Launching kids on voyage of discovery
Print Edition
YUAN Yixing, a 9-year-old primary school student, likes to spend his spare time closely observing how a snail glides along on its trail of slime or how a spider spins its web. However, time to pursue this interest in the natural world has become a luxury to the Shanghai boy.
Because his parents have arranged various after-school classes for him — especially in math and English.
“With increasingly fierce competition these days, we have no choice but to sign him up for different lessons,” says Yuan Wenjun, the father.
“I know my son has a passion for natural science, but compared with subjects that are more practical, it seems a waste of time at his age.”
Many parents seem to think the same.
As English and math training centers are flourishing in Shanghai, for children with a love of the natural sciences, options are more limited.
Last Saturday, the DocuChina television channel held a special workshop on natural science at the new Shanghai Natural History Museum, attracting academics, scientists and young enthusiasts from all over the city and with the aim of increasing public interest in the natural world.
The event coincided with the screening of “Beagle: On the Future of Species,” a series about Charles Darwin’s voyage around the world on the Beagle between 1831 and 1836 which helped him develop his theory of evolution.
In the series, his great-great-granddaughter Sarah Darwin and British author Redmond O’Hanlon follow Darwin’s original route, encountering fascinating animals, plants and fossils along the way.
Sha Qingqing, a researcher from Shanghai Library, hopes the series will inspire young natural history enthusiasts in China.
“When the young naturalist Darwin embarked on his voyage, he was only 22 years old,” says Sha. “Like many other young people of the same age, he felt confused about his future and had no specific career plan. Collecting information and scientific evidence, the expedition changed his life and the way he looked at the world.”
Professor Zhong Yang, deputy director of the School of Life Sciences at Fudan University, says getting up close to nature is essential for a biology student, but is difficult for many young Chinese living in big cities.
Zhong himself spends half the year in Tibet Autonomous Region studying how the environment there influences its plants and animals.
“Some biology students told me that they have never collected plant specimens on their own or observed birds and insects in the wild,” says Zhong. “Many of them don’t even know how to grow plants from seed.”
He also hopes that the story of Darwin’s voyage, which eventually led him to realize that living things evolve over time, will inspire young Chinese.
“It would be great to see young Chinese students produce depictions of plants, animals and fossils inspired by what Darwin did on his voyage,” he says.
Zhong also thinks that some biology classes in local middle schools are boring and uncreative.
Knowledge about the natural world should not be only acquired just from textbooks, he stresses.
Efforts have been made to change this situation. In 2010, a group of Chinese founded Nature Notes, a non-profit club to offer parents and children a chance to get up close to the natural world. Chen Saimei, an official with the club, says the club now has around 1,000 members from all over the country.
“Our members are from all walks of life,” says Chen, a landscape designer. “While I’m likely to share my botanical expertise with them, there are also other experts talking about their latest achievements.”
The club frequently hosts themed salons, workshops and outings in Shanghai and neighboring provinces. With guidance from volunteer teachers and experts, children and their parents learn how to collect specimens, identify wild plants and make simple weather forecasts. Children are also encouraged to take notes.
Chen says that taking field notes is a vivid way of learning, a welcome alternative to often monotonous courses at school.
The young natural history enthusiasts usually have plenty of questions too — favorites include why doesn’t a spider get stuck in its own web.
To solve these puzzles, children post their questions on the Internet or look up an encyclopedia.
Chen says Shanghai doesn’t lack in green public spaces and museums but needs a more scientific setting of the curriculum, enabling students to really feel close to nature.
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