Promoting scientific thinking in children with magic and toys

Authors

  • Pongskorn Saipetch Mahidol University International College

Abstract

Thinking scientifically is a useful skill to have for everyone. Here, we let children aged 7–15 practice this skill through various activities involving magic and toys. Magical acts are used to stimulate wonder and curiosity in children, training them to make observations, hypotheses, and tests. Toys induce fun and learning about relevant physical principles such as evolution, equilibrium and center of gravity, simple machines, conservation of momentum, conservation of angular momentum, and conservation of energy. Children 13–15 years old use the skill to investigate real-life issues such as perpetual motion schemes, vaccinations, and homeopathy.

Author Biography

Pongskorn Saipetch, Mahidol University International College

Pongskorn Saipetch is a science educator.  After earning a Ph.D. in biomedical physics from UCLA in 1995, he was involved in numerous software development projects and startup companies for the next two decades. For over 15 years, he has been a lecturer in Scientific Research and Presentations at Mahidol University International College. He has been leading regular science activities for children 6-15 years old since 2010 and collects them at https://witpoko.com 

Downloads

Published

2022-11-25