As we take a week to reflect on science education in America, I'd like to take a look back at my fondest memories of my personal science education.
They don't include a physics lecture in Chamberlin Hall (and hopefully never will). It wasn't when I dissected that frog in high school biology, or the week I built a bridge in physics. I'm not thinking about when we made cellular models with Play-Doh and gumdrops in third grade, although that was pretty awesome.
No, my fondest memories of science, the times when I learned the most and enjoyed that learning, took place in front of a television.
Whether I realized it then or not, my childhood television viewing habits revolved around PBS. Almost every day was filled with the literary wonders of ""Wishbone"" and ""Reading Rainbow,"" and the scientific marvels of ""The Magic School Bus"" and ""Bill Nye the Science Guy.""
To me, they were simply fun shows to watch. Little did I know I was learning the basics of plate tectonics, gravity, static electricity and evolution. Through someone's brilliant imagination and creation, a crazed animated elementary school teacher and her talking bus became a better educational tool than any textbook could ever be.
PBS was founded on the principle that society needed a source for programming we weren't even aware of. However, this had to come in the form of entertainment as well. Through these shows, PBS accomplished early education, without sacrificing entertainment.
Now, while I wouldn't object to an episode of ""Bill Nye"" today, I like to believe that I've moved on to more advanced television.
Yet, the principles have remained the same. While I'll admit that a large amount of my current viewing habits involve mind-numbing and useless television, entertainment still mixes with education. I would say that shows like the History Channel's ""Modern Marvels"" or the Discovery Channel's ""Mythbusters"" trick me into learning about science, but the word ""trick"" would imply a negative opinion.
The amount of information and advanced knowledge these shows present is astounding. Yet, more amazingly, they're still entertaining. Watching a dummy thrown 200 feet into the air from an explosion exponentially outpaces the entertainment level of any chemistry textbook. Additionally, I'm far more likely to remember exactly why that dummy's head exploded upon ground impact than anything found in a book.
Today, science has simply become too far removed from society. The gap continues to widen between those who investigate and research, and those who seek to understand. Yet with tools such as television, the boundary has been lowered. To continue bridging the gap, educators need to begin using more engaging education techniques in their classrooms, especially in science.
If you were to simply read the rules of football, you probably wouldn't find much interest in the sport and you would certainly have difficulty understanding it. Yet, when you watch football, the ideas become not only a reality, but enjoyable.
The same applies for those learning science, whether in elementary school or a university. Educators might have a difficult time explaining digestion to younger children, but when the students are able to see an engaging episode in which fun, animated characters travel inside the human body, the ideas suddenly become much more attainable.
Similarly, while Newton's laws might make sense to high school physics students, a short film or television episode on roller coasters suddenly makes those laws very real and applicable. Yet, the standards of science education in America still rely heavily on books and lectures. There's a stigma in society to standardize education, yet by striving for this uniformality, education loses its personal touch.
When we begin to make science fun and accessible again, interest in the study is bound to expand. This is evident in those who are far removed from any formal classrooms. The Discovery Channel thrives because it creates shows that entertain and educate simultaneously. They make science accessible and create excitement for innovation and experimentation at all age levels.
Unfortunately for me, I am far beyond PBS cartoons, but what about today's younger generations? Will the education system relax and allow these children to learn through engaging activities, such as the occasional Discovery Kids show or continue to restrict curriculum to textbooks, choking out any future interest in science because of the boredom of textbooks and lectures?
As for those who have moved on from the classroom, it's time to rediscover the wonder and amazement of science, because science is where we live. It's what we do. It's who we are.
Mark Bennett is a freshman intending to major in journalism. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
