I (Cathy) was inspired by the posting below of a young girl’s science experiment. It actually made make me rethink purchasing organic foods. From an educator’s point of view, it also demonstrated how significant inquiry, experimentation and science literacies are, and the impact they can have, especially when conducted at an early age. While watching the video, I wondered if the process of doing this experiment will influence this young girl’s future educational leanings. I had the pleasure of visiting my own daughter recently and was awed as I watched her conduct experiments with bacteria in her lab. She became a biomedical researcher and is published in medical journals all over the world. Science is her life now, and it all started with simple biology experiments in high school.
Who knows what we inspire in children by encouraging them to build inquiries and conduct purposeful experiments. The young girl in the following video may well be in the same position as my daughter some day.
Literacy Teaching and Teacher Education 