Does it ever boggle your mind that our children are expected to learn the names of the planets but not the names of the trees in their own backyard?
Does it surprise you that your children can learn all about volcanoes and know their intricate workings but they can't tell you the specific kinds of birds in their own birdfeeder?
How about dinosaurs? Many children could fill notebooks with drawings and writings about dinosaurs but they can not tell you the life cycle of the butterfly they saw at the park or the name of the lizard that sits on the rock in the sun.
It struck me this morning as we were sitting and watching our Scrub-jays in the backyard just how much enjoyment and satisfaction there is at knowing what is right in our every day life. This is real science. This is how God intended us to learn about his creation.
There is a time and a place to learn about more abstract science topics but first and foremost, we need to start close to home and then widen out.
I met a very interesting person last summer while I was in Yosemite. She works at the Le Conte Memorial and we had a fantastic time talking about kids and nature study. She gave me a handout with a list of questions that she uses as a tool in environmental education. I hope she doesn't mind that I share the questions with you on my blog because it has stuck in my mind ever since.
1. What kind of star is our sun?
2. Who developed the theory of heliocentricity-a sun centered solar system?
3. What are the 3 primary colors of the light spectrum?
4. Are Homo sapiens mammals or primates?
5. How many legs does a spider have?
6. How many weeks are in a year?
7. Name two oceans?
8. Name a river that flows through California. (or your home state)
9. Name three different varieties of trees?
10. What mountain is the tallest on the earth?
Bonus: What is the last name of your nearest neighbor where you live?
The point is not really the specific questions...the point in my mind is that we not only need to know some basic premises of modern science but that we need to know what is close to us in our own home town.
I have to admit that I don't know all the answers to the ten questions and I don't even get the bonus. I know probably two last names on our whole street of probably ten houses.
In our attempt to educate our children in the area of science, I hope we all remember that in the end it needs to relate to life, the life we live in our area of the world.
Our family is tackling a study of marine biology this year and I have found a few really good ways to tie into our everyday life. It has made it more enjoyable and less academic. It feels right for us and we are all learning.
Hope you take a few minutes to think about the questions and get the point of the exercise. It really impacted our science education.
Barb-Harmony Art Mom
