Tag Archives: kids

Kids on Scientists: Before and After

Fermilab offers some drawing of scientists by seventh graders before and after a visit to Fermilab. Wonderful visuals.

Before	After

I think of a scientist as very dedicated to his work. He is kind of crazy, talking always quickly. He constantly is getting new ideas. He is always asking questions and can be annoying. He listens to others’ ideas and questions them.	I know scientists are just normal people with a not so normal job. . . . Scientists lead a normal life outside of being a scientist. They are interested in dancing, pottery, jogging and even racquetball. Being a scientist is just another job which can be much more exciting.
by Amy

This is one of the more extreme ones but there are lots of other great comparisons. Very reminiscent of: Children’s view of Scientists in England.

Do Dolphins Sleep?

Do dolphins sleep?, MIT:

Dolphins do sleep, but not quite in the same way that people do. They sleep with one half of the brain at a time and with one eye closed. Dolphins rest this way on and off throughout the day, switching which side of the brain they shut down. During these periods, everything inside the dolphin slows down, and the mammal moves very little.

Science Museums Should Grow Minds Not Revenue

The dumbing down of science by Karen Heller

Our largest science institution simply became the Franklin, as if it were some glistening condo development or waterfront casino. Which is fitting, given all the sizzle, pyrotechnics and cost. Adult admission has soared to $23.25 if you want to see the current exhibits “Real Pirates” and “Chronicles of Narnia,” the latter – correct me if I’m wrong – based on a fictional world and $1 billion global movie franchise.

“Adults” happens to mean anyone over 11, a rather severe view for an organization geared toward students. Imax? That’s $5.50 extra. Audio tour? Yo ho ho, and an additional $6. For that kind of money, I left my two adults, 12 and 14, at home. New York’s American Museum of Natural History, a superior museum, offers $17 student tickets for ages 13 through 17
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The rub was that neither group appeared well-served by science. “Sports Challenge” is more Dave and Buster’s than lessons in physiology, a homage to hyperactivity where kids run around without ever stopping to learn.

“Sir Isaac’s Loft” contains one of those George Rhoads kinetic sculptures found in airports. “Sometimes you just can’t avoid science,” the caption reads, almost as an apology. “My intention is not to exemplify scientific principles,” Rhoads states on the plaque. Oh, great.

Frequently, the Franklin seems as scared of learning as it does of science. Lopping off the “Institute” is an indication. What I watched was kids dashing madly, going from one pit stop to the other, without absorbing much. There was so much insistent fun (!) and no, this-isn’t-really-science stuff that the place is transformed into just another consumer palace.

I think she makes very good points. I fear many museums are more focused on growing revenues than growing minds. That is a very sad state of affairs. I have nothing wrong with focusing on making money – just with museums (and even moreso science museums) doing so. Museums should focus on building minds (which does require balancing finances to stay in business, I understand). If you want to be a Dave and Busters like organization, go ahead, just leave our science museums to those that want to build minds.

Tinker School: Engineering Camp

photo of Drilling at the Tinker School

NPR had a nice story on kids taking risks (a compliment our post from a couple days ago: Kids Need Adventurous Play) Camp Offers Kids A Chance To Play With Fire. Tinkering School gives kids a chance to make real things they use (boats, motorized bikes, bristle bots…). Their blog is awesome.

The Tinkering School offers an exploratory curriculum designed to help kids – ages 7 to 17 – learn how to build things. By providing a collaborative environment in which to explore basic and advanced building techniques and principles, we strive to create a school where we all learn by fooling around. All activities are hands-on, supervised, and at least partly improvisational.
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Parents/guardians will be expected to complete the big scary liability waiver.
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Tinkering School is taught primarily by me, Gever Tulley, aided of course by my indispensable wife Julie Spiegler and the inimitable Robyn Orr. By day, I am a Senior Computer Scientist at Adobe, writer, and practicing sculptor…

I started the Tinkering School because it’s the kind of thing I would like to have been able to go to myself.

