Fun and Funding

This week was another new taster session. We took our wares to Hapton Primary School and once again our taster session about star formation, abiogenesis and proplyds went down a storm. These kids were great. They were full of questions and once again I found myself surprised by the intelligence they displayed in their questioning. I was not surprised to find smart kids, but there are questions and then there are questions. The most rewarding thing is when we see a student starting to use inductive reasoning, often showing the ability to infer intelligent answers from various propositions we present to them. I was so impressed by a couple of students who were able to employ induction and a sort of young strain of syllogistic logic to ask intelligent questions. This was pleasing not only because of the questioning, but also because the questions suggested certain premises had already been dismissed prior to formulating the question. Now that WAS exciting. When a child has been educated to a standard sufficient to allow them to self-educate intelligently then that child is equipped well for the academic challenge. I am in no doubt that there were at least a couple of future scientists in this school.

The session went down, as I say, very well and it is always great when the teachers and learning support staff are as engaged in the lesson as the students. This is often the case with astronomy as it is rare and also almost transcendent and numinous in parts. The best sign of a good lesson is when we are told to shut up! The students would have questioned all afternoon but inevitably the wider curriculum came rushing in. How thrilling it is to have the students chatter our ears off from beginning to end.

Other good news is that the Awards4All funding application we previously had rejected looks as though it will be approved upon reapplication. I am not the expert on this sort of thing, that is Erica's forte, however, it seems that a minor detail was incorrectly stated or interpreted and clearing it up will allow us to go ahead. That will be great result if that comes in, allowing us to buy significant resources for educating.

A great song.