Young Parents Apply Their Ph.Ds to make Science Seriously Fun
Young parents apply their Ph.Ds to make science seriously fun!
Princeton, NJ (PRWEB) June 28, 2004 -- Children are naturally curious and
therefore naturally scientific. However, as children progress through the school
system and life, this great aptitude for science is often extinguished. More
often than not, scientific subject matter is presented in boring ways and no
useful real-world applications of science are shown. This is sad for mankind
because, in the coming years, we will need people with training in science and
technology more than ever before. Even children who don’t want to be scientists,
engineers, or doctors will need science to cope with their rapidly changing
environment.
So what is a parent, especially a parent who themselves may
have fallen victim to the 'science is boring' mantra, to do? A new company,
founded in Princeton, New Jersey, just may have the solution – the Science With
Me!® video series.
The Science With Me!® video series was developed to
teach important scientific concepts to youngsters without boring them to tears
and turning them off science for life. Science With Me!® cartoon characters, Mr.
Heisen-Bear™ (based on the famous physicist, Werner Heisenberg) and his good
friend, Al-Bear Einstein™ (based on Albert Einstein, of course) along with many
other well-known scientists, explore scientific concepts set in a fun,
entertaining, and storytelling format. The storytelling format is the hook for
capturing the 4-7 year old scientists' interest. Science is not a set of facts,
but rather a string of problems and solutions, questions and answers.
Encountering a number of difficult problems in their adventures, the two bears
always use science and the scientific method to find solutions. If science were
taught this way in the classroom, the negative and fearful associations that
many people have about science would surely disappear.
The first video in
the series, Mr. Heisen-Bear and Fizzy Soda Science™, also contains footage of
young children performing experiments to help the two bears answer their
questions. The footage helps reinforce the idea that science is accessible and
doable by even the youngest inquiring minds. Indeed, one of the stated goals of
the video series is to get kids to start doing scientific explorations on there
own, or with the help of a laboratory assistant (i.e., a parent or guardian). In
fact, the 'With Me' in Science With Me!® is meant to be a parent or helper.
Founders Dr. Elva O'Sullivan and Dr. Scott Rickard originally developed the
Science With Me!® curriculum for a series of after school classes and their four
year old son, Loghlen, was intrigued by the nightly experiments at the kitchen
table. Eventually, requests for mommy and daddy to come 'play with me' were
replaced with requests to come do 'science with me' – the ultimate success!
After all, science is fun!
One nice aspect of the video is that the
science is not "dumbed down". There is no baby talk or over-simplification of
concepts. Einstein himself said, 'Most of the fundamental ideas in science are
essentially simple and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible
to everyone.' The video is successful in presenting real scientific concepts
using the proper scientific terminology in a kid-friendly way. "Once kids are
comfortable with scientific concepts and terms, they may not have the knee-jerk
fear which sometimes occurs when they think of going to science class in a few
years," explains Elva.
Should we believe Elva and Scott? Perhaps so.
Between them, they have Bachelor’s degrees in Chemistry, Mathematics, and
Computer Science; Master’s degrees in Electronic Engineering and Applied
Mathematics; and PhDs in Applied Mathematics and Chemistry from University
College Dublin, M.I.T., Clarkson University, and Princeton University. But, more
importantly, they have two young children and a love of science that they wish
to pass on.
For more information about Elva and Scott, you can email them
at e-mail protected from spam bots or call them at 609-249-3937. Please feel
free to visit their website at www.sciencewithme.com to learn more about their exciting new
video series!
Contact: Elva O’Sullivan
609-249-3937
e-mail
protected from spam bots
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/6/prweb136773.htm