Read Chapter One

Transcription

Read Chapter One

Did
You Ever
Wonder?
Fostering curiosity
here, there and everywhere
John Barell
From Did You Ever Wonder? by John Barell. (c) 2013, International Baccalaureate.
Contents
Prologueix
Introduction—Antarctica: A very special project
1
Chapter 1—Modelling our curiosity
11
Chapter 2—Playing with possibilities
32
Chapter 3—Playing imagination games
51
Chapter 4—Critical thinking at home
61
Chapter 5—Fostering resourcefulness
75
Chapter 6—Inquiry and media
88
Chapter 7—Dinosaurs, Facebook and Twitter
102
Chapter 8—Wordplay and curiosity
119
Chapter 9—Navigating life
137
Chapter 10—You and your dream
153
Postscript161
v
Chapter 1
Modelling our curiosity
Did you ever wonder …?
On many a stroll through New York City’s Central Park, my grandfather,
Llewellyn Ray Ferguson, used to ask me this question: “Did you ever
wonder …?” He was chief chemist for General Foods Corporation and,
in 1925, he received a patent from the US Patent Office for D-Zerta, the
first non-sugar dessert. My mother vividly recalls working in the General
Foods Corporation office in LeRoy, New York, and seeing huge vats of
sugar on the first floor, all made unnecessary by his creation.
My grandfather wondered about more than the chemistry of our diets. My
most vivid memory stems from when my grandparents lived in a Manhattan
apartment overlooking the river, the George Washington Bridge and New
Jersey’s amazing rock formations, the Palisades. One
day, we were looking out of
the bedroom window at the
sun setting over the far New
Jersey hills. My grandfather
noticed something strange.
He pointed out to me the size
of the sun on the horizon and
asked, “Johnny, did you ever
wonder why the sun setting
on the horizon over there
seems different in size from
the sun at the zenith?”
“Did you ever wonder why the sun setting
on the horizon over there seems different
in size from the sun at the zenith?”
Now, I knew what the zenith was—the highest point directly overhead in
the sky because he had taught me this concept among others whenever
we discussed the sun, the stars and the speed of light.
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In response to his question about the sun, I replied, “No, I don’t.”
He then proceeded to ask me a series of questions about sunlight travelling through the atmosphere.
•What does the sun shine through to get to our bodies?
•Where is there more air to travel through—from directly overhead, or from over there on the horizon? Which layer do you
think is thicker?
•What do you suppose happens to sunlight when it travels through
the atmosphere?
Of course these are reconstructions. But I do remember learning that the
sun setting on the horizon probably appears larger than when it is directly
overhead at the zenith because of the distortions that occur while its light
passes through denser, thicker atmospheric layers from the horizon.
Interestingly, others have raised the same question and concluded that
it’s all an optical illusion caused by the lack of objects in the sky with
which to compare the Sun. Our Sun still seems a whole lot larger to
me—especially when you observe the setting sun from a ship at sea, as
I have many times. Out at sea, on some occasions, our closest star seems
like a huge red blister bleeding out from its lower rim on to the horizon.
Perhaps you’ve seen the same phenomenon.
My grandfather was always asking me this question: “Did you ever
wonder …?” He was thereby modelling an important inquiry process
and igniting my curiosity about so many things.
•The earth’s rotation. “How can we tell that it does rotate on its
axis?” (We ventured up to the Stamford Museum in Connecticut
to observe the Foucault pendulum.)
•How fast light travels from the Moon, the Sun and the stars.
“We’re really looking back in history,” he noted as he encouraged me to obtain my first reflecting telescope, a three-incher
ordered by mail for US$29.95 that pulled in the Moon’s craters
and Saturn’s rings.
•Why public bathrooms regulate the amount of hot water and not
the cold water coming from the sink. “You could let the cold
water run forever, but not the hot water. Why?”
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•“How do you suppose those rocks on the New Jersey side of
the river were formed?” He taught me about sedimentation, the
formation of coal and oil, and what it took for the Palisades to
appear to be standing up as they do—pressure and titanic forces
over millions upon millions of years.
