Imagination powers long-term outperformance in kids with hands-on science at an early age

Whether its Game of Thrones, Oscar Wilde, or the famous Marvel Superhero Dr. Strange, hearing that "You Lack Imagination" just sounds like one big diss as an adult. Here is some truth. What adults have hidden away and allowed to gather cobwebs, our kids use to solve problems in beautiful ways every day. Our reality is that we simply have been taught that rule based approaches and deep knowledge are the best ways of working out problems. Academic research and functional observation of kids is clear on the subject, that without active use of imagination, creativity, and freeing ourselves from restrictive rule based thinking, we are painfully limiting our problem solving potential. In this regard, we can learn from preschoolers and elementary kids, on how to use our Imagination and Creativity to improve long-term outperformance.

While we are often focused on outcomes (higher grades, test scores, mastery skill), which are important, we sometimes miss the more critical fuel that leads to long-term outperformance, Creativity and Imagination, core skills that kids 0-5 have in abundance. There is a difference between a student who gets an "A" and one who gets a "B" and its not hard work. Of course there are a few people whose brains are just supercharged, but the group is extremely small relative to the "A" students who operate on a different plane of information processing, using abstract thinking, contextual clues, critical reasoning, and creativity, and their beautiful imagination to better understand and relate concepts.

Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers as well as Sandwich Makers, Musicians, and Salesmen most often suffer from the same problem as they often learned in a similarly restrictive knowledge-based environment, where there are certain "right" ways to perform a function or solve a problem. There are rules that must be followed. There are four wheels on a car. There is no way to see a great movie in your home. All the Taxi's are unavailable so I have to wait. This way of thinking, through the lens of pre-existing rules, is just false. We need to learn that sometimes the rules don't apply, especially when solving problems. Just because you know a boundary is there, doesn't mean that it has to be there, and imagination allows us to get round these boundaries. This is especially true in science.

How can you make a pillow made of rocks, and still be comfortable?

If you are like me, you often wonder what you can do to get better sleep. It's crazy, but every other day, my favorite pillow seems to disappear to the other side of the bed. I awoke this am wondering...why do some pillows seem to work so well for allowing me to relax, while others just feel like I'm laying down while someone is jumpkicking me in the back of the head. Well, I thought, a pillow is science. 

So let's talk about it. The science is universal for our kids in that they should have a firm mattress and firm pillows to build strong back and neck support and more importantly when they are small, help avoid suffocation. Adults on the other hand, enjoy a wide range of pillows based on our own sleep position and personal preferences. It is however believed that a pillow should be 4-6 inches in height for optimal neck support. 

A pillow is typically described or rated as being soft, medium or firm. The "firmness" is typically related to three factors: amount of fill, type of fill, and type of pillowcase being used. Believe it or not, but this is ALL SCIENCE.  Scientists explore material selection in just about every product that is made and a pillow is no different, except that there are significant differences in the preferences of consumers. Whether you enjoy soft pillows like me, or more firm pillows to reach your most relaxing state at night, you can investigate which pillow is right for you and have fun discussing the concept of ELASTICITY with your kids, because a pillow is just a cushion by another name. 

Pillows have ELASTICITY, which is a science word that describes a materials ability to return to its original state after being streteched or bent. Firm pillows have a lot of elasticity, as they quickly return to their original state after you move your heead. Soft pillows have a lower degree of elasticity, but a high degree of IMPULSE, which is a science word that describes a materials abiity to absorb impact (like that of your head).  

But you are reading this because love my writing, so what is the science experiment at home with my kids. The fact is that your head weighs between 8 and 10 lbs, and has significant variation in contour from neck to hairstyle. A pillow, one of the engineering marvels, must be able to absorb the impact of our brain (IMPULSE) and not get too deformed (ELASTICITY) so in the morning it still looks like a pillow. At home, lay two pillows, with different characteristics, side by side. Grab a large coconut, pot, or other spherical object, and lay them on the ground. With your kids doing the testing, drop the objects onto the pillow from a low height (1 inch), medium height (5 inches) and high height (10 inches) and observe what happens when they hit the pillow. If your child is 6+, you can even get them to record the results in a table, which helps practice their math and writing skills. Discuss what happens and use the two new science words we introduced today: ELASTICITY and IMPULSE. 

My 7yr old loves to talk about pillows and understands more about her own sleep preferences as a result of this experiment. In my next post, I will discuss the materials used for pillows from those in late night infomercials and how you can make your own pillows at home with your kids. 

Would astronauts need the same suits on Mars and the Moon? (Summer Camp Chicago)

Summer Camps in Chicago

When thinking about Summer Camps in Chicago, look no further than the STEM Camps at Kids Science Labs. Space can be savage, so we need tools to protect us from extremes and that help us safely explore the mysteries we encounter on our Adventures in Space, especially if we choose to live on Mars, Venus, or Jupiter! If kids think Phoenix is hot, wait until they explore the near 900 degree temperature of Venus! On this day, we investigated various tools for measuring, collecting, and protecting us, and used innovation to design some simple tools that would enable us an opportunity to more safely explore off-planet circumstances.

Our young scientists enrolled in our Summer Camps in Chicago, solve the problems we might encounter living on mars, including:

• Exploring the basic impacts of UV (from sunlight) on uv sensitive materials

• what methods can we use to manipulate and protect us from extreme exposure to light in space

• how do we safely collect and test specimens, such as rocks, from strange places.

• how to manage and gauge temperature and other extreme environmental conditions

It’s important to not only do real experiments with teachers in Summer Camps in Chicago who are willing to join you in taking risks, but also to combine creativity and a child’s imagination to invent specialized tools that have real function such as these specialized mylar glasses, hand tools, and mag glasses. Explore more space tools with your child with this video below to further expand their concept of space tools in Summer Camps at Chicago

Can a bridge made of paper support three large elephants?

Every class @KSL starts with a question that motivates and excites students to begin to think critically about the science we see everyday. Whether in Chicago, Seattle, or D.C., bridges are a critical part of how our cities work to transport pedestrians, wildlife, vehicles, and goods safely to their destination. So on this day in Builder’s Paradise, we used everyday innovations to better understand how to make bridges stronger with shapes and durable materials, how to protect them from both physical and environmental damage, and how to customize them to meet the needs of any unique situation in our city.

Students performed problem solving experiments along several dimensions to better understand Civil Engineering and Bridge Infrastructure:

• How do we make a paper bridge stronger by changing its shape and bundling (stacking paper together to improve its density)

• Why is it important to test maximum loads of each type of material on a bridge during and after construction

• How do environmental conditions (wind, humidity, heat, water) affect bridge designs

• Where may the certain types of bridges be most useful (beam, truss, suspension, arch)

Our older students may also have looked at what can go wrong in bridge design and discussed some of the issues in our U.S. infrastructure issues with bridges that are 100+ years old, that were designed before we had cars, trucks, and massive transportation infrastructure.

For more advanced learning, please show the following video or watch it alongside your child to build problem solving with bridges