Science for a New Year!

I love Science!

Science is part of my DNA. I was blessed by God to have a grandfather who loved science and shared that love with me. Any of you remember Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom? Well I do! I remember being in awe over the pictures of the animals and all the really neat things about how they lived, what they ate, and the relationships between them.

Along the way, I was fortunate to have teachers who inspired and nurtured my love of science. In seventh grade it was a single drop of water that confirmed I was to do something in the field of science. And in 10th grade it was a cow's eye that sparked my desire to be a science teacher. Of course with parents as educators, teaching seemed to be in my blood.

As much as I love science, I know there are other parents and teachers who can’t stand it!  While I find joy in observing a wiggly decomposer (a worm) as one of my student's described them, there are many teachers and parents who don't like or don't know how to get excited about it. I am saddened to learn that some schools have even taken science out of the curriculum in elementary school.  But I am here to say-NO Longer!

Did you know children are scientists in the making? I like to call them budding scientists. You see God gives every child the foundational blocks to become great scientists. He gives them the ability to ask questions!

From the moment children begin to speak, the questions come. Did you know, according to research done by Rolf Smith, children ask over 125 questions a day! 125!!! Yep, no wonder as parents and teachers we are tired! But we should find joy in their questions. By asking those questions, they are simply trying to figure out how and why the world works. There is however, a second side to Mr. Smith’s research. You know how many questions adults ask a day? Only 6. In fact, there are some 119 questions per day that never get asked. Is it because we don't think they matter? Or we think people won't care? What really worries me the most is why, over the years, as children get older, do they stop asking questions?

I am sure many of you can weigh in with reasons why kids stop asking questions, but what I have learned is this-it is never too late to get people asking questions!  All you need is to present a child or even an adult with something weird, unusual, or even something that goes counter to what they believe, and the questions will come.

So my blog this year will be about questions. Hopefully, the questions I ask and answer will help to make making science fun again. It if is fun for you, then it will be fun for your kids! And of course, I will give you the standards so you can align them to what you need to teach! If you are willing to forgive the fact I am not the best writer in the world (lots of prayers are going up about this writing thing!), then visit my blog for ideas! Are you ready?