All of these discoveries can be traced back to the simple act of marvelling “Did you ever wonder …?”
We are all educators
This book is designed for all of us who educate—parents, family, teachers, guides and leaders in formal and informal settings—who have
responsibilities to foster the growth and development of our children and
young adults. For those of us who are professional educators, our job is to lead our
students towards becoming healthy, curious citizens of the world who can
think through all the challenges life has in store. This means they need to
be able to ask good questions, pose and resolve problems and critically
analyse information available within seconds from any of their mobile,
tablet and desktop devices. In fact, we can envision these devices forming the information centres of the classrooms of tomorrow (even today!)
where students are learning in any setting (not just within four walls),
communicating with resources from all over the world and figuring things
out.
For all of us who educate, our challenge is to enable our students to think
productively about whatever they encounter. Parents, of course, play key
roles in the education of all our students. Our literature—professional,
personal and public—is full of stories about how parents have influenced
their children’s upbringing and future lives. For example, studies highlight the significance of the quality of language used at home (Copple et
al 1984; Hart and Risley 1995). Children seem to grow intellectually in
homes where we hear these kinds of statements and questions.
•I wonder …
•What do you suppose would happen if …?
•Let’s see if we can figure out why …?
•I’m curious about …
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Such language heard around the home results in children becoming more
attuned to possibilities, problems and solutions. More significantly, continual exposure to these words directly and positively affects intellectual
growth. When children hear only commands (“Stop asking so many questions!”), their growth is not as strong.
Barbara Corrigan is an educational specialist and the mother of two small
children. In 2011, after editing one of my recent professional books, she
offered these comments about challenging her students to think.
It’s so easy to fall into the pattern of giving answers. But how valuable it is to wonder together, when none of us necessarily knows
the answer. I’ve learned … that the process is good for our learning, and I like what it does for our relationships.
Wondering together may be one of the most important ways we can spend
time with our children. It certainly was for my grandfather and me, for
many years.
We are all charged with helping our young people become citizens of
tomorrow who are productive within a global community where change,
growth and innovation mark our lives with an “ever-increasing acceleration”. Whether you are a parent, teacher, coach, mentor, or anyone else
who interacts with children, you can build educational, supportive and
positive relationships that foster children’s curiosity.
This book hopes to present what we learn about curiosity and good thinking not only in the classroom, but also at home and on the road. All of
the ways of thinking and being shared in these pages can be applied
within all of these settings, both formal and informal—here, there and
everywhere. When we consider that we are all educators working towards
very similar goals, we enrich our conversations within so many different
settings.
What does curiosity look, sound and feel
like?
When I ask myself this question, I am immediately transported back to
my youth of many years ago when I experienced the thrills of discovery
about Antarctica, Little America and Admiral Byrd. I was the child who
picked up one book, then another because I found the continent, its geography and related sciences so fascinating, strange and different from the
world I inhabited in Needham, Massachusetts. I set off first on literary
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explorations and then, subsequently, on actual voyages of discovery to
find out what’s there. These discoveries always filled me with pleasure,
even joy, at finding out what lay beyond the horizon. Or why some people
continued to return to Antarctica, while others did not.
Curiosity means being open to the mystery of different, novel experiences, setting off on explorations—whether in books or in person—and
making discoveries that thrill us and lead to so many more questions.
Curious people persist in their searches and are seldom content with
initial answers and findings. They always want to know more—from a
source, or from you! Richard Wright, growing up in the severely segregated Southern United States of the early twentieth century, was always
prodding his mother with questions about the strange, perplexing experiences around him until she asked him why he did so.
“I just want to know!” he said in earnest. “I want to find out.”
Asking questions is, indeed, a reflection of our curiosities. But as my own
experiences indicate, the foundation of our wonderings is the awe and
amazement that precedes our posing questions. (See Appendix A at the
end of this chapter for a list of some characteristics of curious people.)
