One of the ongoing projects INSE has the honour of being partnered with is a Sparkling Science project, which uses fairy stories to teach children about the future of the planet and our resources.
In this Sparkling Science project, fairy tales are the starting point for exploring the sustainable use of resources and developing ideas for the future. The preciousness of gold in the fairytale kingdom, can be used to convey how valuable certain global resources are and what people are willing to do to obtain them. Fairy tales represent ‘material stories’: Stories about raw materials as valuable substances.
Overcoming fairy tale villains or completing the quests of heroes, is used as the narrative of facing problems we face in this current geological epoch – the anthropocene – such as how to improve the efficiency of farming practices. The daunting truth is that there will be no ‘happily ever after’ for our world and our resources if we continue burning fossil fuels in the same way we are currently doing. But this workshop and this engaging way of communicating certain scientific ideas to children, sparks interest and encourages creative thinking, and with this, educators can raise up a next generation of bright, science educated pupils, to take an interest in science – realise the reality of the problems we face, and potentially be the ones to solve this problem. For more information on this project, follow this link.
Picture ref: myfairytaletown.com