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Re: Science Fair



At 12:31 4/22/98 -0600, you wrote:
While I share many of Donald's concerns, much the same could be said about
"kinetic play" err I mean exploratorium type museums, I don't think I share
the overall conclusion. One response I'd make to the following:

A judge at one of these high school science-fair events once remarked to
me that this is no more than "Playing at Research", that is, play-acting
the role of a scientist as an actor plays a role, going through the
motions and talking the language without necessarily understanding it. "I
play a doctor on TV, so you can trust me when I tell you that this
snake-oil really works!"

Children learn to be adults by play acting. So perhaps its not all bad for
elementary kids to be play acting at science. This comment is obviously age
level dependant.

Joel