Discovering the novelties that foster
curiosity
What my grandfather pointed out to me was one of nature’s very observable mysteries—a seeming difference in the sizes of a heavenly body
in different positions, at different times of the day. What we know from
thinkers like John Dewey and researchers on exploration is that we
wonder and are curious about things that present us with perplexities,
novelties, difficulties, doubts and uncertainties amoung other things.
Barbara Corrigan told me of how, after reading a portion of this book,
she did something different with her two children. Upon approaching
the parked car after shopping, she asked, “Now, what if the car doesn’t
start?” This opened up a fascinating conversation about what the children thought might be ways of fixing the car and getting home.
•“Call Dad / a cab / a tow truck.”
•“Walk home.”
•“You fix it, Mom.”
•“Buy a new car.”
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Coming up with a puzzling situation as a family and encouraging the
children to figure it out seems like such a great way to emphasize and
practise the sort of independent thought I’m looking for. Barbara wants
her children to grow up to be able to figure things out for themselves:
Mom and Dad aren’t always going to be around to give advice. Part of
what we do as parents and educators is to prepare our children for those
problematic situations we know will arise.
And how do we do this? By presenting them with puzzles and mysterious
situations, such as the car not starting, or with more complex issues,
such as living a more healthy life. We grow intellectually by continually
attempting to figure things out—on our own and with others.
What started me wondering about nature on my walks with my grandfather were phenomena that did seem very strange indeed. Why do the
leaves in the autumn on one tree turn red/yellow/orange before the same
species of tree right next to it? How do animals migrate over great distances and arrive back safely in the same spot year after year?
With my grandfather it was all a game, but a most important one. In
retrospect, it seems as if we were exploring what for me was the unknown,
but in a loving way. As noted educator Dr Marilyn Cain said to me in
2012, while I was writing this book, “Exploring for answers to questions
builds that essential bond between parent and child.” Llewellyn Ray
Ferguson was the leader of our expeditions—our Captain Robert Scott,
our Admiral Byrd.
But I don’t know that much about …!
My grandfather was a scientist (a chemist), and when I tell this story
some people say, “But I don’t know much about science (or history, art,
mathematics, literature). How can I entertain these kinds of questions
if I don’t know the answers myself?” This very good question was first
raised for me by Kim Aubry, an educational specialist from Princeton,
New Jersey. Kim has a three-year-old daughter who, just before going to
bed, asks her mother a lot of questions to which Kim does not know the
answers.
But Kim says, “Well, let’s look that up in the morning, OK?”
How do we help each other become people who can encourage our children
to identify these strange, intriguing phenomena in life without knowing
all the answers ourselves? The answer is that we can share whatever we
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think is strange, fascinating and mysterious with our children—even if
we do not know much about whatever causes, for example, the sun to
appear larger on the horizon. One thing we can do immediately is begin
to jot down what we find fascinating. Perhaps we might take a little time
to search for an answer, as Kim does the next morning, on her iPad. You
might be surprised at how much confidence just asking good questions
about nature, and then seeking answers yourself, will bring you.
The important point here is that this asking questions and searching for
answers can be one of the most enjoyable experiences we have with our
children, if we do it together. What counts is developing this relationship
of asking and searching together. We all take baby steps at first, then we
crawl before we stand up and walk. So we may have to practise saying,
“I don’t know. Why don’t we look it up together?” See how that feels. It
might be slightly uncomfortable at first. Try it. Sometimes a change of
attitude follows a change in behaviour such as this.
One thing for sure is that our children will not cease being curious. If
we’re serious about fostering curiosity, we will eventually have fun saying
to ourselves and to our children, “I don’t know. Let’s find out together!”
This is the start of a wonderful adventure.
I don’t know!
Sometimes our children ask so many questions, it’ll drive us nuts.
•Why do I have to wear a raincoat outside?
•Why can’t we go to Grandma’s house in the snow?
•What is the sky made of?
We usually respond with good answers, but some day our children will
grow up and begin to find the answers for themselves. As teachers, we
can usually answer our students’ questions about plants, Charlotte’s Web
or any mathematical problem.
But should we always be answering them?
