Curriculum Overview
by Jordan D. Brown, Curriculum Consultant
EDUCATIONAL MISSION:
Inspire children, ages 4-6, to think that science is amazing, cool, accessible, and relevant. Bobak and Cara’s Erudite Adventures sparks curiosity about the natural world and uses the power of compelling characters and mystery/adventure storytelling to take children on scientific quests. On these quests, curious people ask questions, conduct hands-on experiments, make mistakes, and solve problems—all while having a wonderful time. The series encourages children to think of themselves as scientists and seek out opportunities to do experiments in their daily lives.
I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.
– Albert Einstein
LEARNING GOALS OF SERIES AND APP:
1. Inspire kids to use their imaginations to ask weird and wonderful questions, ones they really want to know the answers to —the kind of bizarre and quirky questions Randall Munroe asks on his book and website: What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe https://whatif.xkcd.com/book/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/
Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and, therefore, the
foundation of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity,
it is the power that enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never shared.
– J.K. Rowling
2. Encourage children to do their own experiments on their own, after watching the show.
3. Inspire children to want to become scientists when they grow up.
4. Show children that science can be found in unlikely places.
5. Encourage children to understand that failure is usually a stepping stone to success. Overcoming failure requires patience and persistence.
We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.
– Kurt Vonnegut