“Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts.”
Richard Feynman
Sebastian Münster (1489 – 1552) |
I do not believe in science. Nor do I believe in evolution, or climate change, or that the Earth is round.
The vast majority of kids in my classroom believe that the Earth is round. And it’s just that, a belief, fed by the adults around them, who also believe it, because they were told the same thing growing up.
It is part of the catechism of grade school science.
What is the evidence that the Earth is round?
What is the evidence that the word is not?
From a child’s view, which set of evidence is more compelling?
How about from your point of view?
If you want to teach science to a child, you need to stop feeding the beliefs. You need to work (and work and work) with the evidence, play with the models, the numbers, the data, the natural world.
And you must be ready to let go of everything you thought you knew.
(You can always teach Sunday school instead….)