[meteorite-list] To the dreamers

From: lebofsky at lpl.arizona.edu <lebofsky_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2007 03:54:49 -0700 (MST)
Message-ID: <2510.69.137.189.31.1176116089.squirrel_at_timber.lpl.arizona.edu>

Hi Dave:

My biggest criticism of many of my colleagues when they teach or go into a
classroom: they tend to get excited by the high-powered science that they
are doing and this tends to get lost on the kids. In most cases (there are
a few strange ones) most of us "real scientists" got excited about
astronomy by going outside (freezing our butts off) and watching a lunar
eclipse, looking at the Moon, watching a meteor shower, or looking at the
constellation patterns. This is not high-powered science, but this is what
got us into it. It is probably the same for most meteorite scientists too:
first you look at the pretty rocks and then you finally learn to
appreciate them for their beauty and eventually their scientific value.
Scientists tend to forget what got them started (their rock collections).

Larry


On Sun, April 8, 2007 8:59 pm, Dave Freeman mjwy wrote:
> Dear Gentlemen, List;
> I experienced an issue with two sides similar to this about ten years
> ago. Scientific rocks..ones to study, and pretty rocks...ones that
> require appreciation despite scientific importance. In the real world
> of total experience, one needs to ideally appreciate both. In the
> meteorite world, we all love a grand carbonaceous chondrite with CIA's,
> amino acids, but aren't pallesites just as cool? As with our quest for
> astronomy, one needs to take time to appreciate as well as study. Left
> handed and right hand proficient, Dave F.
>
>
> lebofsky at lpl.arizona.edu wrote:
>
>> Hi Darren:
>>
>>
>> I do not disagree with you on that. From an education point of view (I
>> am trying to teach them astronomy), you want your students to understand
>> what is going on with the sky. But at the same time, you want them to
>> appreciate the wonders of the night sky (in this case) and with this
>> appreciation comes understanding (I hope).
>>
>> In my case, with students who will not become scientists, first comes
>> the awareness of what is up there (you can see the Moon during the
>> day?). If they then learn something, then that is important too. At
>> least I got them out there and appreciating/enjoying Nature and got them
>> away from their textbooks (yeh, right) and their computers and video
>> games.
>>
>> Larry
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sun, April 8, 2007 8:55 pm, Darren Garrison wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>> On Sun, 8 Apr 2007 10:52:01 -0700 (MST), you wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> Hi Mal:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> We (actually Nancy) uses this at every teacher workshop that we do.
>>>> It
>>>> really points out the importance of learning astronomy (or any other
>>>> science) by doing it and not just lecturing!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>> That kind of goes against what I always thought Whitman's point in
>>> the poem was-- that you should enjoy nature, not try to break it down
>>> and analyze it. Sort of an anti-scientific statement, not a field-work
>>> vs. lab work argument.
>>>
>>> Whitman always struck me as a bit of a weirdo. :-)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
Received on Mon 09 Apr 2007 06:54:49 AM PDT