This is how science should be taught.
I’m a sucker for hands-on learning, but nothing has inspired me recently quite like the work of Dr. Bill Robertson, who is both a PhD and a veteran skateboarder.
Known as Dr. Skateboard, Robertson teaches kids about science concepts by having them experience how they feel, and asking them to explain how they manipulate the forces using their bodies and their machines (their boards).
“They’re in many ways embodying these principles of flight: Lift, gravity, thrust and drag are being used. But they’re not thinking about it in those terms.”
It’s inspiring, it’s exciting (the kids are awesome skaters) and it’s a reminder of how we are failing our kids – especially our boys – by trapping them inside desks and classrooms all day long when what we’re teaching them is happening out there in the world.
Imagine if you’d learned science like this. This is one laboratory you’d show up to.