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On Apr 19, 2006, at 3:54 PM, Kevin Hollis wrote:
> **********************************************************
>
>>  The point of science IS the knowledge, specifically the knowledge of 
>> knowing what is happening now so we can guide our labors in the 
>> future.
> Clifford Wagner
>
> What a shame. I thought that the spirit of discovery and exploration 
> through science, art, music, philosophy etc... was a fundamental part 
> of being a human being and that by showing children the joys of 
> exploration we expanded the humanity of that child whatever field they 
> end up in later in life.
> Kevin Hollis
>

> Clifford again: Eloquently put.   Defining science for 7 and unders I 
> totally agree with you.   Kids 7 years old have barely begun to be 
> abstract thinkers.   Encouraging play and exploration is the most 
> valuable thing we can do for this age group.   It is also great to 
> have adults not lose that sense of play and discovery.

> My quote on knowledge is about helping to define science for adults.  
> Knowledge isn't some ogre to be feared, it is something to celebrate.  
>  It is central to our quality of life, knowing what we need to live 
> and how to maximize those resources.  (Go to www.makeearthricher.org 
> for what I mean by resources.   Please forgive that it's all text and 
> not at all polished, I haven't had the time to devote to it that I 
> should.)  My talking about knowledge is in the context of it being one 
> of the five basic resource groups that all humans who ever were and 
> ever will be need to live:  Land(Natural resources), Labor, Capital, 
> Time and Knowledge (See the website for details).

> My main concern is us communicating "Why Science"  to our visitors, 
> specifically adults.  From a resource perspective science based 
> knowledge is a key resource for human quality of life.   We need to 
> communicate why science is important.

  If we accomplish nothing as science educators as far as the facts of 
science, but teach our kids to think critically, be skeptical without 
evidence, inquire deeply, and understand the process of science, then 
we have, in my estimation, accomplished our work.  Stephen Uzzo

I agree that this is at least 80% of our work, but it is by no means 
all of it.   We cannot ignore the issues of our day.  It seems 
disingenuous to me to do all the work to help our kids become great 
scientists in their everyday lives while ignoring the facts of how our 
society is using up key resources we count on, literally threatening us 
with collapse.   With what we are doing now we are not leaving our kids 
with a viable future.  Our message can be a positive one- by paying 
attention to what we need to live we can solve our looming problems.  
These are science and technology issues- the technology being what we 
are manufacturing today (creating the capital) to have both a 
sustainable transportation system and an energy system that doesn't 
kill so much of our natural world via global warming.

These are opportunities for science and technology centers to lead our 
world in very positive directions.   I sincerely believe we need 
exhibits on the science of resources in our science centers.


Clifford Wagner

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