Independent Project Blog Post #1

Every now and then when I'm at home curled up in my nice warm bed, I really appreciate a good thunderstorm. It helps me relax and fall asleep quicker than anything. Something that I noticed however, is that there aren't thunderstorms in the winter, or at least not when it gets cold enough outside to snow. This really perplexes me. I really want to know why there is not thunder and lightening at the peak of winter? Does this mean that the only way to have thunderstorms is when it's capable of raining? What conditions are needed in order for there to be thunder!??!

Pendulum Motion

Before I read this article I never gave much thought to the pendulum. I knew what it was but never knew what it was really made for. I was so astonished to learn that Galileo used this to keep track of time. Time is something that I never think about a person creating. It's a pretty amazing concept to come up with. This article talks about the importance of time when it comes to scientific purposes and lists 5 examples in which time is crucial for investigating. I thought the most interesting one was the radial movement of planets over time. Space exploration blows my mind. When Galileo started using the pendulum to keep track of time it really made a difference in sea travel. Without this traveling by sea was very dangerous and hard to keep track of the ships place in the ocean. I never even thought time would play a role in determining latitude and longitude while at sea but after reading this article it made so much sense. 

I thought the article overall was hard to interpret. I think it made some great points but some parts were bogged down with complicated language that didn't seem necessary. I did like the correlation of science to social and economic problems. This was in regards to sea traveling and the time of Galileos era but I think this is evident still today. I kept thinking about science in the present time and new ways of creating energy is so emphasized today. Creating and using solar power and not relying on foreign oil are social/economic problems that scientists work towards fixing today.

"The Virtues of Not Knowing"

I thought this article was so thought provoking. I can also see why Brian chose this article for us to read. Even though we have only had one class of lecture (the flashlight experiment) I can tell this is something he truly stands by.

In the article, "The Virtues of Not Knowing" the author writes about the difference in knowing the correct answer and being able to explain why this is the correct answer because you have logically worked through the problem in your head. Memorizing the right answer takes no effort and yet this is what is being praised in the classroom. The student that comes up with the answer the fastest gets the most recognition. The child who didn't know the answer but sat and used their brain to come up with a logical answer should be getting the praise. After all isn't this how we come up with right answers for people to memorize?

Take for instance Christopher Columbus' time period. People believed that the world was flat and if you came too close to the edge you would fall off. This is what was being taught!! If everyone simply memorized that and gave no intellectual thought this might still be the belief today. Questions and experiments should be encouraged! Being able to explain why something is true is more important than knowing the answer and as future teachers we should adapt this philosophy. There are endless possibilities if you teach a child to use their brain to work THROUGH problems. This requires much patience and also silence. When the teacher is quiet this allows children to use their own brains to articulate a answer. Even if they are not right, having an answer that they can back up should be praised and never belittled. This will allow children to grow and flourish in a classroom that challenges how they think.