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Anne Dalke's picture

Our Similes for What Science Is...

For me, science is like...

a worm

an octopus

insects

a playground

a box of toys

a can of soda

a spiderweb

clay

a switchboard

eyeglasses

water

a recipe for chocolate cake

a flashlight

the A-bomb

storytelling

blogs (and blocks?)

life

work

For my students, science is like...

work

fun (2x)

a box of chocolates

messy

history

playing with a box of toys

playing

a cloud

raisins

recess (2x)

a party

fortune cookies

nature

a hula hoop

forgotten, buried treasure

examinations

What happens when a teacher who thinks science is (for example) a pair of eyeglasses, making the possibilities of the world more visible, enters a classroom where the students are imagining science as recess? How to negotiate the difference between the implied metaphoric understandings that structure our engagement? How to find the commonalities? How to enact them?

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