Thursday, June 11, 2009

A TOUGH CROWD — by Steve Nadis

I gave a half hour talk today to a bunch of 3rd and 4th graders at my daughter’s school, and I have to say it was a tough crowd. The subject was (what else?) the universe. The class had studied the solar system so I told them about things they might not have heard of before or didn’t know much about: dwarf planets and asteroids; galaxies, black holes, and event horizons; and dark matter and dark energy. (My daughter was unimpressed with the pie chart I hastily drew up showing that luminous matter accounts for just 1% of the universe’s mass.) Several of the kids listened politely; some were clearly not paying  attention; a few had their own theories to share. The only person who I am sure enjoyed it was the teacher who had a half hour (35 minutes actually) where she was off the hook, allowing me to lead the class in my fumbling way.
Posted by Snake at 21:08:13
Comments

4 Responses to “A TOUGH CROWD — by Steve Nadis”

  1. Gordon Marshall says:
    June 12, 2009 at 3:37 am

    Sound like a success actually, Snake. You got the kids to talk! Remember, though, you’re learning too…

  2. Anonymous says:
    June 12, 2009 at 1:25 pm

    Thanks GM, & you’re right. When it comes to teaching kids, I’ve got a lot to learn… –S.

  3. Anonymous says:
    June 15, 2009 at 9:25 pm

    I remember once getting my father to come into my high school social studies class to talk about something. I fell asleep.

    -Turd Blossom

  4. Anonymous says:
    June 15, 2009 at 10:17 pm

    I love that story, TB. I’m sure my daughter will be telling it soon… -S

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