Hello,
This week is the final week volunteers are out in the Peace Patch schoolyard gardens teaching students.
The lesson is a continuation of last week's--measuring changes in the garden plants. We started last week by getting the students to ask questions about the garden. This week we looked for answers to the questions by observing changes in the plants, and we said our goodbyes and harvested food.
What will happen to this?
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It will become corn!
What is this?
A papaya!
How much will this grow?
A few weeks ago this was only the size of a marble.
Asking questions is the first step in the scientific method and arguably the most important aspect of science itself. Many people mistake science as a search for answers. Nothing is ever proven right in science...theories are only proven incorrect or insufficient. We must retain our childlike curiosity so that we can continue to ask the right questions at the right times, and so that we may learn more about ourselves in the process.
I am grateful for having the chance to teach the students at Lakewood Elementary this semester because it has reminded me to nurture the childlike excitement that arises when I see a new bud on our squash plants, find a mysterious insect on the tomato, or try my first bite of a new vegetable. It's reminded me why I am both a child and a scientist at heart.
Until next semester,
Deb