What if, at an appropriate age, when asked, “What are the hardest/
strongest/toughest/most durable things on earth?” we respond, “I don’t
know. What do you think?” and, “How can we find out? Let’s go exploring
for answers.”
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Our children can then embark upon their own adventure, guided by us, to
find their own answers. We know teachers do this all the time, challenging students to use their own wits to figure things out before asking the
teacher. “Ask three, then me!” is a refrain we hear with this purpose: try
to find help elsewhere, and figure things out on your own. After all, our
goal is for our children to grow up to be independent thinkers and doers,
able to fend for themselves in an ever-changing world. It’s not always
appropriate to be giving them all the answers they seek—at least, not
as they approach the age when they possess the skills to search for their
own answers.
Then we encourage them to share their findings with us, so that we can
learn and marvel at nature together—and, as you would expect, more
information usually leads to more questions. We must, of course, be sure
to help those who want and need guidance about where to look and about
what to think once they have shared their findings with us. (For more
information on this, see Chapter 4—“Critical thinking at home”.)
Wonderings with unexpected outcomes
Not all wonderings lead to such cerebral understandings. On another
occasion, my grandfather suggested we go exploring a new territory—
New Jersey. Keep in mind this was many years before a lower level was
added to the bridge. We walked across the George Washington Bridge,
and all went well until we
got to the central span, right
where you enter a new state.
Then I felt something very
strange and scary. My legs
felt the road shaking—the
movement travelled up my
ankles, towards my knees
and thighs. I was very
uncomfortable looking down,
through the gratings, at the
dark river below, perhaps “What keeps a bridge afloat in mid-air
at a pleasure boat motoring like that?”
north towards Albany.
The bridge had started to vibrate. The cars’ motion caused it to shake up
and down. Little Johnny, looking down at the dirty river below, became
terrified. “Let’s go home!” I pleaded.
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But then my grandfather explained how thousands and thousands of
strong wires in the cables held up the bridge. “But, Johnny, look up at
those big cables. They’re holding up the road. Each one of those tubes is
filled with thousands of smaller wires, all for our safety.”
I couldn’t erase the tangible fear with his abstract physics, and so we
returned to the comfortable shores of Manhattan. Maybe if I’d been able
to focus on the rock-solid bastions of the Palisades, I would have felt
more confident. We turned back from New Jersey and re-entered New
York City, moving quickly towards terra firma and home.
I’m sure he told my grandmother about this aborted mission. Nobody made
fun of me, but to this day I am reminded that sometimes our wonderings
have unexpected outcomes. Not all our wonderings and wanderings turn
out as we hope or might expect. But then these unintended outcomes can
lead to further explorations.
Observations about our children’s
wonderings
Jot down your initial observations about your children’s wonderings or
questions. Then start your own journal. Record some observations with
your camera; upload them on to your own personal website, or Facebook,
if you wish to make them public.
Randy and Jennifer Gragg are Spencer’s parents, and the family lives in
an Atlanta suburb. Following a presentation of my Antarctic story, we
discussed keeping a record of Spencer’s questions during his first year in
school. Here are some of them.
•November: “How much blood do we need to survive?”
•January: “Do the continents touch on the ocean floor?”
(Discussing continental shifting during the time of dinosaurs.)
•January: “How big will space be when it stops growing, and
when will it stop growing?” (Reading a book about space flight.)
•March: “Why does having food in the cracks of your teeth cause
cavities?” (After visiting the dentist.)
•March: “Which is the state with the most volcanoes? Are they
all active?” (After reading a book about dinosaurs.)
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•May: “Why does it get colder the higher you get in the sky? It
should get warmer the closer you get to the sun.” (Talking about
flying.)
•May: “Why does your body need sleep?” (Getting ready for bed.)
What Randy and Jennifer discovered was quite logical—that Spencer
asked most questions about subjects he was interested in. But he also
posed some questions that adults like me have often wondered about, for
example, “Why does it get colder the higher up you go?”
