Evening star. [volume], June 15, 1958, Image 127

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Antarctic Eaplcwr: Dr. Paul Siple, scientific Head of U.S.
"Operation Deepfreeze” a/ /Ar South Pole, uses glasses
of water to teach daughters Arm, Mary and Jane about the
properties of sound. The more water in glass, the slower sound
waves travel through it —making a deeper musical tone
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Jo« CoveWo
Their Children Science
Here are six good ideas for every father raising youngsters in a
scientific age. They add up to a home-education program that’s both
invaluable and fun and Father’s Day is a good time to start!
* America needs scientists.” You’ve been hearing
that phrase ever since Sputnik I went into orbit last
October. You’re going to' go on hearing it for some
time to come. Estimates say the U.S. will need as
many as half a million scientists by 1975.
Where are they all going to come from?
You might be surprised! Look around your own
house and you’re likely to see a future nuclear physi
cist or astronomer. Even more surprising, he will
get his basic scientific training right at home.
This is because scientists require not so much a
body of dry facts as away of thinking plus curi
osity which children have an enormous supply of.
Will your child grow up to be a scientist? Not all
will, of course, but all will have to live in an increas
ingly scientific age. So remember one thing when
thinking about your child’s future: in this era of
expanding technology the scientist, far from being
the bespectacled fuddy-dud of yesteryear, is today
the man most likely to succeed.
Mathematician t MlT's Dr. Claude Shannon, internation
ally renowned for his contributions to "information theory,"
uses ping-pong ball to show Bernoulli's principle of physics
to sons Bobby and Andy. When ball starts to fall out of air
stream, increased velocity lowers pressure, forcing it back
By MARIANNE BEBBER
Can you teach science to your kids? The answer
is yes! You don’t need special skills, expensive toys
or even extra time. We asked some of the country’s
top men of science what they do about teaching then
own kids. All their suggestions are simple ones any
parent can adapt. The fact that many scientists
teach their IMs things for outside their own fields
of specialization aaflerHnss how easy it ia.
So why not use today, Father’s Day, as a starting
place with these tips from scientists:
“You can loam ham Itvtng things.” California
Tech's outstanding young biologist, Dr. James
Bonner, feels that the study of living things is won
derful training for children as young as six or seven.
“In our family we have looked at butterflies and
caught them and noticed that there are different
kinds, and discovered that there are books with
pictures and names of butterflies. We have talked
about how butterflies come from caterpillars and
Atomic Plijilihl: Robert Moon built University ofChicago's
history-making cyclotron, used in first sustained atomic reac
tion. Here he teaches Julia, Peggy and Bob how to reason with
homemade "logic-board.” Another favorite "leaming-aid" :
the Bible — which teaches "revelation of truth through faith”
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Arthur Shay
that one doesn’t have to take
this on faith, but that one can
catch a caterpillar and keep him
on leaves in a cage and watch him
pupate and come out a splendid
creature. And we have gone even
further and had our butterfly lay
eggs on a leaf, watched the tiny
caterpillars hatch out and grow
and ultimately turn into pupae, and then into aduhs.
“From this my children have learned that they can
study any kind of living creature by watching it. I’d
like to suggest that butterflies are very good for this
purpose. Children like butterflies. They are easy to
watch. They are interesting.”
M Y«i can ham Aram • garden.” “Allowing chil
dren to have a garden of their own or to help in
growing plants in the family garden is the best way
to stimulate their interest in plants,” says leading
lady botanist Dr. Harriet B. Creighton. “In this way
they become familiar not only with the plants, but
with the insects and fungi which are pests.
“The real challenge is to stay ahead of our chil
dren,” she adds.
lent way to teach new ideas is to capitalize on your
child’s special interests. Hus is especially good with
high-school-age children whose interests are strongly
developed. Dr. Paul Siple, the explorer whose work
in “Operation Deepfreeze” in Antarctica is one of the
major contributions to the International Geophysical
Year, often uses this approach. He has three daugh
ters: Ann l7, Jane l5, and Mary— 11.
“A few days ago Mary wanted me to illustrate
some form of sound,” he says. “She needed tins
information for a school project. I decided to use
the girls’ musical interest to illustrate my point.
“‘Do you remember the Mind girl we saw on TV
who played Christmas music on water glasses?* 1
asked Mary.
“‘Do you mean I should take a glass to school?*
she answered, looking very excited.
“We went out to the kitchen and in a few minutes
had tried out the tone of several glasses. Since add
ing water changes the tone of the glass, I asked Mary
to see if she could match the glass with notes on the
piano by varying the amount of water.
“This sounded like Continued on page 40