(My son playing with a musical instrument at the MiniMaker Faire in Ann Arbor, MI. The instrument plays a
different note when different beams of light are broken.)
Yeah, I know, I'm a geek. But that's OK because it is my inherently geeky nature made this little quiz catch my eye. It is a 12 question quiz that asks questions about general science topics as well as recent scientific findings that have been in the news. The best part is at the end, you get to see how you scored compared to other average people. Pop on over and test your knowledge - c'mon, you know you want to...
It got me thinking about why some kids like science and others don't. Sure some of it is inherent personality, but I think it is also whether or not kids see science as fun and part of their daily lives. My husband and I sure do; it's part of the reason we went to the Maker Faire. (A Maker Faire is an event started by Make Magazine to "celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself mindset.") We try to find events and activities to get them interested in science.
My daughter loved this musical instrument she discovered at the Faire. It involves a spinning disk, magnets, a camera, and a computer. The computer recognizes the positions of the black points and depending on their locations, plays a different note. She loved it so much, and my husband is always looking for new and interesting projects, that he got in touch with the designer and now has the code to build his own. (How fun is that going to be!)
It got me thinking about why some kids like science and others don't. Sure some of it is inherent personality, but I think it is also whether or not kids see science as fun and part of their daily lives. My husband and I sure do; it's part of the reason we went to the Maker Faire. (A Maker Faire is an event started by Make Magazine to "celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself mindset.") We try to find events and activities to get them interested in science.
My daughter loved this musical instrument she discovered at the Faire. It involves a spinning disk, magnets, a camera, and a computer. The computer recognizes the positions of the black points and depending on their locations, plays a different note. She loved it so much, and my husband is always looking for new and interesting projects, that he got in touch with the designer and now has the code to build his own. (How fun is that going to be!)
The kids also loved this little gizmo an eight year-old girl and her dad build out of an old CD player motor.
Pretty cool.
What do you do to get / keep your kids interested in science?
Science is everything! Exploring, touching, experimenting, baking, mixing colours, watching snow melt -- all are opportunities to see how something works, or is put together, or comes apart.
ReplyDeleteMath is everything, too.
I think you know I also passionately love science :-)
Oh my gosh when was this???? Somehow I missed it. I've always loved science...not very good at it [the math part really held me back] but I love playing with science. I used to get an experiment a week in my email to do with my boys, that was great fun!
ReplyDeleteI popped over and took the quiz. It made my day (got them all right). After a day of very teary kids and a lot of mommying it was nice to feel smart :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not traditionally a big science person, but I've become much more interested in the practical aspects of science in the last couple of years. My favorite science is baking...which seems like a good kid-friendly thing. I also love looking at the science in building technology - whether it is figuring out what tree was used in flooring or how people used to make their own paints.
ReplyDeletehow kool. better than an exploritorium. i mean, sure, you get to see and work really neat stuff but at the faire they got to actually do stuff. how neat that your hubby is going to make that insturment for your daughter. i do believe it is how any subject is taught. i love to read...mark hates to. we both love rocks...any kind of rock and our vervrent wich is to get a beautiful boulder placd in our front yard...and of course trains. i love steam and he is a diesel head...that is the difference eight years make. i am eight years older and can remember chasing the locomotive with my dad in his old car. it was so amazing.
ReplyDelete