The question that seems even more complex is, “How big will space be
when it stops growing, and when will it stop growing?” Spencer is asking
for short, one-word answers in some questions, but in others he is asking
a question that calls for a lot of deep thinking. I wonder what he understood by the “growing” of space? He was in kindergarten at the time,
and I would have loved to ask him further questions about this inquiry
(“What does it mean for space to grow?”, “How do we know it grows?”,
“Do we know when it started and when it might stop?” and, “How do we
know all of this?”)
Here’s another way of dealing with the feelings Kim Aubry expressed,
when she spoke about not being all that comfortable with some of her
child’s questions. If we follow the lead of Randy and Jennifer Gragg, we
will begin to feel more comfortable with our children’s questions. We can
look at the list and say, “You know, I’ve wondered about this question
here—why it gets colder the higher you go up in the atmosphere. What
do you think about it? Why don’t we look this up together?”
Randy Gragg concluded his recording of Spencer’s questioning during
kindergarten, with the following observation.
On the surface, asking questions seems like a simple and “common
sense” activity for children. But when coupled with the science
of developing young brains, and the need for the brain to create
new connections in order to survive and grow, questions take on a
whole new meaning.
(Barell 2012)
Indeed, Randy might have said that asking such powerful questions goes
a long way towards enhancing mental development—as does continually
challenging students with “What if …?” games (Copple et al 1984).
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Words to wonder on:
Historic wonderings
Leonardo da Vinci
wrote in one of
his notebooks: “I
roamed the countryside
searching for answers to
things I did not understand.
Why shells existed on the tops
of mountains along with the
imprints of coral and plants “Why do shells exist on mountain
and seaweed usually found tops?”
in the sea. Why the thunder
lasts a longer time than that which causes it, and why immediately
on its creation the lightning becomes visible to the eye while thunder
requires time to travel.”
(Gelb 1998: 50)
The “now” generation
Kim Connor is the mother of three children, and an educator in Texas.
She and her husband have filled their home with books and enjoyed
taking their children on many a journey to museums, parks and beaches.
This is what she told me about one such trip.
This summer the kids found a hermit crab on the beach. They
immediately grabbed the iPad and looked up how to care for a
hermit crab. This is a very “now” generation in terms of getting
answers. They don’t bother asking adults … they skip us and go
straight to the sources they have available. I can’t tell you how
many times I have found all three kids reading some book off our
bookshelf because they had heard something that “grabbed” their
attention and wanted to know more.
This may represent an educational ideal—having our children become
curious and then undertake their searching for answers independently.
Not all families enjoy such blessings, but encouraging children’s wonderings, as both Kim Aubry and Kim Connor have done, is what we are
striving for. The description of children immediately reaching for an iPad
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to search for answers suggests that we need to be prepared to help students pursue their wonderings, answer their questions and resolve their
doubts. (See Appendix B at the end of this chapter for more follow-up
suggestions.)
Conclusion
Our curiosities are aroused by strange, perplexing phenomena, such as
the size and colour of the sun on the horizon, and by considering volcanoes, outer space and continental shifting during the age of the dinosaurs.
We wonder not just about the natural world, but also about people—both
real and imagined. My own literary imaginings and wonderings were most
often centred around the House at Pooh Corner where Winnie-the-Pooh,
Christopher Robin, Eeyore and Piglet pranced through my imagination
as my mother read and reread these stories to me as a child.
When you go after honey with a balloon, the great thing is not to
let the bees know you’re coming. Now, if you have a green balloon,
they might think you were only part of the tree, and not notice you,
and if you have a blue balloon, they might think you were only
part of the sky, and not notice you, and the question is: Which is
most likely?
(AA Milne 1926: 10)
What will he do? How would you go after honey? I wonder …
What’s important is to voice our own wonderings with our children, inviting them into the magical, marvellous adventures of our “Did you ever
wonder …?” and, “Why do you suppose …?”
