Instructify

“Curiosity killed the cat” – that’s one old saying I’d like to get rid of. Curiosity leads to advancement and discovery, and is the very foundation of science. Kids are naturally curious, so you may as well put it to scientific use with Cool Science for Curious Kids from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

The Cool Science site is all about questions, whether they’re how caterpillars turn into butterflies or how snakes and lizards are related. The guiding principal is to keep things fun, practical and realistic. As such, the site designers advise parents and teachers to focus on the process more than the results.

“Use a question as a way to start a conversation—don’t just answer it directly. For example, if your child asks, “Why does a tree ‘bleed’ when you cut its branch?” you could just answer, “That’s the sap.” But it’s more powerful to start a discussion by relating the question to something the child may already know: For example: “Well, just like your body has blood, trees have sap. What exactly does your blood do, anyway?”

Asking questions is the basis of the scientific method. Cool Science for Curious Kids aims to reward that curiosity by showing young learners that asking the right questions can lead to the most fascinating answers. As for me, I’m most curious about who coined the phrase, “Curiosity killed the cat,” and what we can do to eliminate it from our lexicon. -BILL FERRIS

Cool Science for Curious Kids