Young Minds

I spent part of work today visiting with third graders. It's a fun part of my job. Today we were talking about natural resources, what they are and some examples. They did a good job defining it - things that aren't man-made. We then talked about how they can be divided into three different categories: renewable, non-renewable and perpetual.

"Who can give me a definition of renewable resources?"

Hands go up. I call on one.

"Things that can come back."

Ok, for a thrid grade definition, that works pretty well. So we go with it.

"Great. Now can you give me some examples of renewable resources?"

Several more hands go up. Generally the answers touch on some kind of plant (trees, grass) and animals (birds, fish). So that was what I expected this time around as well. However, these kids took a bit different approach. Well, the first one did anyway, and that got the ball rolling for the others to follow suit.

"Hair" came the first response.

Ok, I can see that. We don't usually use hair for our everyday needs. But it fits the definition they gave - it can come back.

"Teeth" came the next response.

Well, at least to some point, teeth can come back, when you're young. So we go ahead and accept that one, since ivory falls into the "teeth" category.

Another hand. Hoping to move away from the human theme, I encourange them to think about things other than people.

"Spider legs!" comes the enthusiastic response of another little girl.

I had to surpress a little giggle at this point.

"True. Some spiders can re-grow their legs. But what about the spider itself?"

That coment seems to go unheard, because by this point many more hands are in the air. Oh boy, do they have the gist of this now!

Another hand, another idea. "Lizard tails that fall off!"

And before I can get this addressed: "Star fish legs!" comes from an excited boy who just seemed to catch on to what renewable resources were.

After a while, we finally got around to what renewable resources really are: raw, natural materials (such as plants and animals) that we process for our everyday needs and wants (such as paper, food and clothing).

Ah, the minds of the young! Never will I view a natural resource in same way.

- Chel