Another party whom should shoulder the responsibility to instill interest in Science and Technology could be no other than the parents and educators. Mini science projects done at home and in school will get the children yearning for more. Budding scientists and inventors will bloom into respected inventors given the right amount of guidance, inspirations and issues for them to look into.

Non scientists/inventors parents need not feel small and intimidated in inspiring their children. As a guideline, when we guide our children, we should be reminded that no idea is stupid. It may need to be rethought, revamped, and redesigned, but if our kids think of something, give that idea your attention. After all, inventors have been known to moot lots of ideas that never worked before they found success.

Another guideline in guiding our children would be that we should take our kids’ ideas seriously. Words like ‘don’t” and “never/will never work” should not be in our vocabulary. We also should always look for ways to make the idea works and if it just cannot work, discuss the problems and look for solutions.

It is also recommended that we write the idea(s) down. If it is on paper, it is easier to rework it as the visual image(s) we have drawn or the flow of idea(s) or concept(s) written can be seen clearly and what, where and how the idea or concept can be improvised can be more feasible.

Finally, in guiding our children in the world discovery of Science and Technology, we can discuss with kids what features about the invention would make it desirable to others and work towards it.

If the guidelines we have given you still seem too overhelming for you, may we suggest you enroll your kids under special training programme(s) that we think they will do well to the kids as well as remove the tension of producing young inventors that may have already built up within you? Log on Kid Inventor – Shinet Corporation Main Page for details.

(adapted from fastfocustv)

Overall, we feel it is high time for our local experts, educators and researchers, beside the vital role, parents have in inspiring children into being kids inventors as discussed earlier, to look into all aspects of our educational system and revamp it if necessary. We must able to focus on the development of kid inventors and their world-acknowledged inventions. Indeed, we cannot deny the fact that today's young inventors will be shaping our tomorrow!

http://inventcom.wik.is

The success of our intention to promote interest in the wonders of Science and Technology among younger generation should not lie on one party’s shoulder but on other divisions too. Science Centre in certain countries, for example the Arizona Science Centre and our very own National Science Centre situated in Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur are established with that aim in mind. In general, Science Centres promote 21st Century skills in Science of Technology field to both adults and young children alike.

(adapted from know99television)

History too has proven to us that young inventors who became well-known for their contributions, such as Thomas Alva Edison had devoted his spare time mainly in experimentations since the age of 15 years old and Alexandra Graham Bell had been working on the idea of transmitting speech since he was 18. If not for their persistence and early interest in the technology, we would have to wait for a longer time to see in darkness just by a click of a switch and have the ability to hear someone’s voice, who is miles and miles away, in a split second through a phone line.

Thomas Alva Edison

(Source: http://www.nndb.com/people/333/000022267/edison-in-lab.jpg)





Another good example of kid inventor was Philo Taylor Farnsworth, a 14 year-old who realized that an electron beam could scan a picture in horizontal lines, reproducing the image of the picture almost instantaneously. His finding was a critical discovery towards electronic television. In fact, that famous discovery was a breakthrough that has brought joy and knowledge to many through the world of television.

Philo Taylor Farnsworth

(Source: http://library.thinkquest.org/26451/media/images/farnsworthimage.jpg)

Ten young Malaysian scientists aged around 17-18 years did our country proud when they participated in the 2008 Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) in Atlanta, Georgia USA this May.

Those talented young inventors competed in the six-day fair against 1,557 other aspiring scientists of over 50 countries.

Our participants displayed innovative inventions that could potentially address issues that have baffled scientists and inventors alike for years.

Our Director-General of Education Datuk Alimuddin Mohd Dom was pleased that Malaysia’s future scientists’ abilities were acknowledged during the fair. However, he has plans for our young generation to being exposed to Science and Technology at an earlier age so that we can be at par with oversea kids. He mentioned that in Sweden a group of researchers supported by the European Union, started a three-year project with 27 Swedish children aged 5 and 7. That project, known as Kidstory Project, had successfully trained children to be able to write down their reflections in their journals even from the early stage of the project. Later on in the project, the children consumed the roles of inventors. At this stage, the researchers found that the children’s journals were then filled with ideas about possible new inventions. It is proven from the above study that children are capable of actually contributing to the mooting of inventions when they are given the opportunity of getting into the roles of inventors. Their “experiences” as inventors have paid off. They gained insights into the world of inventors and in the end are inspired to be inventors themselves. Who knows these children will eventually end up to be great inventors the world has ever had!

We can learn from the above study’s finding. We should have similar project(s) like that so that Malaysia continues to have a pool of creative and renowned inventors. Our children should be encouraged to take interest in Science and Technology as we definitely would not want the disaster of having drainage of inventive human capital as Science and Technology is the in-thing today. Science and Technology has many times proven to give us better life.