If you read my previous post, More About Mama Joules, you know that I haven't always liked science. But perhaps I should be more precise: I did like science, I just didn't realize it.
I dislike the way science was taught to me in school. Unfortunately, science is often presented as a subject that only smart people can understand. So, the first time that I didn't understand something, I thought I was stupid. No wonder I hated science!
In reality, science is for everyone. Once you start looking at things this way, you find science everywhere. Each time you cook, dig a stick in the dirt, or search your dog's back for fleas, you are exploring your world. And that's all that science really is.
When I was younger, I used to go hiking with my parents. One of my favorite memories is when my mom and I would look at rocks. But I wonder if I would have liked it so much if she had started lecturing me by saying, "Now, this is granite. Granite is an igneous rock ..."
Mom never said that. My mom would say things like, "Look at this cool rock! I think it's a fossilized dinosaur turd." You can imagine how many rocks I brought to my mom! I loved hearing her make up stories about my rocks. In doing so, many rocks found their way into our home, where my mom and I looked up their true identities in a book like Smithsonian Handbooks: Rocks & Minerals.
Unleash your creativity! Teaching and learning about science can be (and should be) fun.
3 comments:
I just read your article in Funds for Writers about Twitter markets. Thanks for the wonderful article! I've been reading all over the place writers need to Twitter to get the word out on their work. It's intimidating to me, and I've yet to start an account. This is a great blog! Best, Marie
Thanks, Marie! I'm glad that you enjoyed the article. I am new to Twitter and I was startled to discover that there are already Twitter magazines, so I figured that other writers would be interested, too.
I'm just now learning how to use hashtags in Twitter posts (if you were posting about science, for example, you'd use #science someplace in your post) and how they help people search Twitter. I finally had someone route here from Twitter! :) Anyway, thanks for the nice words and I hope to see you twittering soon.
hehe, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing! I remember one summer camping in the 4 corners area... at first we were all wide-eyed and appreciative of the geological wonders around us. 3 weeks later my sisters and I would have been happy if we'd never see another red rock in our lives! I got over it, my sisters not so much. :p
I think one of the things that made me choose science over litterature or history (my two other loves in high school) is precisely that I found it so much easier! A lot less to study! I mean, once you understand a process, it's yours forever! No boring learning by heart dates and events and authors and... and less of a problem when your spelling/grammar aren't great! ;o)
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