I was a research assistant again this morning. We were doing field work - my favorite - and I was the designated recorder. The PI (principal investigator) this morning? My almost-five-year old daughter.
“Every day we’re going to do observations.”
I like to get out on a walk or bike ride with the kids in the morning; it seems to be a good way to start our day before it gets hot. Most of the time there is grumbling from the almost-five-year-old, even if I tell her the destination can be a park. Today, though, I hadn’t even finished my breakfast before she declared that we needed to go on a walk before it got hot. It was overcast and cool, with the high temperature for the day only supposed to be in the upper 70s, so I wasn’t concerned about getting out before the heat, but I wasn’t going to say anything to dampen her enthusiasm.
When she came out of her bedroom asking if she looked like an explorer, I knew it was going to be a good walk. She was ready with rainboots on, binoculars around her neck, and her “science bag full of science things”, i.e. scissors, a small vial for collecting water samples, a notebook, and a pen. She told me I’d be her assistant and that I would be in charge of writing down the observations, a delegation which I happily accepted.
“Sometimes scientists do that.”
We were off! The first stop? Our garden where we measured our corn, pulled a few weeds, and checked for blossoms on our pumpkins. On the way to the park we stopped at a puddle to collect some water (it was declared “extinct” upon examination), and on to the park where we examined another water and watched the bees buzzing through the linden trees. From the park we headed down hill where we observed some ants (there were two ant parties having feasts), and on to the jump-off (a vacant lot full of dirt hills created by the neighborhood kids to ride their bikes on).
On the way back to the house - after collecting more puddle water - she decided that she needed some “chemicals” to make spider webs. She’d also need tree sap (“would it be ok if I scratched our tree for some sap?”), sugar, pink lemonade, and who knows what else. When we got home, we were so distracted by eating peas from the garden that the chemistry experiment was forgotten. That was fine with me - I was always more comfortable with biology than chemistry anyway.
“Let’s go observate in there!”
No new scientific breakthroughs happened today, but in my experience that’s how much of science goes. Asking a question, watching, listening, taking notes, thinking, tweaking, asking more questions, and observing some more. It all starts with being just a little (or a lot) curious.
Our more notable observations today include the following:
Our corn is approximately 19 inches tall
Honeybees love the linden tree flowers (and I like the smell of the flowers, too!)
Various neighbors have leaking, puddle-making sprinklers
Peas taste the best when eaten in the garden in the cool of the morning
Almost-five-year-olds can be quite pleasant company on a morning walk when it’s their idea to begin with
What are you growing curious about today? What observations have you made? Let me know in the comments below.
This is the cutest! My favorite lately is hearing Cal and Sam exclaiming over their favorite wildflowers on hikes. Thanks to you for teaching us their names! 💗
Love this! What a fun adventure!