Instilling Children with the Sense of Wonder
Memes on teaching children about science and appreciation for nature.
Folksonomies: nature enlightenment education wonder
Memes
18 MAR 2012
Science is a Fairy Tale
I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale. We should not allow it to be believed that all scientific progress can be reduced to mechanisms, machines, gearings, even though such machinery has its own beauty. 
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Marie Curie speaking in a debate.
12 JUN 2011
Teaching Children Wonder Does Not Require a Scientific Ba...
A child's world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood. If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfa...Just appreciating the wind, or admiring nature in without explanation is enough to instill a sense of wonder.
09 JUN 2011
Compute Simulations of DNA are Cathedrals
Some images of the molecules of life, as they are displayed on the color computer screen, resemble the gorgeous stained-glass windows and soaring architectural members of the Gothic cathedrals. A cross-section of the B DNA double helix, for example, bears a likeness to the magnificent rose window at Chartres. The webbed vaulting of the clathrin protein and the flying buttresses of the sugar-phosphate side chains of the DNA evoke the same sense of architectural deja vu. No medieval architect c...Folksonomies: spiritual naturalism wonder
Folksonomies: spiritual naturalism wonder
Just as stained glass tried to represent the hidden wonders of the world, our computer simulations represent wonders we cannot see with our own eyes to instill reverence and awe.
09 JUN 2011
Teaching Children Science by Drawing Nature
The British and Irish emphasis on drawing from nature (which has lessened in those places, too) helped develop powers of observation and reinforced curiosity about the natural world. A child who has watched whirligigs and water striders on the surface of a stream will appreciate the importance of clean water. A child who has observed the clouds, their heapings and tumblings, their dark massings and silver linings, will be better prepared to understand the relationship between cloud cover and ...American schoolchildren aren't pushed to draw and immerse themselves in nature; therefore, they don't get the appreciation for it and desire for biodiversity.
18 MAY 2011
How Teenagers Lose Interest in Science
Every now and then, I'm lucky enough to teach a kindergarten
or first-grade class. Many of these children are natural-born
scientists - although heavy on the wonder side and light on
scepticism. They're curious, intellectually vigorous. Provocative
and insightful questions bubble out of them. They exhibit enormous
enthusiasm. I'm asked follow-up questions. They've never
heard of the notion of a 'dumb question'.
But when I talk to high school seniors, I find something
different. They memorize...Young children have an interest in science, but it is driven out of them by the time they enter high school.
03 JAN 2011
The Energy Game
My father dealth a little bit with energy and used the term after I got a little bit of the idea about it. What he would have done I know, because he did in fact essentially the same thing--though not the same example of the toy dog. He would say, "It moves because the sun is shining," if he wanted to give the same lesson. I would say "No. What has that to do with the sun shining? It moved because you wound up the springs."
"And why, my friend, are you able to move to wind up this spring?"
"I...
2 A game Feynman's father would play with him, asking what made things work, and following the chain of energy back to the sun.
References
18 MAR 2012
The Future of Culture
Proceedings of Meetings and Symposia>Conference Session: Curie, Marie (1933), The Future of Culture, Madame Curie , Retrieved on 2012-03-18
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12 JUN 2011
The Sense of Wonder
Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book: Carson , Rachel (1998-05-11), The Sense of Wonder, HarperCollins, Retrieved on 2011-06-12
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08 JUN 2011
The Path: A One-Mile Walk Through the Universe
Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book: Raymo , Chet (2003-03-01), The Path: A One-Mile Walk Through the Universe, Walker & Company, Retrieved on 2011-06-08
Folksonomies: science naturalism
Folksonomies: science naturalism
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04 MAY 2011
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark
Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book: Sagan , Carl and Druyan , Ann (1997-02-25), The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Ballantine Books, Retrieved on 2011-05-04
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03 JAN 2011
What Is Science?
Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book Chapter: Feynman, Richard (1969), What Is Science?, The Physics Teacher, Vol 9, pp 313-320, American Association of Physics Teachers, Retrieved on 2010-11-13
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