"To be or not to be."
If William Shakespeare had not penned this immortal line, it is possible that some other author might have. But it is highly unlikely that they would have followed it with:
"Whether tis Nobler in the mind to suffer the Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune. Or to take Arms against a Sea of Troubles and by opposing end them."
Hamlet was a unique act of creativity. One produced by a single individual once.
On the other hand, if Einstein had not penned his famous equation, E = mc2, it is likely someone else in the early part of the 20th century would have.
After all, the latter is a description of the world as it is. It describes a relationship between measurable quantities. It equates energy to mass and that relationship exists regardless of whether we have an equation to describe it or not.
Einstein engaged in an act of discovery.
The difference between creativity and discovery may seem to be subtle but is distinct. Creativity brings forth what might not ever be. Discovery finds what is.
For the most part, it is the latter that is the pursuit of science. Discovering all of the pieces of the physical world and how they relate to one another.
Science is a voyage of discovery through uncharted waters but at least we know that the water is there. Creativity is a voyage to who knows where across who knows what?
That said, sometimes voyages of discovery benefit from a little creativity along the way. Seeing things in a different way can often lead to discoveries.
I mention this because on Saturday, March 9, young scientists from all over the school district will gather in the Bentley Centre at UNBC for the Central Interior Science Exhibition. This is the regional science fair and a chance to see some of our brightest young minds at work.
Invariably, our young scientists are engaged in their own voyages of discovery. Sometimes they even discover something entirely new.
We have had many extraordinarily talented students go on to national and international science fairs from this region over the years. Most recently, Ashley Anderson and Forrest Tower have just come back from Taiwan where they represented the entire province. Their work on methane generation is truly
remarkable.
Our science fair students do require a lot of creativity. Most of the students involved in science fairs do not have adequate access to scientific equipment and/or laboratories. (I could make a crack about the underfunding of our school system here.)
Instead, they use pop bottles and glasses for beakers, microwaves instead of hot plates to heat solutions up, and common household chemicals when pure ones aren't available.
They also have a tendency to ask questions that might not be asked
otherwise.
I mean, why would one wonder what effect the storing temperature of popcorn would have on it's ability to pop in a microwave?
Yet, this is exactly the question one young scientist at Van Bien elementary set out to explore. Turns out popcorn kernels directly from the freezer don't pop very well at all - they melt through the bag before popping. This, of course, leads to the question of - why?
Or, why would frozen root beer thaw faster than orange juice or bottled
water? Yet it does.
Or what makes apples go brown when they are cut and is there a way to stop this from happening? Salt does the trick but also makes for an unpalatable apple.
Science fairs are an exercise in discovery - as is science. Some of the things that are discovered lead to further questions - also the way of science. Sometimes the answers are surprising, which is the joy of science.
Every spring, I get the privilege of working with students from schools across School District 57 and throughout the north, through science fairs and through the TV show Quizme!, and every spring I am once again reminded just how intelligent, curious, engaged, and talented our students are. The next generation is inspiring.
I listen to politicians and pundits tell us how our education system is "in trouble." The Fraser Institute publishes its report reminding us that our schools are falling behind. Parents get overly concerned that their kids aren't learning enough.
I would suggest to anyone that wants to see just how successful our educational system is - how well our teachers are doing in educating the next generation - that they should check out the Central Interior Science Exhibition this coming weekend.
You might just discover how bright our kids are.
