that tube that goes from your mouth to your tummy called?"
We watch. One of M's favorite shows is Cyberchase, which is mostly about math but they also use scientific method to solve problems. (Remember hypotheses?) Or we watch nature shows on PBS and talk about the things we learned. (Which are pretty much useless facts in our daily life, but they spark an interest in learning about the world.)
We observe. I'll never forget the Spring 2 years ago. We were watching some wild turkeys out our dining room window when one of the Toms stood on top of one of the hens and remained there for minutes, balancing on the back of another bird. M was puzzled. "Why is that bird standing on his friend?" I had to admit I wasn't sure what was going on, but I had that inkling. After several minutes of simply standing, he did the deed. Let me just say, I'm not impressed with turkey stamina.
So science is all around us, whether we like it or not, and that's how I'm trying to instill a curiosity about all things scientific. What are you doing with your kids to bring science back? Share them on your blog and you could win one of 3 $100 VISA gift cards from Zula Intergalactic Inquirer and the Parent Bloggers Network.
Read what others are doing for science here.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 people like me!:
"not impressed with turkey stamina." Ha! Funny.
I suppose that's why you'll never see turkey porn.
I really liked this, Heather. You're right -- if we sit back and think about it, we're performing scientific experiments with our kids all the time. I think it's because they're so naturally curious about the world.
Cooking. Not as often as I should be, but I try to have my 4 year old help me. One of the things that was so interesting to me when I took my classes for my post-BA was how hard it was for my 18 year old classmates to follow directions in lab. Seriously, they would get lower marks not because they couldn't understand the material, but they couldn't follow written directions. My 4 year old doesn't read, but I read the directions to him and we did the "cooking together". Instant pudding is a great one. It's amazing how easy it is to say that you've whisked for two minutes and it looks fine only to discover you've been doing it for only 30 seconds.
My husband is the science dude so we do a lot of science orientated things :) Cool post mama!
Post a Comment