“Look! The wall is pink!” I stop my descent at the middle of the stairs and look ahead at our living room wall reflecting the color of my bright pink track pants. Immediately, I realize it’s a perfect moment to execute the “See, Think, Wonder” routine. I ask Nusayba what she sees and she repeats her observation. I ask her why she thinks the wall suddenly looks pink. She doesn’t have a hypothesis; she shrugs. I ask her to bring me a few bright objects and I angle them on the stairs so they catch the light from the window. She starts to understand what’s happening. I ask her again why the wall is changing color and she says, “because of the sun.”
Even when I have to get on with my work, she continues finding other objects to test. I later ask questions of her regarding the different colors she tried and help her realize that brighter colors are reflecting more vividly than darker hues. I relate it back to a board book she loves on ophthalmology by Dr. Haithem Ahmed. She connects what she’s seeing with what the book says about how we perceive different colors because of light.
After talking it all through, I quickly print a scientific method worksheet from stemsmartly.com and help her document the process to further solidify her understanding.
After a couple of days of ruminating, I visit Nasa.gov and print out educational resources on “Light, Color, and Their Uses” for the science behind what she saw and enacted.
And there you have yet another example of how to put “See, Think, Wonder” in practice during the course of a regular day.
Golden Butterfly Books 