I was talking to one of the ELC mothers yesterday and we got on the subject of how children can sometimes suddenly find an interest in something you never would have predicted. Her son had recently become interested in ships, castles and fortifications. Neither of us could come up with what it might have been that had sparked his imagination. And wouldn't it be great if we could know exactly what to introduce to our children that would bring on that kind of interest? Unfortunately, it's totally unpredictable what may do it for a particular child. We don't know what single idea might set them on fire, but we do know that they must be introduced to it, whatever it is, or the child will never experience the fervor and excitement of a self-discovered field of interest. The only solution seems to be to put as many things in front of them as we can and let their own inclinations take over. That is why we need to provide an environment that is rich in subject matter and experience for every one of our children.

The library at the ELC is approximately 400 square feet of space. I don't think there are many places your child goes in the course of his or her day that are richer in topics of interest than the library. But they have to know what's in there to get sparked. Children are drawn quite naturally to explore the fiction section of the library, but need a little help getting in the door of the non-fiction area. This is why I try to include science lessons every few weeks in the library classes I teach. This week we have been studying air.

A few years ago, when I was teaching science in a kindergarten classroom, I attended a workshop on science for children. In the class we asked to come up with a lesson that would be appropriate for small children. I chose air as the general topic and included experiments with fans, balloons, pumps and feathers. In the early stage of preparing our classes we were asked to share our plans with the group. I have to admit I was a little excited to let the other teachers know what I had in mind for my lesson. As soon as I had given my topic, the leader of the workshop told me that children could not form a concept of air, had no idea that it even existed and, therefore, could learn nothing about it. I was told to pick something else. Since then I have included a lesson about air in every class I have taught in. Children don't have to know that air is composed of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and other molecules in order to form some sort of concept of what it is, do they? I think they are smart enough to surprise us with what they can know about air.

What if our children have the wrong concept of air? What seems more likely to correct it; shying away from science lessons concerning air or jumping in with experiments investigating the properties of the invisible thing all around us? Here, wave this fan in front of your face while you think about it.

I remember when I was little older than our students. I thought (had a theory) that all liquids had water in them. I know that’s kind of a funny thing for an eight-year-old to think about, but that’s what I believed. I had an incorrect concept of water! Of liquid! Of gasoline!

Now, there’s a difficult idea to address for a young child. But, it didn’t hurt me to think the wrong thing for another eight years, because, along with scientific facts, I was learning scientific method. Sadly, I didn’t learn it in school. I actually learned it from science kits that my mother subscribed to. I would receive a kit in the mail every month with a science experiment in it. I teach scientific method to your children in the ELC library. Well, it’s a slightly modified form of the scientific method. I will illustrate with a description of the experiment we are doing this week:

Teacher: Today we are going to study air. Does anyone know what air is? (While I say this, I go around the group waving a fan in front of their faces.)

Child: Yes, it's what we breathe.

Teacher: Where does it come from?

Child: It's in our lungs.

Teacher: Do our lungs make air, or do they get it somewhere?

Child: They breathe it in.

Teacher: Oh, so they get the air somewhere.

Child: Yeah, it's all around us.

Teacher: Is it everywhere?

Child: Yes, everywhere.

Teacher: On top of a mountain? In a valley?

Children: Yes, yes. Everywhere.

Teacher. What about outer space?

Children: (Not in agreement.)

Child: No, 'cause that's why they wear space helmets.

At this point, I produce a blow dryer.

Teacher: What is this?

Child: It’s a hair dryer.

Teacher: Where have you seen one before?

Child: My mom uses one to get beautiful.

Teacher: Yes. And what comes out the end here?

Child: Air!

Another Child: Hot air!

Teacher: Yes, that’s right. Does it make the air? Where does the air come from?

Child: It comes from inside the dryer.

Another Child: It goes in the hole at the end.

Teacher: I think you must have used one of these before.

Then I show them a 5 centimeter diameter Styrofoam ball.

Teacher: What’s this?

Child: An egg!

Teacher: Whoops! (I drop it on the floor.) Well, I guess it’s not an egg.

Teacher: What do you think will happen if I put this ball on the hair dryer where the air comes out and turn it on.

And, that’s it. From here, we engage in science. We make a prediction based on what we already know about hair dryers and light balls. We learn the words “prediction”, “experiment” and “observation.” Then we actually try it. It turns out that the ball is suspended in the air about 20 centimeters above the dryer. Some children even predicted this and even they are amazed to see the ball, spinning slowly bobbing in the air. We go on to try different sized balls and each child gets a chance to be an air source by blowing through a straw and suspending a small Styrofoam ball above it. It’s hard and it takes a little practice, but everyone can get that ball moving above the straw and many can suspend it there for quite a while.

After experimenting with different sized balls and different amounts of blowing pressure we are ready to form a “hypothesis.” For us, a hypothesis is an idea we get from observing about the way things work. When we have a hypothesis, we can make a prediction about the way an experiment will turn out. At this point I pull out a giant (15-cm diameter) ball.

Teacher: Now that we’ve learned how these balls act when the hair dryer blows on them, what do you think will happen with this ball? What do you know about the size of the balls and how high they float? (We quickly try all the different sizes again.)

Children: (All express the idea that the bigger the ball, the lower it floats.)

Teacher: So that is your “hypothesis”, “The bigger the ball is, the lower it floats.”

Children: (General agreement)

We turn on the dryer and let the ball go. Cheers rise up. The ball floats about three centimeters from the end of the hair dryer. After the experiment, I introduce books that touch on a related topic. In this case, airplanes, balloons, weather or wind.

Now, I don’t really expect these children to remember all the words I introduce or even the experiments, but I do think that knowledge about the world and the way it works gets instilled into us by early experience and the results stay with us until much later, when similar circumstances present themselves, and some sort of echo of the information comes back. Surely experiences of this nature at least contribute to the way some children in the upper grades seem so at ease with chemistry or mathematics or cooking. The previous experience helps inform the later experience.

On another subject, if your children are bringing home Thomas Tank Engine every week, don’t be alarmed. They may not learn a lot about railroads, but they are learning how to find a book they want on a certain shelf and they’re getting it out for themselves and learning that that is the kind of place the library is: A place that nurtures independence and supports initiative. No matter what your children’s interest, whatever it is that will eventually ignite that flame of passion, there is a book in the library that will kindle their imagination.