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Have you ever thought how exciting it is to explore?

Examining our environment, reflecting on ideas, asking questions, revealing the connections between phenomena, experimenting and following the clues with ambition create a great journey. In such journeys, we look for the answers about the questions we feel most curious about. We may or may not find the answers we are looking for. But, as we try to find new solutions, we learn, and we enjoy learning.

Think about the world! You will realize that people have been managing to complete impossible tasks by the help of their curiosity. They have explored the far corners of the universe, planets, they invented machines, airplanes, robots and many other things by using their curiosity. Just like the super heroes. They made the impossible possible.

Doing research, asking questions are making observations important strategies to pursue your curiosity. They will help you to develop a more comprehensive understanding.

THE JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION

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How can you start a systematic and detailed way of chasing the answers?

You can start with preparing a “I am curios of…” board as the biggest innovations always start with saying “I am curious of…”You write the questions you want to find answers on note papers and stick them on the board. Let your ideas develop free about the things you are curious of. First, choose the topic which you are interested in. Then form questions about it. Think about whether these questions are “answerable” or “testable.”

Discuss the topic and the question with your classmates and teachers. Remember that the important thing is not finding the answer, but to have the curiosity and the urge to explore. You can add your friends’ questions on your board. As the questions pile up, you will realize how exciting it is to go after an answer. You can discover the things you want to learn, and think about how to answer your questions by these discussions.

At the end of the discussion, you can prepare another “I am curious of” board for your classroom and continue finding new topics and questions.

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Curiosity and questions create the foundation of scientific thinking skills. Asking well defined questions is an important component of scientific literacy. Curiosity can be used as a springboard for the new scientific studies and your own research studies. As Abraham Heschel said: “Curiosity is the source of all knowledge.”

8 Illustration: Anıl Tortop

You don’t need to go far away for exploration. You can start exploring on your body!

When you closely examine your body, you will find many details waiting to be discovered. On your hair, ears, eyes, hands or feet

How long is your foot? How tall are you?

Have you ever measured the length of your hair?

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Illustration: Bengi Gencer

You can start collecting data to answer this question from people around you, like your family members and friends.

You can display the data you collect, the height and length of foot, on a graph.

Do you think that the length of feet changes the movement of body, think about the movement of human and animal?

Is there a relationship between the length of your foot and your height? Do you think such a relationship is the

same for all people?

Let’s measure!

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EXPLORE!

How about re-exploring your environment in different ways?

Close your eyes and start touching items around you. Try to figure out their location, shape, size, surfaces, temperature, weight and flexibility.

When do you learn about them when you open your eyes? What is the difference between touching and seeing?

Now, close your eyes again. Try to explore the place around you by just listening. Have you discovered some new sounds that you didn’t notice before?

Now, you can explore by smelling. What are the differences between each exploration attempt?

Which information you get by using your hands, eyes, ears and nose?

12Illustration: Bengi Gencer

Note your findings in the magnifying glass.

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You can play a fun exploration game with your friends by preparing a map.First, decide the location where you will map. It can be your room, classroom or your favorite playground. Each of you should draw their maps without showing it to each other.

1 Where are you?Carefully observe the location you will map.

You can play a fun exploration game with your friends by preparing a map.

14Illustration: Bengi Gencer

How much will you scale it?Just image how the place you will map would look from up in the sky? You should scale the area to fit it on your paper.

Which symbols will you use?You can use easy-to-draw symbols on your map like x, squares or circles. You can show the items, furniture or trees using these symbols.

Is it an old map?You can use a cold cup of coffee to make your map look old, like those pirate maps in the movies. Just dip your finished map in cold coffee and wait till it dries.

To start game:

Each of you should pick an item, a treasure, to hide. It can be your favorite toy.

Now decide where you will hide this item. Then go ahead and hide it, without

showing its location to your friends.

Now mark the spot where you hide it.

Finally, you can start the treasure hunt, by switching the maps in the group and

trying to find the hidden treasure.

Think:

Who was the first to find the treasure in the game?

