The Star - News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

You hear all the best teachers talk about it, and last Thursday night anyone who attended the PTA’s science fair at Lake Roosevelt Schools got a little taste of it, as well.

“It” would be the “Aha!” factor, the real reward that teachers crave when that light comes into the eye of a student excited for having just learned something new.

Talking with each of the students who entered their science experiments, it was apparent they’d taken great interest and care in putting together some fairly sophisticated evidence and arguments, and accepted the results of their inquiries.

That means they learned the actual methods used in scientific inquiry. Some of them had hypothesized the outcome, but ultimately disproved their own hypothesis. That’s how science works, on proven facts; teaching kids that will mean more in the long run than any specific lesson ever could.

Thanks go to those who arranged the event and to the teachers and parents who encouraged their students. It added fertilizer to the young minds involved and will influence them the rest of their lives.

Scott Hunter

editor and publisher