… ROCKS!
And not just because my friend Kate Messner teaches there, or because the school invited me to visit this past Monday, or even because one of the Stafford science teachers won the microscope I wanted at NSTA.
No, Stafford Middle School rocks because its students are inquisitive and intelligent and spunky. The questions the sixth, seventh, and eighth graders had for me after my presentations were incredibly insightful and demonstrated the sort of critical thinking that makes me confident this world of ours is in good hands after all.
Photo by Kate Messner (Thank you, Kate!)
The young woman in the photograph above, for example, shared with me her theory about honey bee disappearances, and it was quite a good one. Another student challenged the theories scientists have put forth on the grounds that they could not explain the “suddenness” of mass honey bee declines. And someone else pointed out that honey bees cannot simply be reacting to the stress of migratory beekeeping practices, as some people believe, because we have been moving bees around the contry for decades. See what I mean about inquisitive and intelligent and spunky?
I also love that after an hour of hearing about oceans and trash and, then, just one single slide about honey bees, the Stafford kids went buzzy. Seriously. These kids know a lot about bees, and are very into the idea of learning more.
Thank you, Stafford. I’ll keep y’all posted on THE HIVE DETECTIVES!