I spent a little time in a classroom this week with teachers, who were learning to teach science. It’s a weeklong boot camp where they learn one science experiment after another. The goal is to engage students in science by making it more interesting. One in three high school students will tell you it’s not.
It caused me to reflect on why science was my favorite subject K-12. I decided it was not because of the teachers in the classroom, it was a direct response to the teachers I had at home.
I remember for example, being very frightened of lightening as a four year old. My brother had terrorized me by telling me that if I moved when lightening was in the air, it would strike me dead. My parents couldn’t understand why when a storm was brewing I froze like a statue and they would have to carry me inside. When they found out, my brother was in a bit of trouble, but my father and mother also took the time to explain what lightening really is. We even took a trip to the local Junior High School where I watched an old black and white film on how lightening forms. I then understood that it was not some fierce act of God, but simply science.
On family trips we would play your typical car games, but we also played name that cloud. We would call out, cirrus, cumulus, stratus, altostratus and cumulonimbus from the back seat. We also learned it’s the cumulonimbus that we needed to watch for rain, lightening and hail. We played the same game with geological formations. My Dad would say, hey guys, what’s that mountain made of, and who can find the fault line?
Camping trips into the forest were also an opportunity to learn the names of birds, and bird calls, and to identify other insect and animal life. I remember standing in front the door of an outhouse. I was horrified, because A: I hate outhouses, and B: because it was covered in moths of every size, because of the light shining on the brown door. My fears were calmed as my parents named the variety of moths basking in the light. I no longer remember those names, but I do remember the sense of intrigue that they all had names.
We studied the stars and my Mom and Dad would name the constellations. My Dad answered the question “Why is the moon following us?” We travelled to planetariums, museums, and caves. We studied fossils and rocks and I obtained numerous “pretty” pieces of quartz. One of my greatest treasures as a child was a geode found near Casper, Wyoming. We had several home-grown crystal gardens created in my mom’s baking tins over the years. Science was not only fun, it was life.
I needed no encouragement to take science classes. I took nearly everything offered in my high school. Science was my highest score on the ACT. I am sure there were many teachers to credit for that achievement, but ultimately the biggest credit goes to my parents. My mother taught computer technology to elementary school students. My father taught science on a junior high school level for more than twenty years.