What clues did you use to find it?

Which was the most useful symbol for you to find your treasure?

Were there any common symbols you happened to use together?

Are there such symbols used in real maps?

Try mapping the area on a square and rectangle paper. Are there differences?

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Exploration vehicles are used to learn more about the areas where scientists find it hard to explore by themselves. These vehicles are designed according to the conditions where they will function as explorers.

For example, they are used in the depths of the oceans, on surface of the new planets, on the migration route of animals, in the dark caves and even to learn more about the secret tunnels and passages of the Pyramids of Egypt.

Now think of a place you would like to explore. Use your imagination to create an area to be explored by a unique exploration vehicle. Design your vehicle according to your imaginary area.

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Illustration: Bengi Gencer

Draw your design and try to build it with materials you have around you. Share your creation with us!

To do so, think about these:

Where will you be exploring?

What do you hope to explore?

What should be the specification of your exploration vehicle?

What missions can it accomplish?

What kind of data can it collect?

How will it function?

How will it transfer the data and its findings to the scientists?

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We have designed a symbol for our exploration vehicle. It is hidden on its body. By solving the puzzle on the next page, you will find the symbol.

You have 5 circles and each of these have 12 dots around them. When you link these dots with your pen, you will find the hidden symbol.

While linking the dots, follow these instructions:

In the first circle, link the dots on the circle by skipping one dot. For example, link 1st dot with 3rd dot, link 3rd dot with 5th dot. By doing so, you will be skip one dot. When you reach the dot you start linking, go over the circle again by linking the unused dots.

In the second circle, complete the circle by linking the dots while skipping two of them.

In the third circle, complete the circle by linking the dots while skipping three of them.

In the fourth circle, complete the circle by linking the dots while skipping four of them.

In the fifth circle, complete the circle by linking the dots while skipping five of them.

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When you complete following the instruction for each circle, link all the circles according to the numbers below them. You can color these

shapes and reveal the hidden symbol for our exploration vehicle.

Try drawing a circle and using different number of dots other

than 12. What shape you will get if you link these dots?

Can you explore a relationship between the number of the dots and the shape you draw by linking them?

1st Circle

2nd Circle

3rd Circle

4th Circle 5th Circle

Many people enjoy observing the sky because there are many things to explore there. Astronomers observe the sky with naked eye or using

telescopes to explore. You can explore the movement of the moon by making an observation tool and using it regularly.

First choose the best window you will observe the moon. Try checking different windows at home and decide the suitable one.

Now, stick a sheet of thin paper, which will enable you to see through, on the glass of the window. Every evening at 9, take a pencil and go observe the moon

behind your paper. Draw the location and shape of the moon you observe on the paper.

Try to be punctual or else it may affect the results.

Keep the paper on the window for a week and do your observations

every evening. Let’s see what you will observe.

Was the Moon on the same place every evening?

Was its shape the same?

What were the differences in its shape?

Why do you think we need to do the observation at the same time in

every evening?

What are the other things you would like to observe?

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Now imagine that you explore something new in the sky. Draw what

it could be and share it with us.

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Form a group and sit as a circle. It is game which will be more fun with more people. Choose one “it” for the game. Send him away so that he will not hear the rest of the group deciding the rule. The purpose of the game for “it” is to find the rule, which is created by the rest of the players, by asking questions. It can ask any questions.

The players in the group answer the questions according to the rule they created. For example, when it asks “who are you?” to a player, he or she should tell the name of the player who is sitting on the left.

Will it be easy to find the rule by restricting

the question type?

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It continues to ask questions to find the rule. He or she carefully listens

to the answers of the players to learn the rule.

What strategies did you use to learn the rule?

What were your favorite rules? Share it with us.

Illustration: İrem Demirezer

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Via Tower İş Merkezi No:7/35 06530 Söğütözü / Ankara Tel: +90 (0312) 219 03 19 Faks: +90 (0312) 219 03 21www.arastirmacicocukmerkezi.org iletisim@acm-tr.org

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking

what nobody has thought.

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi