Forest Fires and Grasshoppers

My husband and I are truly blessed. With a lot of help, the flames of July are finally dying down. But up until two days ago, the stress of the fire (losing two grandparents, selling his home - yeah!, moving, getting an offer on my house, looking for a place to live - still looking, wrecking a vehicle, going through the concern with my mom's accident and head injury, learning my friend totaled her moped and was rushed to the hospital, finishing another graduate class, working and just plain 'ol living) nearly overcame us...What saved me from the smoke? Here's the story...

I pulled in the driveway from work at 7:18 p.m. on Wednesday night. And there to greet me were three adorable neighbor kids. With my car door open, all three were scrunched in between my car and my husband's truck, with me still sitting in my front seat. What did we talk about? Teeth. And of course, I had to ask where the tooth went, and if it was going to grow back, and if a tooth was a bone, and if all bones grow the same. It was wonderful to wonder with these children. While still chatting science, I finally escaped my car seat. Then, out of nowhere, the littlest one came running out with his very own insect box. He set it down proudly before my husband and me, and announced that a grasshopper was inside. After he pointed out the grasshopper in the box, we had to ask, "What does a grasshopper do?" And without hesitation, he put his body in full motion and exclaimed, "Jump!"

And this, young grasshoppers, is exactly what we need to remind ourselves to continually do as science educators with web technology and tools. We must jump, not for ourselves, but for the kids. We must remember that even small jumps are important to take in the midst of a forest fire. And we must keep in mind that some of the best jumpers are kids. And therefore, we must learn to jump from them and with them.

So besides jumping in the fire, what did I learn? To me this week was about two things: 1) the power of the story and 2) tying that powerful story to the students. What I'm wondering about is if personal ties to the story will increase students' science understanding? I noticed in a lot of the great stories out there, the presenter often used personal pronouns, such as "her group," "I," or "what we found." Is there research available on this? Secondly, if the story creates a sense of unbelievable imagination will that increase students' science understanding? With no further ado, I hope you enjoy my opening twist on the Water Cycle: How Water Got Me to School...

Soon to be featured in my water cycle stories are the original driveway jumpers (aka neighbor kids).