Capitalizing on curiosity

By Claire Reinburg | Published: March 12, 2011

Featured speaker Larry Lowery’s lively presentation at the San Francisco NSTA conference highlighted research findings about how children learn to inspire teachers to incorporate new practices in their classrooms. Lowery encouraged teachers to further expand students’ opportunities to learn and explore using their various senses.  He showed a functional MRI image to illustrate the lit-up areas of the human brain that can follow from the simple sensory experience of touching an animal’s fur. 

When a student holds a classroom pet, examines a leaf through a hand lens, or hears a bird call, multiple areas and receptors in the brain are activated, providing a rich network of connections that deepen the learning experience.

In an engaging illustration, Lowery suggested that viewing a single image of a single leaf doesn’t teach us anything.  However, viewing two different leaves side-by-side invites comparisons that capitalize on our brain’s tendency to learn through examining differences and contrasts. Students who look closely enough at two different leaves to see varying edges and vein patterns may never again walk in the woods without noticing and appreciating nature’s wonderful array of leaves and trees. As Lowery said, “the beauty of the world is enhanced when you see the world the way a scientist sees.” 

Lowery is professor emeritus at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California at Berkeley, and is principal investigator for the Full-Option Science System (FOSS), the widely used K-8 science program funded by the National Science Foundation and developed at the university.  Early in his distinguished career, Lowery studied with Richard Stebbins and was part of the team at Berkeley that developed the Animal Coloration program, a classic resource for activities on the evolution of concealment that NSTA Press published in an updated and revised edition.

Lowery also edited the popular NSTA Pathways to the Standards Elementary Edition, which provides a wealth of inspiring classroom vignettes and tips for teachers who work with our youngest scientists.