Isaac Newton once watched an apple fall from a tree. You may be wondering the importance of this. Well, that very incident made him wonder. He asked himself why objects fall straight down instead of sideways or up. That curiosity and his hard dedicated work led to his theory of gravity. Every discovery big or small always starts with someone who curiosity makes them want to find the answer they are looking for.
Every Big Discovery Starts With a Question
Marie Curie was a scientist who noticed that some rocks gave off a mysterious glow that she wondered about. She actually had no idea why, but she just could not stop thinking about it. Marie Curie kept asking all of these questions she had no answers to until she found out something amazing about how energy works. So great discoveries did not start with answers. They started with curiosity and wondering.
Curiosity Explorer
Curiosity makes your brain stronger. Every time you tend to wonder about something, your brain begins to connect new ideas. Scientists use their curiosity to brainstorm.This means they are collecting lots of questions and ideas before choosing which one to actually choose to follow. Newton and Curie actually both did this. Their first question led to so much more questions, and those questions led to amazing discoveries.
Try these tasks this week:
- The Question Journal: Write down anything that makes you super curious. It can be anything. At the end of the week, pick your favorite one and try to discover the answer however way you can. Remember to always write your notes and discoveries down!
- Brain Track: Did you find something interesting? Spend 10 minutes learning even more about it, then jot down what you discovered. You will start to see how one answer can lead to a brand new question!
Be a Scientist
Once you have a question, how do you find the answer? Scientists often use something called A/B testing. You can try two versions of the same thing, change only one detail, and compare the results. Try it! Does music help you concentrate?
- Version A: Do a puzzle with music on. Time yourself.
- Version B: Do a similar puzzle with no music. Time yourself again.
- Compare: Which was faster? What did you find out?
The only thing that changed and was manipulated was the music, so you know that was the variable that made the difference. Brainstorming helps you find and think of amazing questions, and A/B testing helps you answer them. Put them together and you learned how discoveries happen.
Now that is real science!