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Here,
there and
everywhere
At the end of each chapter, I attempt to model different kinds of
personal inquiries to share with our children and students. Once
again, we look to foster children’s curiosities wherever we are: in
school, on the road, at a beach. We want them to grow up to be
resourceful, self-directed people who can write their own stories
and set sail on their own journeys. We are, in effect, developing
here a language of inquiry, an inquiring mindset for ourselves and
those with whom we work and live. So wherever you see a set of
questions, consider them ones that we might model for our children
and students with that goal in mind—that they will one day be on
their own, asking themselves these kinds of questions.
Here are a few wonderings to get you started.
Model your own inquisitiveness with your children
What do you find fascinating about nature? What are the perplexities you observe and respond to?
1. How plants live and grow: Flowers we have in the house, why
some have an aroma, look different. What keeps them alive?
2. What the stars are: How far away they are, what they’re made
of, our own star, those things called “galaxies” that we once
thought were part of the Milky Way. And by the way, what is
that—the Milky Way?
3. Dig up the earth somewhere: Find all those little bugs,
worms, insects and what they’re made of. (Read Annie Dillard’s
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (1974) for vivid descriptions of what
she found by poking the earth, for example, how much of the
Earth’s crust is made of silicon—yes, the same element we use
elsewhere!)
4. What makes weather: One of the projects my grandfather initiated was my recording different cloud formations. I especially
love the thunderclouds (cumulonimbus) and to this day am
fascinated, whether on ground or in the air, by cloud formations
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and how they are created. While flying along at an altitude of
35,000 feet or 10,700 metres recently, I noticed those towering cumulonimbus encompassed by higher cirrostratus. What
caused such formations?
5. Sound and light: I’m still always wondering how reflections
occur in glass. For example, look at the reflections on a window.
How do they form? And what enables us to see anything close
up and far off? What are photons, and how do they work?
6. Technology: How will all the “smart” devices affect how we
think, learn and use information in everyday life? How does
watching TV affect our thoughts and feelings? Does it isolate
us? Does it give us good or poor models?
Demonstrate and emphasize the language of curiosity
and inquiry
Think about what surprises, perplexes, fascinates and intrigues
you. Try using some or all of the following.
•I’m curious about …
•How can we solve this problem?
•Do you agree with this statement/claim? (For example, “All
vegetarians live longer.”)
•What do you suppose caused that?
The last question may be one of the most important and one too
seldom asked, even in schools: “What have we just learned here
about nature, about people, about ourselves?” We want our children
to begin learning from their own thinking, not just from reading a
book or from listening to us. Their own minds are the best teachers
throughout life (Barell 2007).
Continually play “What if …?” games
This is what Barbara Corrigan and my grandfather did: “What if it
rains and we can’t go on the hike? What can we do?”
Irv Sigel was always relating to me his personal “distancing strategy”, one that challenged children’s thinking with little roadblocks.
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Q: What did you do over the weekend?
A: Went to Grandma’s house.
Q: How did you go?
A: Daddy drove us.
Q: Well, what if the car wouldn’t start? How would you go?
Games such as these stretch children’s thinking into many and
varied possibilities they might not naturally consider, and you can
see how beneficial such thinking is for life in general. (My favourite
example while serving in the US Navy during the heat of the Cold
War was: “What if a Soviet submarine surfaces off the starboard
bow of our ship? What would I do?”)
Undertake little expeditions to new parts of the world
We are our children’s expedition leaders—the Scotts, Byrds and
Rides leading them into the unknown, where we will all make
thrilling discoveries. I’ve heard from so many teachers about how
their parents took them to museums, to new landscapes near home,
to Paris, Singapore and other faraway places where curiosity was
enlivened just by being in a very strange, new and different location. If we are unable to travel to such settings, venture out into the
backyard, out on to the savannahs to discover anything that strikes
you as strange, out of place, fascinating and intriguing. It might be
a clump of trees like California coastal oaks on the hills around
Sonoma County. “How did they form in such strange patterns?” I
asked a Chamber of Commerce.
We can accomplish some of this by jointly watching TV shows or
films that depict a variety of faraway places and thought-provoking
phenomena—think of the Discovery Channel, Nova (WGBH,
Boston) and Planet Earth (BBC, London). Record your favourite
programmes to watch and study later on. For years I made VHS
tapes of programmes on various channels about Antarctic explorations, which is where I first learned about what later became the hit
film March of the Penguins.
