Can an experiment conceived, carried out, and reported in kids-speak with pencil-colored figures and hand-written tables by school children aged 8 to 10 years get published in a highly rated international journal following a peer-reviewing process? Twenty-seven schoolchildren from a primary school in UK have proved this is . if a simple but novel scientific question raised is in a scientific way. Their paper was published in the Royal Society’s Biology Letters journal. Their was that bumble-bees can use a “combination of color of flower to forage from.”
Considering that our understanding of how bees perceive colored patterns and scenes is inadequate, this inspiring outcome has shown that schoolchildren guided by gifted teachers can think and out experiments like any hard-wired scientist. For these kids, doing science changed their of the subject. Science also became “cool and fun.” This refreshing approach turns the spotlight on the best methods of teaching science.
The learning system adopted by most schools in India, even classroom study combined with some laboratory work with pre-defined outcomes, does very little to curiosity and interest in science. Is that one of the why out-of-the-box thinking that produces path-breaking science rarely comes out of Indian laboratories?
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Solution
Can an experiment conceived, carried out, and reported in kids-speak with pencil-colored figures and hand-written tables by school children aged 8 to 10 years get published in a highly rated international journal following a peer-reviewing process? Twenty-seven schoolchildren from a primary school in UK have proved this is possible. if a simple but novel scientific question raised is answered in a scientific way. Their paper was published in the Royal Society’s Biology Letters journal. Their finding was that bumble-bees can use a “combination of color of flower to forage from.”
Considering that our understanding of how bees perceive colored patterns and scenes is inadequate, this inspiring outcome has shown that schoolchildren guided by gifted teachers can think and carry out experiments like any hard-wired scientist. For these kids, doing science changed their perception of the subject. Science also became “cool and fun.” This refreshing approach turns the spotlight on the best methods of teaching science.
The rote learning system adopted by most schools in India, even classroom study combined with some laboratory work with pre-defined outcomes, does very little to stimulate curiosity and interest in science. Is that one of the reasons why out-of-the-box thinking that produces path-breaking science rarely comes out of Indian laboratories?