I recently saw a bumper sticker that reads, "What Our Children Need is a Moment of Science". It made me smile. A big teeth-grinning smile! It's not that I am against a moment if silent prayer, thought, or even just silence. It's just that, well, the statement is true. And Science proves it.
The Christian Science Monitor reported that the United States lags behind most other developed countries when it comes to Science education. According to results from a 2006 survey from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the U.S. ranked 29th behind countries like Croatia, Czech Republic, and Liechtenstein. Liechtenstien!
America has already lost manufacturing jobs to overseas workers. We are now losing service related jobs as well. And we are now on track to losing all we have left… thinking jobs to overseas thinkers. Are we losing our minds? Yes.
Science proves that there is a connection between how well our children do in school and how well America fares in a global economy. Soon the "Global Economy" will simply be the "economy". Are your children ready? The media are quick to report American jobs that are lost to illegal immigrants. Be more concerned about American jobs being lost to our neighbors in Canada and friends in Finland (Finland ranked #1 of 57 countries in the PISA survey).
America has some of the most well known brands and products. My fear is that we might not have the right to boast about it in five years from now. Take Apple and Microsoft. The fact is, without the thousands of overseas products, parts, patents that go into Apple and Microsoft, we might not know the names Steve Jobs or Bill Gates.
Anyone who travels extensively can tell you how much more advanced technology is in many parts of Europe and Asia. Even our cell phones are not nearly as advanced as the ones teens are carrying in places like Germany, Hong Kong, and Spain. Text Message: "We R B Hind!" And for you space junkies out there, Virgin's Sir Richard Branson might not be the first to fly you to the moon. "This is your captain Vladimir speaking, please fasten your space suits and prepare for takeoff."Most children in our great country lack even the most basic understanding of how simple things work. Science shows us how things work. America was built on building things that work! The college kids overseas are busy developing games while our kids are busy playing them! Things have worked so easily that we have all fallen behind the "how things work" department. No worries. There are websites to help us understand, like www.howstuffworks.com and www.howthingswork.com. Amazon lists hundreds… hundreds of titles about "How Stuff Works", "How Things Work", "See How It's Made", "How Your Body Works", and "How Your House Works". YouTube has countless videos showing everything from how to pick locks to how to pickle lox. My own website www.CoolBugStuff.com provides step-by-step guides on everything from building vermi-compost bins to building a butterfly nets. America is not without information. We are without thought!
It's time to think again. Time to get our kids thinking too! Instead of tossing that broken old $14.99 watch, try sitting with your kids and taking it apart. Let the kids see the insides, the parts, the effort and knowledge needed to make the watch in the first place. You can do the same with an old entry lock, VCR (remember them), or calculator. Take a pizza box and open it up all the way. Study it. Observe it. Some engineer designed it to function well and it deserves a good look. Maybe have the kids try to come up with a better design for a pizza box. Challenge your children to think and encourage them to appreciate the many things that great minds created because of advances in Science and Math and Technology.Science tells us about the past, the present and the future. Unless we become the America that builds, invents, and produces, our children's future will not be as fruitful as their overseas peers (we are already behind at least 29 other countries). Regardless of your spiritual, political, or religious beliefs, we must come to the factual realization that our children need (desperately need) to excel in Science or they will fail economically in the global marketplace. And this is one subject I will not be silent about.
Seth Prezant is the founder and Bugmaster of www.CoolBugStuff.com His award winning web site was created to help promote fascination and education in science using nature’s most abundant creatures…Bugs! Seth is a true EEE (Education & Entertainment Entrepreneur) providing educational and entertaining nature shows for schools, camps, aftercare programs and home school groups all around South Florida. The Bugmaster can be reached @ seth@coolbugstuff.com
You can find many more easy parent/child projects to do together on Seth's website www.coolbugstuff.com.
