DailySusan Humor Blog

REALITIES OF SCIENCE EDUCATION

OK, so I thought I was providing an educational treat by driving across the autumnal prairie to Aurora, Neb., to take Maddy and her kindergarten friend to the Edgerton Explorit Science Center.

It’s a tribute to Aurora native and famous scientist Harold E. “Doc” Edgerton. He was an electrical engineer and photographer who invented the strobe light, high-speed photography, and underwater lighting using sonar technology in collaboration with Jacques Cousteau, among many other accomplishments. Edgerton was a legendary professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but he never forgot his Nebraska roots.

The girls moved among the more than 30 exhibits for two hours, fascinated and chattering. There were activities with light, sound, motion, magnets, hydraulics and much, much more. The highlight was popping a balloon in front of a computer-driven strobe that yielded a photo on paper of the instant the balloon burst before their surprised faces.

After all that, we got back in the car for the two-hour drive home. I expected to hear conversation about all the scientific learning that had gone on.

Instead, they took out their souvenirs – rainbow play-dough.

“LET’S MAKE PUTTSIES!!!” they shouted. You know, warming up the plastic clay and pushing it together to imitate rude body sounds.

So much for science . . . humor trumps it.

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Prayer request: Rest and time to savor tender memories for my good friends Bobbie and Kathy, who lost their husband and father, respectively, this past week, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. Dick was a wonderful man. Oh, Lord, use this trial to draw his loved ones ever closer to You. (Titus 3:4-6)