We were talking about electricity the other day; what materials are conductors (easy for electricity to flow through them) and resistors (it's difficult/impossible for electricity to flow through them) and semi-conductors (under certain conditions, electricity can flow through them). The kids were coming up with materials that went into each category. We talked about water-- how pure water is a resistor, but most water has "stuff" in it- metals it has picked up through the faucets, etc. And I guess that triggered the train of thought resulting in one boy's raised hand and following announcement that "dry dead fish" must be a resistor. The way my mind runs, of course I immediately started working out the conditions necessary for that fish to truly become non-conducting. But I contained myself and let the class continue forward. One thing this week-long class has highlighted for me is how much time investment colors our interests. That is - you spend enough time on something, and you start to care about it. I happen to be interested in everything - but electrical resistance would probably not have been top of the list three years ago or even today - if I hadn't spent a lot of time and thought in a project specifically about electrical resistance. So yesterday, when we worked on that specific topic with the kids, and even used part of my project from two years ago... I was so excited. I've also realized how easy it is to expect others to be excited about the things you like. The kids got that lesson the other day, too.... we let them take their projects on the floor to show visitors. They'd been working all morning making fruit and vegetables play music with their PicoCrickets. And ultimately, what determined visitor interest was (a) visitor openness to an unexpected experience and (b) the approach a kid used to share their project. Some of the kids surprised me.... one seems less socially savvy in the classroom but had every alpha skill working on the exhibit floor (my sister calls the skills for socializing and playing the crowd 'alpha skills'). Others are very strong socially but didn't know how to approach visitors. But it also has me thinking about museums in the broad sense. We all start with a topic or theme. And we all (ideally) also start with an audience. So bringing those two together isn't always simple. On another note, I got the following complaint from a kid earlier:
The photographer in me, the history buff, AND the 23-year old all cringed... Bookmark/Search this post with: |
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