Most scientists, researchers, teachers, professors, scientific administrators, those in the scientific fields, can be egoic, petty, dogmatic irrational, regardless if they are scientists or not, but most do and are able to be scientifically literate.
It’s important to separate out these 3 and state that acting like a scientist is NOT being scientifically literate AND you do not have to be a scientist to be scientifically literate. And scientists can be scientifically literate and still not act like scientists.
There’s two reasons I believe we should help our children become scientifically literate. One is for success in the world, in life, as a consumer, the second is to help them succeed in science classes.
Please go watch this short video by Neil DeGrasse Tyson on Scientific Literacy, Science and Problem Solving
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gK2EEwzjPQ
The need to have answers in humans is very strong. The pressure in society to fit in somewhere and have bite sized packages of labels to describe people and beliefs is also part of our culture.
In those who don’t tend to be scientifically literate, or those who need to control outcomes will frame questions in “either-‐or” statements. And it’s human nature to choose one and answer it. Sometimes college professors throw trick questions at students in lecture by using questions framed in this way. It would serve our children well to ask them questions like this on a regular basis and see how willing they are to choose from the options you give them. If they do, remind them that there are many other options and name some and ask them to name more. Then ask again what their preference or answer is, based now, on many more options. Doing this will prepare them to think outside any box in forming conclusions in science classes. It will also help them remain unbiased and incapable of being framed or led into answers or choices they may not choose or want or agree with. Many people like to think in black and white when much of life is lived in the gray.
Disagreeing
When working with the gifted, (and with teens) I have found a tendency to disagree. Of course developmentally this is important for them. But to settle into a habit of disagreeing can also cause a lack of being scientifically literate. Just like being agreeable, being disagreeable is just as faulty. Defaulting to any one thing is not scientifically literate. It can be doubly hard to deal with the teen years and the profoundly gifted. We have to remind them that being intellectual and scientifically literate means not having an ego attachment to asking questions. No attachment to needing to ask, and no attachments to the outcome. Needing to disagree just to do so is just as faulty as agreeing out of ignorance.
I teach a seminar here on the corruption in scientific discoveries through history. And all of them are traced to ego attachments and needs. It violates the sanctity of the scientific method to have an attachment to a theory, hypothesis or outcome. Being objective is THE most important tool and skill to have.
Frame either-‐or questions for your child and see how they respond. Help them think outside the either-‐or and to find another answer or solution.
When asking questions, especially “why” questions, don’t settle for the first answer you get, ask for more information. Let them know you are not bullying them, but truly want to know how they’re thinking and reasoning.
Make statements meant to prompt agreement and ask if they too agree. See if they’re willing to disagree. Many times gifted ones will disagree just to do so. Have them back up their disagreements with reasoning.
When our kids start to challenge us constantly, push them to back it up. If it’s getting on your nerves chances are it will get on others’ nerves, including teachers and professors and eventually co-‐workers. Remind them to listen and take in other and differing opinions. Ask them to research and look up the differing opinions and theories and see if they might also have validity.
LOGIC
Of all the classes I took in college that have framed the way I think and my ability to be scientifically literate I would have to logic was the most impactful. I it changes how the mind works, help to reduce faulty thinking like we discussed earlier, helps one understand math and the scientific method and helps one navigate the world, conversation, people and interaction. I highly encourage you to begin engaging your child in beginning logic exercises. There is a thin line a good scientist walks between being logical and being creative. It is called lateral thinking.
Here are books for logic and thinking Mensa Logic Puzzles Challenging Logic Puzzles Of Course! This one has lots of varied things
These are some great ways to introduce logic to your child. Once your child is old enough, they can start learning math logic. Go ahead and watch this video for an introduction and book him so you can use his lessons later.
TheTrevTutor (YouTube)
ASK QUESTIONS
I was going to start this section by saying, Question Everything! This lends itself to the child thinking ‘buck authority’. And this can get a bit slippery. I want to move through the stages of development and give you some ideas of ways to either coax your child to ask questions or to help them ask the right questions.
Toddlers
At this age children will ask anything. We can harness this craving to know and understand by showing them how to ask great questions. For example, you are grocery shopping and you get to the sweet potatoes. You can question out loud “Look at all these potatoes. Wow, this one is huge. I wonder how it got to be so big? Can you find a small one?” This simple act helps the child start to wonder things early, instead of just seeing a bunch of potatoes and moving on. Take time to ask simple questions.
Middle childhood
At this age, the why questions have usually stopped and have turned into more “how” questions. I LOVE these questions! At this stage of development we can push our children to ask questions they may still not think to ask. They are asking the hows of society, how things work, how they can get what they want. We can push them further by questioning how things work , that we consume or normally just take for granted.
I wonder how Tylenol really helps a headache. Why do split ends happen in hair? I wonder why cutting it helps? Do you think that products we buy to put on hair really do fix split ends? At this point we take their “how” questions and push them further.
Teenage Years
The teen years can feel daunting to parents of any child but for those with highly gifted kids, these years can start to feel intimidating. It seems like they go from asking great questions we can help with, to asking questions we didn’t even think to ask ourselves or, questions we have absolutely no idea about. This is the time when they are throwing balls out in every direction to see what comes back, to find out what they really like. These are fantastic opportunities to engage them in some seriously deep and cool questions. This is also the time when they will push harder to ask the questions only they want to ask. So during this phase, when they are asking questions, engage them in those and add your own.
