The Science Exhibition

In the picture, a group of primary school pupils are gathered around a hands-on exhibit at a science centre. One girl at the front is pressing a large red button while the others lean in to watch what will happen, and a guide in a green polo shirt is standing beside them pointing at a gauge. Behind them there is a model city with wind turbines and other exhibits along the wall. What I also noticed is that every one of them is looking at the machine rather than at the guide, so whatever is about to happen is more interesting than the explanation.

In Primary Four we went to the science centre and there was an exhibit where you pedalled a bicycle to light up a row of bulbs. I thought it would be easy, and I managed three bulbs before my legs gave out. The guide told us that lighting one bulb for an hour takes more effort than most people expect, and I have never forgotten that because I felt it in my legs rather than being told it. Now when I leave a light on in an empty room my mother does not even have to say anything.

I think we usually do, especially for anything that involves how something works. When you press the button yourself you find out what happens and you remember it, whereas if someone describes it you are only remembering their words. Doing it also lets you be wrong in a way that does not cost anything, which is how most people actually learn. I understand that this cannot be the whole of education, because there is a great deal you could never work out on your own — nobody discovers history by experiment, and there is not enough time to rediscover everything. However, I believe the best lessons are the ones where you are told just enough to try it yourself, and then left to try.