Art and Science...hmmmm

Photo: Another vast weekend of fun! Loved hearing dr. Ken wessen teach us about brain connections with art and science!
I have just returned from our State Science Conference where I spent some time thinking and contemplating many things....

First I was able to hear a keynote speaker, Dr. Kenneth Wesson, speak about creativity. He said many things that stuck in my mind...like the fact that multitasking and stress is going to kill us!!!  More importantly he spoke about the connections between art and science.

Did you know that every major scientist has a connection to some type of art - whether it be playing a musical instrument, painting, drawing, even dance or acting??? 

It's a brain connection! 

You may have heard this recently...we are leaving the information age and entering the innovative age. Creativity is back in style!  He said that one of the biggest problems in our society and classrooms is that kids don't play anymore. And...either do adults by the way! If you have been teaching as long as I have you may remember the term purposeful play...guess what? That's back in style!!!

Dr. Wesson told us that the best way to make connections in the brain and retain information is through drawing and creating....which was validating to those of us who encourage the art of drawing in our classrooms.

How can we do this?  Diagrams, representations in our journals, posters, dioramas, etc...

"If I can't picture it, I can't understand....."



Here is how I took notes in my grad school classes....there is a lot to be said for that idea of drawing to help you remember and understand.


I have many other thoughts running through my mind, but this was the most important one that I felt I needed to share. 

Much more to come this week!



Comment:

Popular posts from this blog

Science in the Streets

Image
Science in the Streets: A free public engagement event from the History of Science Society Thursday, Nov 21, 3-6 pm, Boston Convention & Exhibition Center [I have asked  Conevery Bolton Valencius , who teaches at UMass Boston, to write a guest post about an event she is helping to organize at this year's HSS.  Many readers of this blog are interested in popular science & science popularization, and I urge everyone to join us for what promises to be a fascinating discussion!] Current newspaper headlines make clear how anti-science and science-illiterate many Americans are, at least about some political issues.  But there are effective and interesting efforts going on all around to engage people in the workings and the wonderings of science.  Further, historians of science are doing a lot of that work – and sometimes have particular insight about what is new or very old about rhythms of scientific skepticism or scientific enthusiasm.  At next week’s annual...
Read more

Shotgunning, Inc.

Image
More thoughts on beer technologies! These should go down just as smoothly as  my post on canning craft beer (written up more fully here ). I'll focus on  MillerCoors, one of the industry's biggest packaging innovators, and  in particular on one of their best-selling beers, Miller Lite .  Look at that pour! The fact that taste isn't the most interesting thing about Miller Lite (as the company itself has basically suggested*) is, I'd argue, not unrelated to the fact that the brand has been on the leading edge of a packaging revolution for the last half-decade.  Consumers have a lot of trouble telling the difference between "light American lagers" by taste ( just listen to these experts !). To distinguish themselves on the marketplace, a lot goes into (big surprise) marketing – but here I think we've got something more. Differences in packaging might in fact be mostly talk, but there's at least a claim to technological superiority – and that's enoug...
Read more

Freddy the Fish...water quality

Image
Back into my classroom....we are learning about watersheds.  Boy have we had fun! One of the activities that I love is the Freddy the Fish Story  from the WUP center in Michigan.  In this activity, you read aloud a story about Freddy the Fish (see the green sponge?) and his travels down the watershed.  He starts in a nice cool, clean stream.  As he travels he encounters all sorts of pollution - from too much sediment, to litter, fertilizer, etc.. The materials you pour into the tank are easy to find at home and are earth friendly for when you pour the water out as well.  We used Koolaid mix, basil, syrup, coffee sludge, soil, etc... The students really enjoyed this demonstration and were able to visualize the effects humans have on water quality.  When we were finished, the students then went back to their science notebooks and drew a picture of before and after.  They were able to add their opinions as well as noted observations about the qu...
Read more