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Keep your own journal of your wonderings
I’ve been an inveterate journal-keeper since reading how polar
explorers kept very detailed records of their observations, actions,
thoughts and wonderings. I recall Admiral Richard E Byrd’s wonderings, while exploring Antarctica in 1928–30 and 1933–5, and
then about life back in Boston and Virginia during the Depression.
And I read Scott’s immortal wonderings about his terrible fate
upon returning from the South Pole in 1912, having lost the race to
Amundsen.
If your children are not yet ready to write—or are reluctant writers, as
many are—draw pictures with them. Educator Kerry Faber, parent
of two teenage boys and a middle school teacher in Edmonton, sent
me this suggestion when I was compiling ideas for the book.
Have you considered how powerful drawing pictures/images
can be in recording thoughts, ideas or queries? I have
students who don’t like to write much and would never be
interested in doing this outside of school, but they do love
to draw and would choose to do this when thinking or wondering about something. They might choose to label parts
of the drawing or just talk about it. This might perhaps be
a good idea for younger children—a journal of drawings
that they can talk about with their parents or others. Parents
could also consider labelling some of the drawings to help
remember the significance of something in the drawing at a
later date.
Kerry reminded me about the drawings that David Smythe did in
1841 as he conducted his scientific investigations on board HMS
Erebus, alongside Sir James Dalton Hooker, who went on to become
a renowned botanist.
What drawing a picture provides for children is an alternative way
of expressing themselves. Not everybody enjoys writing as much
as some of us do! It’s a wonderful way to express what something
means or feels like. Research on teaching science suggests that
words and pictures should be combined to enhance meaningfulness
(Chasteen 2012).
What keeping a journal (written or drawn) does for us is boost
our confidence in asking good questions about nature, and about
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human and personal relationships. The more we ask and seek some
answers, the more confident we become. This is one way of dealing
with Kim Aubry’s puzzle: how to encourage children to ask good
questions when we ourselves do not know a lot about a subject
that excites them. Remember what she says to her three-year-old
daughter: “We’ll look it up in the morning.” We will do this together.
We’ll both learn. Just like L Ray Ferguson and his grandchildren.
This is fun!
References
Barell, J. 2011. Quest for Antarctica: A Journey of Wonder and Discovery.
Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. iUniverse.
Barell, J. 2012. How Do We KnowThey’re Getting Better? Assessment for
21st Century Capacities, K-8. Thousand Oaks, California, USA. Corwin
Press.
Copple, C, Sigel, I and Saunders, R. 1984. Educating the Young Thinker:
Classroom Strategies for Cognitive Growth. Hillsdale, New Jersey, USA.
Lawrence Earlbaum Associates.
Dillard, A. 1974. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. New York, USA. HarperCollins.
Gelb, MJ. 1998. How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to
Genius Every Day. New York, USA. Bantam Dell.
Hart, B and Risley, T. 1995. Meaningful Differences in the Everyday
Experience of Young American Children. Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Paul
H Brookes Publishing.
Mayer, R. Quoted in Chasteen, S. 2010. “Learning about Teaching
Physics” podcast: http://learningaboutteachingphysics.podomatic.com/
(accessed 25 May 2012).
Milne, AA. 1926. Winnie-the-Pooh. London, UK. Methuen & Co. Ltd.
(Page number in the text refers to the 1965 Methuen Children’s Books
paperback edition, Chapter 1.)
27
Chapter 1
Be QRious
In this video John Barell models questioning with children in
kindergarten, using his mother, Elizabeth, as a way to spark
curiosity: www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWMaYbM7l04
Additional media links
A resource for daily astronomical images, including photos of the Earth,
plus extensive reference to major newspapers and other publications.
www.refdesk.com
The American Museum of Natural History is a rich site of natural history
and wonders.
www.amnh.org
NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory provides news and photographs from
the Curiosity rover on Mars.
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html
28

Read Chapter One

Transcription

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