Please watch this TedTalk about the skill of questioning. And consider grabbing the books she mentions. And if you’ve never heard of VSauce on YouTube, you’re in for a real treat. His vidoes are full of information and cool and fascinating facts that came from his asking questions. Watch this video he made at TedTalks on asking “why” questions.
CHEMISTRY FIRST
I know people say physics is the mother science. I completely disagree. Every other science begins and ends with Chemistry. Many concepts that we want our children to understand can be explained only to a certain point then the answers run into a basic understanding of simple chemistry concepts. How many times have you skipped photosynthesis? Likewise, when a child understands basic chemistry, everything else falls into place. When I say basic, I mean very basic. There's just not much that's really necessary.
If children were given the periodic table in the toddler years and were taught elements along with the alphabet and numbers, all science would fall in line behind it. If children, 3, 4 and 5 were told about atoms, electrons, protons and neutrons, science would make perfect sense to them. If they were shown the very simple principles of electron bonding at 5, 6, 7, then everything else, physics, biology, weather, medicine, rocks, everything, would be simple. Because, everything is made of the elements from the table, because it all is made of and behaves by the rules of atoms, it would all make sense to them by the time they are reading science in books.
I sell the Periodic Table of Elements Coloring Book available on Amazon (digital copy).
I have The Fearless and Simple Guide To The Periodic Table as well as other chemistry related and other science related materials for children, there as well. You do not have to be a chemist to teach the periodic table just as you do not have to be Pythagorus to teach math. I hope you agree that exposing your children to the periodic table is a wonderful gift that you can give your children. Our children are capable of learning basic chemistry at an early age.
OBSERVE VS INFER
This is a great lesson, not only for science, but for living with others, as well. Scientists observe. Scientists infer. But the difference can seem difficult to distinguish at first. My high school kids sometimes had to be reminded. But the use of each and when is very important.
To observe is to take note of only what can be seen. Scientists must have the ability to look at something and stick to only what IS there, what is seen with the eyes, perhaps how it smells, what sound it makes, the senses.
But to infer is to then make assumptions about what observations were gathered and perhaps to include other information you happen to know to be true about that subject. This is sometimes used for brainstorming ideas, coming up with a hypothesis, or figuring out the possible why's. Scientists must be able to make assumptions while working through possible scenarios for conclusions and problem solving. But these two skills are very different and important to be used separately and at different times.
Using Observation and Inference
Criminal profilers are good at taking observations, and making very good inferences with them. Researchers must be able to infer if they are to continue to follow the path where the research leads. When concluding a lab report, the writer must be able to bring together various aspects of the results and draw conclusions. Learning to think logically and critically will lead to accurate inferences.
LATIN
The cool thing about Latin and Greek is that the way they work is they are made of words that each word has a meaning but is also only a partial word or can mostly stand alone. Then all you have to do is mix and match. It requires the mind to change the way it views language and since language centers in the brain are inherent parts of the brain, meant to gather and store language, when we grow up with languages derived from Latin but that work very differently from its Latin roots, we learn language has a certain rhythm and pacing to it. And this would be true across all the languages derived from Latin.
This means that learning to understand Latin means forcing the language centers in the brain to begin to work very differently in how it has formerly ordered ideas, concepts, words, verbs, vowels, language and how it moves. In doing this, and it’s true of Latin, it makes logical sense.
And so in science, when you actually start learning the Latin roots you find out there aren’t that many, we aren’t creating sentences here, just naming things and the logic behind it is simple. Then all that jargon makes sense, and once you know the basic roots and the basic pre and suffixes you can pretty much intuit logically what something is called or means.
This is one more way science helps the human start to think logically and see the world in a more scientific way. It seems subtle but when you learn what so many things are called based on logical ways of naming them, then you also start to see the marketing and logic in the way corporations name and sell things.
A secondary effect of learning the Latin/Greek roots is the added knowledge when it comes time to learn a second language (necessary for college now). And most importantly they will start to see the logic in it.
Here are some links to Latin your child will encounter in the sciences.
http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/courses.hp/zool250/Roots/RootsMain.htm https://www.msu.edu/~defores1/gre/roots/gre_rts_afx2.htm
Here is a book I highly recommend for starting Latin: Getting Started with Latin: Beginning Latin for Homeschoolers and Self-Taught Students of Any Age
Biographies of Scientists
When I was a teacher, I required my students to read biographies and autobiographies of scientists. There are many reasons to do this. In learning about scientists, we learn how they think. Because they were scientifically literate we get to see that literacy in action and how it served their purposes in life. They also help teach that failure is absolutely a necessary part of science and that failure isn’t failure at all but more information.
But it also provided other things not covered in this seminar. Biographies of scientists teach about perseverance, setting goals, experimentation, not having an attachment to a result and how to press onward to think outside the box and against current dogma or beliefs to create new hypotheses. I strongly encourage you to watch and read biographies of scientists. They learn:
And in my periodic table coloring book I discuss the discovery of each element, who did it, how they did it and how it got its name.
Have fun with learning about discoveries. The process of science and how scientists work and think is vital in helping grow the child’s brain to think in a scientifically literate way.
Here are some good biographies: Nicola Tesla John Nash John Snow Robert Koch Madame CJ Walker Marie Curie (1), Marie Curie (2) Louis Braille Mac Planck Einstein Jane Goodall
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