I wish I could go. Related: National Underwater Robotics Challenge – Science Toys You Can Make With Your Kids – La Vida Robot – Technology and Fun in the Classroom

Kids Need Adventurous Play

A survey commissioned by Play England for Playday found a change in the places where children and young people today experience adventurous and challenging play. As children, 70% of adults enjoyed most of their adventures in natural outdoor environments. This compares with only 29% of children today as both the space and the freedom to roam has dramatically declined in recent years. Today, children’s experiences of adventure are confined to designated areas such as playgrounds (56%), their homes (48%) or theme parks (44%).

‘Playing is an essential part of growing up,’ said Adrian Voce, Director of Play England. ‘Starting from their earliest play experiences, children both need and want to push their boundaries in order to explore their limits and develop their abilities. Children would never learn to walk, climb stairs or ride a bicycle unless they were strongly motivated to respond to challenges – but we must accept that these things inevitably involve an element risk.

‘Adventurous play that both challenges and excites children helps instill critical life skills. Constantly wrapping children in cotton wool can leave them ill equipped to deal with stressful or challenging situations they might encounter later in life.’

Full press release

Students at Powhatan Engineering Camp

Students attend Powhatan’s first-ever engineering camp

The 28 students participating in the first-ever Powhatan County Schools engineering camp spent eight days doing hands-on activities like building model amusement park rides and suspension bridges, and taking field trips to see engineering in action. They visited the Richmond Times Dispatch’s production facility, where they observed robots shuttling stacks of paper back and forth, and the Watkins Center, where they observed engineers at work on a construction site.

The group even enjoyed a presentation from a NASA engineer, who spoke of his experience working on the Mars rover.

These engineering camps help kids enjoy their naturally inquisitive minds – which unfortunately they don’t get to do often enough.

Now for Something Completely Different

I think we might have another young engineering on our hands, with the right training 🙂 She knows what she wants and isn’t stymied by constraints that would probably blind most of us to the possibilities (even if we were her size). Quite a fun webcast: the reactions of the people are great.

How To Beat The Claw Game – Watch more free videos

Germany Looking to Kindergarten for Engineering Future

German groups seek next crop of engineers in the kindergarten

Germany’s shortage of engineers has become so acute that some of its leading companies are turning to kindergartens to guarantee future supplies.

Groups such as Siemens and Bosch are among hundreds of companies giving materials and money to kindergartens to try to interest children as young as three in technology and science.

Many European countries from Switzerland to Spain suffer shortages of graduates. But the problem is especially acute in Germany, renowned as a land of engineering. German companies have 95,000 vacancies for engineers and only about 40,000 are trained, according to the engineers’ association.

“It is a new development in that we have seen we need to start very early with children. Starting at school is not good enough – we need to help them to understand as early as possible how things work,” said Maria Schumm-Tschauder, head of Siemens’ Generation21 education programme.
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Siemens has provided about 3,000 “discovery boxes” filled with science experiments for three- to six-year-olds to kindergartens throughout Germany, at a cost to the company of â‚¬500 (Â£395) a box. It also trains kindergarten teachers on how to use them as well as providing similar boxes around the world to pre-schools from China and South Africa to Ireland and Colombia.

Cell Signals Webcast

Very cool animation, by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Interactive Knowledge, of the working of the inner workings of our bodies as they react to a cut. If you want to get right to the science, skip the first minute. Providing these types of educational animations is a great way for educational institutions to take advantage of technology to achieve their mission in ways not possible before.

It is annoying how many of those “educational” institutions don’t provide such educational material online (and even take material offline that was online). Have they become more focused on thinking and operating the way they did in 1970 than promoting science education? It is a shame some “educational” institutions have instead become focused on looking backward. I will try to promote those organizations that are providing online science education.

Engaging the YouTube Generation in Hands-on Science

Cherlyn Anderson is one of eight Einstein Fellows spending this academic year at NSF. In her other life, Anderson is an eighth-grade science teacher in South Carolina. She has used an experiment involving Mentos candy and Diet Coke as a teaching tool. The accompanying video offers a demonstration of the experiment, and discusses its benefits for eighth-grade science students.

Follow the link for a webcast. Somewhat ironically the NSF headline mentions YouTube but fails to take advantage of one of the things that has made YouTube (and others sharing videos: TED…) so successful. The ability to embed the videos on web sites, blog posts… The technical quality of the video is very nice (more pixels than YouTube videos).