Yes, it’s a day late. Dr. Free-Ride and Dr. Free-Ride’s better half are currently engaged in sprog retrieval maneuvers at the home of the Grandparents Who Lurk But Seldom Comment. What follows is this morning’s attempt to get the Free-Ride offspring to tell us something science-y.
Dr. Free-Ride: Were there any things you noticed while you were away from us that you think might have to do with science?
Younger offspring: I noticed that when I go in the ocean, the salt water makes my eyes red, and I wanted to know why.
Dr. Free-Ride: That sounds like a reasonable matter for scientific enquiry.
Category Archives: Kids and science
Friday Sprog Blogging: summer vacation.
At present, the Free-Ride offspring are enjoying the hospitality of the Grandparents Who Lurk But Seldom Comment, and the Free-Ride parental units are enjoying quieter mornings — at least in theory.
This morning, some time before 7:00 …
Casa Free-Ride telephone: RING! RING! RING! RING!
Dr. Free-Ride: Mrrph! ZZZZZZ
Dr. Free-Ride’s better half: Hello?
Friday Sprog Blogging: revisiting Pluto.
There’s been a continuing discussion, in various online venues (including this blog), of Unscientific America, a book which notes the “demotion” of Pluto as an instance where the lessons the American public drew from the scientists’ decisions may have diverged widely from the lessons the scientists would want the public to draw — if they even thought about the possibility that the public was paying attention.
So, since the Free-Ride offspring were paying attention as the Pluto saga unfolded, I thought I should double back and see what their current thinking about it is.
Thursday sprog art.
As I thrash my way through composing my last anticipated post on Unscientific America, I reckoned it was time to give you some more pictures to go with all the words. Thank goodness for the Free-Ride offspring!
From the younger Free-Ride offspring:
Bastille Day sprog art.
Not that the art has anything to do with Bastille Day, but it seemed like as good an occasion as any to share some more of their work.
And, for the record, if art classes somehow lead the Free-Ride offspring to adopt an all-black wardrobe, they are bloody well going to find themselves reading Sartre. In our house, moody black-clad young people are philosophers!
From the younger Free-Ride offspring:
The Free-Ride offspring go to art school.
Actually, the Free-Ride offspring are just taking a few art classes this summer. We haven’t packed them off to live in a garrett somewhere. (Not that we haven’t given the matter thought.)
Here are some drawings from their first week.
Friday Sprog Blogging: great moments in skepticism (U.S. history edition).
For the record, this is the entry I would have posted last Friday if I hadn’t been occupied with provisioning for our Independence Day barbecue. (Indeed, regular commenter $0.01 saw me at Trader Joe’s last Friday doing that provisioning. “I haven’t checked the sprog blog yet,” said she. “I haven’t posted it yet!” I replied.)
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In the run up to the July 4th holiday, the Free-Ride family dredged up some “common knowledge” about U.S. presidents. Of course, we started with Washington, but it wasn’t long until we got to Lincoln.
Younger offspring: Abraham Lincoln was born in a log cabin.
Dr. Free-Ride’s better half: That he built with his own two hands!
Friday Sprog Blogging: warmth underground.
Why is it that on hot days, the Free-Ride offspring take up the question of how animals stay warm on cold days? Does this kind of consideration make the heat seem more desirable?
Younger offspring: During the winter, why do some animals go underground to get warm?
Dr. Free-Ride: Why do you think?
Friday Sprog Blogging: spectroscope.
At day camp yesterday, the sprogs (and their fellow campers) had a visitor:
Elder Free-Ride offspring; She was an astrophysicist. You know what that is, right?
She talked to us about studying light that comes from space, and all the different kinds of light there are traveling across space. There’s infrared, and ultraviolet, and even X-rays. And, of course, there’s white light that we can see with our eyes.
Question for the commentariat about the goal of science education.
This just came up in a plenary session I’m attending, looking at how best to convey the nature of science in K-12 science education (roughly ages 5-18).
It’s not really a question about the content of the instruction, which people here seem pretty comfortable saying should include stuff about scientific methodology and critical testing, analysis and interpretation of data, hypothesis and prediction, what kind of certainty science can achieve, and so forth. Rather, it’s a question about how that content is organized and framed.