In my own words · Punta Gorda, FL

Why I love science

A research laboratory seen from outside through a glass window, with a scientist inside preparing samples for analysis. Real USGS photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Science" page — read by families in Punta Gorda, FL. — A research laboratory seen from outside through a glass window, with a scientist inside preparing samples for analysis. U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain

I get to ask why, and then find out.
I write down what I think will happen. Then I check.
Being wrong is not bad here. Being wrong is a clue.

You can love science in Punta Gorda.

What it really is

Science is asking a question in a way that lets the world answer it.

Three things to try today

Ask one question nobody in your house knows the answer to.
Write your guess down before you look it up.
Look it up. See how close you were.

Student intern Maddy Olson works alongside NASA scientists at a bench in the Swamp Works laboratory at Kennedy Space Center. Real NASA photograph used on the Ellis Abel Learns "Why I Love Science" page — read by families in Punta Gorda, FL. — Student intern Maddy Olson works alongside NASA scientists at a bench in the Swamp Works laboratory at Kennedy Space Center. NASA · Public domain

For the grown-up reading this

A child in Punta Gorda, FL who loves science is not unusual. A child in Punta Gorda, FL who is told that loving science is unusual — that is the problem. The Punta Gorda, FL metro area has about 217,212 residents, ranking 220th in the country.

Prediction before observation is the whole method. Ask for the guess first, every time.

If the kid who loves this is a girl

Read what one popular teacher said to one little girl who took out the classroom trash without being asked — and what that girl did with the rest of her life.

Girls are great at math — Punta Gorda, FL →