HelloandwelcometoAsItIsfromVOALearningEnglish!I’mFaithLapidusinWashington.
DoyouthinklearningtoplayamusicalinstrumentmakesachildmoreintelligentTheanswermaysurpriseyou.
ButfirstwehearaboutanewprogramatAmerica’sworld-famousSmithsonianInstitution.Theprogramisdesignedtogetyoungpeopleinterestedinscience.
Hands-onScienceforStudentsatSmithsonian
ItisnotjustanotherdayinaclassroomforsomestudentsinWashington,D.C.AgroupofyoungpeopleisvolunteeringattheSmithsonianNationalMuseumofNaturalHistory.Theyareamongthefirsttotestanewprogramatthemuseum.
Theprogramhasanunusualname–spokenas“Curious”andwrittenasQ-question-mark-r-i-u-s.Qriusincludeshands-onexhibitsthatteachyoungvisitorssciencethroughexperiments.
Qriusissoappealingtoyoungpeopleperhapsbecausestudentshelpeddesignit.Also,theexhibits,ordisplays,combinesciencewithart.Theexhibitsalsotakeawholebodyapproachtolearningthatinvolvesallthesenses.Qriuscombinesthenewesttechnologiesandscientificequipmentwithmorethan6,000museumobjects.Objectsthatarebothrealanddigital.
Duringtheirvisit,somestudentsexplorethemysteriesofhumanbones.Otherstudentsexamineaninsectunderamicroscope.Manyofthestudentsalreadyhavetheirfavorites.
NateReistetteris13yearsold.Helikesusingadvancedtechnologytoexploredinosaurbones.
“TherewasacastofadinosaurboneandyoucanscantheQRcode[computerizedbarcode]onthecomputersanditwilltellyouallaboutwhereitwasfoundandallsortsofstuffaboutit.”
The“QRCode”thatNatetalksaboutisacomputerizedbarcodeassignedtoanitemintheexhibit.Whenscanned,thisQRcodetellsafullerstory.WhatisitWherewasitfoundWhenwasitfoundThequestionsscientistsask.
StudentBenWerbenjoysanexhibitthatletspeopleusetheirsensestolearnmoreaboutobjects.Forexample,herealizesthatabutterflysmellsalittleliketea.Whoknew
Oneoftheexhibit’smajorgoalsistoinvolveallthesenses--smell,touch,hearing,tasteandsight.Thisisthat“wholebody”approachtolearningthatwementionedearlier.
Atonedisplay,studentsrecreatethesoundsofinsectscalledcrickets.
Inanotherdisplaytheyhandlerealhumanbonesinalaboratory.Thescienceofinvestigatinghumanremainsiscalled‘forensicanthropology.’Forensicanthropologyisoftenusedtoidentifyapersonwhohasdiedandtolearnthecauseofdeath.
OliviaPersonsis18yearsold.Sheisoneofseventeenswhohelpeddeveloptheexhibit.Thelaboratoryisherfavoritedisplayarea.
“There’salotofdigitalstuff,there’salotofcomputerscreensandtouchscreens,butinheretheyareactuallyabletotouchrealhumanbones.”
ButterfliesatSmithsonian.
The“Qrius”museumexhibitisopentoonlystudentsinthemorning.IntheafternoonthepubliciswelcometoexploreQriusandbe–well–curious.There’salsoaQriuswebsitethatallowsvisitorstocontinueexploringandexperimentinglongaftertheyhaveleftthemuseum.
AndIamFaithLapidusinWashington.YouarelisteningtoAsItIsfromVOALearningEnglish.
Nowwegobacktothequestionweaskedatthetopoftheprogram–doeslearningamusicalinstrumentmakeyousmarterWeturntoeducationreporterJeriWatsonfortheanswer.
LearningMusicMakesYouSmarterNotSoFast...
Manypeoplebelievethatteachingchildrenmusicmakesthemsmarter--betterabletolearnnewthings.Buttheorganizersofanewstudysaythereisnoscientificevidencethatearlymusicaltrainingaffectstheintelligenceofyoungpeople.
Anestimated80percentofAmericanadultsthinkmusicclassesimprovechildren’sabilitytolearnortheirperformanceinschool.Theysaythatthesatisfactionfromlearningtoplayanewsonghelpsachildexpresscreativity.
ResearchersatHarvardUniversity,however,havefoundthatthereisonethingmusicaltrainingdoesnotdo.Theysayitdoesnotmakechildrenmoreintelligent.
SamuelMehrisagraduatestudentatHarvard’sSchoolofEducation.Hesaiditiswrongtothinkthatlearningtoplayamusicalinstrumentimprovesachild’sintellectualdevelopment.
Hesaystheevidencecomesfromstudiesthatmeasuredthementalabilityoftwogroupsoffour-year-oldsandtheirparents.Onegroupattendedmusicclass.Theotherwenttoaclassthatplacesimportanceonthevisualarts–artsthatcanbeseen.
“Theanswerthereis‘no.’Wefoundnoevidenceforanyadvantageonanyofthesetestsforthekidswhowereparticipatinginmusicclasses.”
SamuelMehrsaysresearchershavecarriedoutmanystudiesinanefforttolearnwhethermusicaltrainingcanmakechildrensmarter.Hesaystheresultshavebeenmixed.HesaysonlyonestudyseemedtoshowasmallpercentageincreaseinIQ–intelligencescores–amongstudentsafteroneyearofmusiclessons.
Hesaysresearchersinhisstudycomparedhowwellchildreninthemusictraininggroupdidonmentalprocessingtasks,orprojects.Thentheresultswerecomparedtothoseofchildrenwhodidnottakelessons.
Therewasnoevidencethatthemusicaltraininggroupdidmuchbetteronthementaltasksthantheothergroup.Theresearchersconfirmedtheirresultswithalargergroupofchildrenandtheirparents.
AreportonthebenefitsofmusictraininginchildrenwaspublishedinthejournalPLOSONE.I’mJeriWatson.
Thankyou,Jeri.Andthankyouforlisteningtoourprogram.JoinusagaintomorrowforanotherAsItIsfromVOALearningEnglish.Toseemoreofourprograms,visitourwebsite,www.learningenglish.voanews.com.
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