The Starry-Eyed Wonder of Childhood

By Irwin Horowitz, 4-28-07

	Caption: Jackson Elementary students viewing Moon and Venus

Children have a tremendous sense of wonder.  They have a never-ending supply of excitement in learning about the natural world in which we live.  Or do they?  Certainly, their exuberance is practically infectious, but what happens in a few years, when they leave the joy of childhood behind and face the landmines of being a teenager?  What happens to that excitement?

Last Friday, two members of the Boise Astronomical Society joined me for an education star party at Jackson Elementary School in Boise.  Third grade teachers Sandy Stivison and Maggie Wilson, along with about 30 students and their parents, joined us at sunset under clear skies and with mild temperatures to enjoy views of our Moon and the planets Venus and Saturn.  We had several telescopes set up on the playground in the rear of the school, along with a few pairs of binoculars. 

As the sky was darkening, several of the children and parents commented enthusiastically about the view of craters on the lunar surface, while my friends and I would knowingly tell them to wait until it got dark enough for us to look at Saturn.  Indeed, after briefly viewing the tiny half-disk of Venus in the fading twilight, we turned our scopes on the majesty that is the ringed planet, and it clearly outshone even the Moon in terms of the comments it elicited from the crowd.  Some variation of “Wow…it looks like a photograph,” was heard repeatedly, and we had to assure them that it wasn’t a picture, but was the actual planet they were looking at. 

We pointed out that the bright point of light to the left of the planet was actually Titan, the largest moon of Saturn.  We told them that if they watch the planet for several seconds, they could actually see the gap in the rings known as the Cassini division.  The kids were running around, going from one telescope to another, asking questions and enjoying the experience.

I wonder where those kids will be three, four, five years from now.  Will the trials and tribulations of teenagerhood result in a loss of that precious sense of wonder?  Will they be pulled in other worthwhile directions … sports … music … art, or perhaps in less wholesome directions … gangs … drugs … violence?  Will their parents continue to support their current interest which was expressed Friday night, or will they be indifferent to such pursuits?  Will the social pressures of conformity, which hit teenagers harder than any other group, result in them looking upon that sense of wonder as being “uncool” because that’s what their friends would say?  Is there truly a chance that these kids will grow up to, if not become scientists, at least be science-literate and engaged on science and technical issues when they grow up to be adult members of our society?  What do we adults, who are engaged on these issues, need to do to continue to foster this nascent interest I saw expressed by those kids on Friday?