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How to answer questions from a budding scientist.
- May 18, 2009 at 2:26 PM
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- Comments (7) Total Views (209) Everyone can see this journal post.
Everyone's kids ask questions. And at some point, they will ask you a question you do not know the answer to. My little scientist has caught me off guard with more than a few interesting questions, some of which I did not have the answer to.
When I was a kid, it wasn't easy to find answers to obscure questions kids ask, so parents would either make up a lie, or leave it at "Who cares", "I don't know" or "It doesn't matter". That's no way to encourage a kid to ask and answer questions! I prefer the good old response "I don't know, but we can find out". Then the next thing we do is GOOGLE IT! That's my answer to my question posed in the totle. Google it, and then give a two sentence summary a child can understand.
Abby asks: "Mommy, do those clouds have a name?"
Adam's (my husband) comment: "Yeah Mommy, what kind of clouds are those?"
My first thought: Good grief, it's been 20 years since I got 100% on the Earth Science regents exam. Who knew I would be tested this long after that accomplishment.
What I know: There are different kinds of clouds. The big fluffy ones are my favorite.
My response: "I don't remember. Let's look it up on the computer."
The final answer: "Those thin wispy clouds you found are cirrus clouds. Those are pretty, aren't they? My favorite are those big fluffy kind; those are called cumulus. I'm going to quiz you on this later."
Abby asks: "Mommy, on the tree outside where the birdfeeder used to be, the leaves have tiny itty bitty red spots. What are those called?"
Adam's comment: "Come on Mommy, tell us. You went to graduate school, I've got the bills to prove it."
My first thought: Oh, a funny guy. What am I now, a botanist? Why can't you ask me how Herceptin works, that's what I learned in graduate school.
What I know: Those have been there since I was a kid. They don't seen to hurt me, even that time I ate some. I see them on both maple trees outside every year.
My first response: "It's some kind of tree sickness. I forgot the name of it. I can look it up on the computer."
The final answer: WRONG. Leaf gall is not a disease, it's the tree's reaction to insect damage. "It turns out those red spots are where insects ate the leaves. It's called leaf gall. It doesn't hurt the tree and it won't hurt you, but please don't eat them."
Abby asks: "Daddy says snails aren't bugs, so what are they?"
Adam's comment: "They're not bugs."
My first thought: Nope, they aren't bugs. Maybe if I just say slugs with shells, she'll buy it.
What I know: Snails are not bugs. That narrows it down a bit. I used to feel so smart until my kid started getting inquisitive. I am going to have to start reading the signs at the museum, instead of just looking at the pictures.
My first response: "That's right, they aren't bugs. Snails are just fancy slugs with shells."
The final answer: Yes I got one right. But I also looked it up for when she asks the inevitable follow-up questions. They are of the phylum Mollusca, Class Gastropodia. If I can remember that, I can compare them to other molluscs with shells, like clams. Then I can modify the subject to talk about how we classify things that are similar. That should work.
Abby asks: "How many days does it take to get to the sun? Daddy didn't know when I asked him but I want to know"
Adam's comment: (he's wasn't there to comment)
My first thought: Oh, good one. LOL at daddy not knowing. He didn't mention that, heeeee.
What I know: I don't want to explain the concept of light-years to a 5 year old. It takes 8 minutes when traveling the speed of light. It's bedtime, I would rather sleep first.
My first response: "Can I tell you tomorrow - I need to look it up on the computer"
The final answer: I did some math, and traveling at 70 mph (I can tell her when driving as fast as our car can go), it would take almost 50,000 days, or about 137 years! WOW.
What questions have you been unable to answer? What's your respone when you're stumped?
Tonya
AKA sunmoonstars
Comments:
yes, I heart google too!!
My daughter is only two, so we're still in the "What is that, Mommy?" phase rather than the "But, why, Mommy?" phase. I remembered the clouds! I would have fumbled on the snail, but I might have gotten it right. I'd have failed on the leaf gall and passed on the traveling to the sun question to daddy. I hope people post some of their questions!
evw - I hope so too! And I hope to get more in the future!!
Sounds like my house! LOL My boys are always asking science questions. Go figure. Daddy, the scientist, is in Alabama most of the time (1 more class and then he is ABD!!! Yeah!!!). That leave me here to answer all the science questions, and I went to law school. There's a reason I went to law school, I didn't excel at science and I hate math. LOL
Google is my FAVORITE!!! My kids come up with 500 questions in a 5 minute time span. I spend half the day on Google looking up answers which, once they have the answer, leads to another question, more searching another answer and then another question. It is a never-ending process! LOL But I love to encourage my kids, even if it means I'm on the computer for most of the day researching (if I'm feeling really lazy though, I just pick up the phone and ask my husband. LOL).
Good for you. :)
My husband and I are totally unsatisfied unless we get real, detailed and factual answers, (to the point where we're at a loss as to what to do when the internet is down and we can't research!), and I want to make sure that my son stays just as thirsty for the FACTS.
I think it's really neat that the center of the spiral on a snail's shell is where it's egg it hatched from stuck to it's back, and that's what grew to be it's shell. Who woulda thunk? And without having a small child, why would I ever have looked it up? :D
Rana - I had no idea about the snail shell/egg! cool!!! So I amlucky now my girl is only 5 so the answers have to be simple. It will be nice in the future to add some depth to these tiny little answers!
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Ha I have to google everything to be sure. What do certain animals eat, why does this or that happen etc etc. Actually I was supposed to look something up that she asked me right at bedtime the other day but now I don't remember!
We heart google. Much better than some 30 year old encyclopedias. LOL
- aenima49
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