Science kids

I was in a thrift store the other day looking through the vast number of available children’s books for my toddler son. Out of all of those books, I found a book with a black and blue cover with semi-purple lettering; there were white spots across the front and a misty, blue-purplish region in the upper left. Sure enough, it was the same book I had as a child: A Book About Planets and Stars.

I could remember spending hours staring through the pages and soaking in the variety of features our solar system holds in its planets. I don’t know how much influence that had on me choosing to become an astrophysicist, but I know I loved it then.

And just the other day, my 2 ½ year-old asked me to read him that book before bed. We went through the inner solar system (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) and discussed (yes, discussed!) the differences between these planets. Okay, we just discussed the difference in color, but even then we talked about why. And I’m pretty sure he knows each of the names of the planets now.

Anyway, the point of this post is not to brag about my son, but to point out the importance of helping kids get excited about science/astronomy/physics. From television shows—for instance, Zoom, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and Sid the Science Kid—to youth programs—such as Odyssey of the Mind, FIRST LEGO League, FIRST, YAE— there are a lot of ways for children to participate and compete/learn.

The figure above shows data from APS, documenting the number of physics bachelor’s over the last 45 years, verse the number of bachelor’s in STEM fields (including the medical sciences). It is interesting to note the peaks of the physics numbers: the first peak follows the landing on the moon (1969); the second precedes the successful Pathfinder mission to Mars in 1997 (the first since 1976). I don’t know if the scientific programming as stated previously had anything to do with the increase since 2000, but it is great to see this increase occurring.

The important thing is to help spread the joy of science and discovery to people of all ages, especially those that will influence the path of science for the next generation. Any other thoughts of ideas?

And here are sum fun images regarding Moon and Mars missions from wikipedia: