Science Education as a Response to Nature
The most natural way to do science education lies in responding to the science all around us! Back before we were insulated from weather and geography, people learned to watch the sky for storm warnings and to consider the mountains and valleys through which they traveled so slowly.
Teaching Observation
Children need very little urging to return to such a time in their imaginations and so become careful observers of their environment. Another name for a careful observer is “scientist.”
No Textbooks Needed
What wonderful times my family has had with history and science—with not a textbook in sight. Who needs questions at the end of a chapter when children are so gloriously full of questions if we take time to listen? And who needs a dull, predictable workbook with blanks to fill when children are full of “blanks” just begging to be filled?
Revel in Real Books
So we read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s
Little House on the Prairie
books and along the way we sewed dresses and bonnets for ourselves. We made soap from ashes and lard. We cooked corn meal mush and ate it with maple syrup. And when the weather was sunny we went scouting for bugs and butterflies.
Stop to Look
When we drove across three states to visit Grandma, we stopped a lot to explore the changing countryside and stare at rocks in road cuts. And when the sky turned dark and thunderclouds boiled overhead, we raced to the library for books on
tornados
and storm fronts and lightning. Aaaah—and when it snowed, that’s when we built snow forts and had snow fights and talked about snowball and missile ballistics and why H2O crystallizes into millions of patterns and about molecular motion in ice, water, and steam. We observed the effect of salt on ice and explored the chemistry behind it.
Nocturnal Science is Fun!
The most magical fun of all was getting up in the middle of the night to watch a
meteor shower
and later a lunar eclipse. Because we didn’t have to get up early for school the next morning, we took our time. What freedom! Textbooks can’t capture these kinds of experiences, no matter how well they are written.
Videos Without Quizzes
Another source of wonder and questions came from science videos on subjects of interest and from National Geographic specials on public television. After all, there are things, like polar bears, that you really can’t explore in your own backyard. The home-schooled child can watch these sorts of shows while curled up on the couch with his family and can talk about it afterward, maybe even try an experiment or act out some animal behaviors. To my way of thinking this beats sitting at a desk and taking a quiz later, especially for a
child who needs to move and talk. (Has anyone ever met a child who didn’t need to move and talk?)
Zoos and Gardens
And don’t overlook the zoo or botanical garden when you have a chance to visit. Even though my daughters were very young when we spent a year in California, they still remember some of
The San Diego Zoo
, and I remember warm, happy days in a peaceful and beautiful place. I’m so glad we didn’t have to hurry through with a group of thirty cranky children!
Covering Everything
But my friends and family were a little worried. How could I be sure we were covering everything my children needed to know? What if they wanted to enter a scientific field and weren’t properly prepared for college science classes? As it turns out, both of them ended up in computer science, doing jobs they love. One works on the Very Large Array of radio-telescopes, and the other writes code that flies the GPS satellites.
Light the Fire of Curiosity
So, can science be taught well without a textbook? Yes. Yeats said it so well: “Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.” When it comes to that kind of fire, I admit to pyromania.
My Favorite Science Videos
Hopefully, you can find these used, as they are a bit expensive otherwise. Or check the public library!
By Yvonna Graham, M.Ed.
www.dyslexiakit.net
@GrahamYvonna
books and along the way we sewed dresses and bonnets for ourselves. We made soap from ashes and lard. We cooked corn meal mush and ate it with maple syrup. And when the weather was sunny we went scouting for bugs and butterflies.
and storm fronts and lightning. Aaaah—and when it snowed, that’s when we built snow forts and had snow fights and talked about snowball and missile ballistics and why H2O crystallizes into millions of patterns and about molecular motion in ice, water, and steam. We observed the effect of salt on ice and explored the chemistry behind it.
and later a lunar eclipse. Because we didn’t have to get up early for school the next morning, we took our time. What freedom! Textbooks can’t capture these kinds of experiences, no matter how well they are written.
, and I remember warm, happy days in a peaceful and beautiful place. I’m so glad we didn’t have to hurry through with a group of thirty cranky children!
By Yvonna Graham, M.Ed.
www.dyslexiakit.net
@GrahamYvonna