Everyone is curious!
CURIOSITY leads to learning and discovery.
When something new is learned, it stimulates the imagination and expands our knowledge. It also makes new brain connections.
There are different ways of learning. People learn by imitating others, by experimenting, and by asking questions.
Another way of learning is to observe new things, or to re-examine familiar things.
Asking a question is a simple way of learning. Asking questions is a form of curiosity. And it is a friendly way of engaging with others.
Some questions don’t have easy answers, such as ‘How many grains of sand are there on the beach?’ or ‘How big is the universe?’, or ‘What is the meaning of Life?’
Other questions can be answered with little effort, for instance, ‘What is the capital of Egypt?’ or ‘At what temperature does water freeze?’
Old writings, drawings, spoken stories, and songs are ancient forms of knowledge. These are primary sources of information, and many are available in archives, books, manuscripts, and on video and sound recordings.
Another source of information is public and private institutions. These can be interesting and rewarding places to visit. They contain special examples of human struggle and achievement.
They are often nearby, and include: art museums, science museums, museums of natural history, museums of special interest, observatories, aquariums, historical sites, public gardens, arboretums, national parks and forests.
Sharing knowledge of the world also means sharing its history. Exploring the past is necessary for learning about ourselves and others.
Exploration and discovery, inventions, and momentous events, including natural disasters, have occurred since the beginning of humankind, including:
the evolution of tradition, ritual, and mythology,
the invention of writing, agriculture, and technology,
the founding and collapse of cities, states, and nations,
the plague of war, pestilence, and disease,
discoveries in physics, astronomy, biology, anthropology, paleontology, and medicine,
manned explorations of Earth and Moon,
unmanned explorations of the Solar System, deep space,
tidal waves, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, droughts.
Extraordinary people, ordinary people, communities and cultures, ancient buildings and structures, stones and bones contain the stuff of history.
LEARNING about Nature increases our awareness. It expands our appreciation and experience of the world.
Nature is not only ‘the environment’, or a quiet, beautiful place to visit, such as forest, mountains, or the seashore, nature is everything that is known, as well as those things that have yet to be discovered.
Nature is everywhere. As humans, we are inseparable from Nature. We are Nature.
