Science is real!

I've stated before that we are sciency people. Yannos and I do our part for science. I have a doctorate in a medical field and he is a middle school science teacher. So when I heard about the new children's science center in the works for the Northern Virginia area, I was crazy excited.

I even got to attend an event where they shared the mission and vision of the museum. It isn't even built yet, and I'm already in love. I was especially impressed by the museum without walls program where they bring the experiments to the kids for a day.

A statistic that really shocked me was that 80% of children have lost interest in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and math) by the 8th grade.

This made me so incredibly sad because children, even babies, are natural scientists. When Zoe would sit in her high chair and drop her spoon over and over again. She was learning the spoon falls to the floor.

It doesn't float around in the air. It doesn't rise up to the ceiling. It falls to the ground. Every time.
Not 9 out of 10 times. All the time.

Gravity.

BAM.

Learned by a 7 month old. She wasn't trying to be a punk. She was testing the laws of Physics. I know because she told me so.

What do we do to these little scientists that makes them so uninterested at such a young age?

I always say my severe knee injury and four surgeries launched me into my love for Physical Therapy and therefore science. But, thinking back, I was registered for Anatomy and Physiology as an ELECTIVE in sophomore year of high school before that injury.

You might be a dork if you buy your freshman year of college Gross Anatomy book early and bring it on vacation. I read it on the plane instead of watching movies.

However, engineering makes my brain bleed. I don't understand radio waves...or computers. I wish I understood them. When I go to so called "children's museums" I learn a ton. I learn about the light spectrum and space (which also makes my brain bleed).

Back to babies and kids. My goal is to let her explore and not shut her down. It's even more important being a girl. We explain things like how ice, water, snow, and steam are all the same thing in different states. One day she'll care. Until then, we let her have roaches and butterflies as pets (we've got Entomology covered).

My favorite kid's CD of all time is They Might Be Giants, Here Comes Science

Songs about evolution, photosynthesis, and the elements are winners in my eyes. 

This CD will have to do until the new children's science center is a reality. All they need right now is support. 

Go like their facebook page. Follow them on twitter. 

Even if you aren't local, you might come to the DC area with a child one day.