Stories of Passion: Teenagers and science
As an educator focused on creating educational experiences and supporting parents to do the same so every child might find and pursue a true passion, I am moved by stories of passionate study and enterprise. Marry that with science and you have in my mind the plot for a blockbuster. This is the stuff of my dreams.
Here are two stories of passion, both involving teenagers (I wish at lesast one of them was a girl) that did extraordinary experiments. What is common in these stories? Imagination, perseverance, sheer ignorance of or reluctance to accept the impossibilities inherent in the endeavor, a true love of the pursuit (vocation?), resourcefulness! Most importantly — both young boys were likely supported by some dogged adults. You could be one of those adults if not one of the protagonists! Who will you support today?
Sierra Leon's Kevin Doe: "In Sierra Leone, West Africa, the lights may come on once in a week, with the rest of the month, dark. So, Kelvin Doe made his own battery to power lights in people's houses from recycled parts he found in the trash. He also made his own FM radio transmitter and a generator to power it so that he can give voice to the youth in his country. David Sengeh discovered Kelvin at an innovation camp he runs in Sierra Leone and invited Kelvin to M.I.T., where David is a PhD student in the Media Lab. Just as Kelvin's world is expanded by working in the Media Lab, the researchers there had their world expanded by interacting with Kelvin."
Jack Miron and Space travel: "A Lego man encased in a homemade weather balloon ended his journey to the edge of space on a New Hampshire driveway, bringing with him a trove of atmospheric data as well as stunning images of the curvature of the Earth. The balloon, which landed on August 25, is the brainchild of a 14-year-old student named Jack Miron from Bedford, New Hampshire. He didn't know that NASA is using this technology for telescope research and studying the atmospheres of Mars, Venus and beyond. His sights were set instead on an eighth-grade science project."
Credits: Daily Good