http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/02/flame_challenge_2014_what_is_color_alan_alda_has_kids_judge_scientists.html
About six months ago, my 8-year-old asked whether fire was a solid, a liquid, or a gas. I am sad to confess that my answer at the time was: “A gas. ... No, a solid. … No. A gas. … It depends. … Let’s check Google. Look! A squirrel!”And those were the coherent parts. When actor Alan Alda was 11, he too asked a teacher what a flame was. And her one-word explanation—“oxidation”—wasn’t much more satisfying than mine. So in 2011, Alda—who is a longtime science enthusiast, PBS science sherpa, and founding member of the Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University in New York—developed the Flame Challenge,a competition in which scientists around the country are tasked with explaining a complicated scientific idea to the satisfaction of thousands of exacting 11-year-old judges.
that is a great idea i guess people like me are so hung up on the adults not understanding what is happening in America and though conscious of the kids and their understanding
didn't put it with adults explaining to a 11 yr old like an 11 yr old, hell that would help millions of adults as well, then maybe they could help the kids understand but i am not so sure they don't already understand better then their elders. kudos Mr. Alda.
In 2012 the winning entry to the “What is a flame?” question was this fantastic video (exponentially better than my answer). Last year the question was “What is time?” (Here you go.) This year’s question—“What is color?” —was chosen from hundreds submitted by kids.Now, scientists from around the country have until March 1 to submit their responses in either the written category or a video/graphic format. Last year 20,000 students around the world weighed in on the judging.
this is really cool will follow, the story,
asked Alda whether the impetus for the Flame Challenge was teaching kids to understand science or getting scientists to explain science clearly. “I thought we were doing this mainly to teach scientists how hard and interesting it is to say something complex so an 11-year-old could understand it—and, by the way, so that I could understand it,” Alda says,“but then I saw that we got kids more excited about science than they ever were before. And it’s something science teachers can grab on to, to make science more interesting for the kids.” The real point of the Flame Challenge and the Center for Communicating Science, however, is to teach scientists to communicate their ideas clearly to laypeople, policymakers, and government officials.
well we need to support this the world is now requiring more scientific understanding and application get while they are young and let them grow with it, we also know this is not something the right wing would support, it nullifies their keep 'em dumb down agenda war on education, but still "YES WE CAN".
