Scientist Comix

While looking for cartoons connected to the science and technology curriculum, I came across so many really funny strips / panels.  Many of them were hilarious to me, and yet are they kid-friendly? 

And so, I present you a few strips instead of just one. (The more the merrier!!)

theawkwardyeti.com

This one is pretty great.  I like it because it looks really silly at first, but it's actually a pretty good introduction to the basics of the water cycle, technically part of the Grade 2 curriculum: Air and Water in the Environment. Water exists in bodies of water found on the earth. Water gets evaporated by the heat of the sun, and "goes up into the sky" where it becomes clouds.  Eventually the clouds become saturated and it will rain, bringing the water back down to the ground.  In this image, the sun literally lifts the water up the the clouds, and then the water goes down a water slide! ha! I think this image might actually help students remember how the water cycle works. 

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I have two other comic strips to share, just as an aside. Both are Calvin and Hobbes, created by Bill Watterson, which is my all time favourite comic strip ever.  Both of these aren't related to specific curriculum topics, but do relate to the idea of developing research skills and other science skills like making observations. 

In the first, we see Calvin going to his dad with a scientific question; why does ice float?  His dad answers him by coming up with a rather creative, and untrue, idea.  When Calvin expresses his skepticism in his dad's explanation, his dad makes the point that doing research is a better way to answer questions than asking people who aren't exactly experts. In the end, Calvin learns from his dad, but not the lesson he expected. 

In the second, Calvin and Hobbes meditate on the nature of scientific observation.  Calvin erroneously assumes that observation = looking with our eyes, and questions if we can really prove the existence of something we cannot see.  The very astute Hobbes is quick to point out that all our senses are used when making observations. 

I suppose my hesitation in using these would be:  is Calvin and Hobbes too sophisticated for the average.. 6th..7th..8th grader? Is the humour lost on kids? I've loved Calvin and Hobbes since grade 7, if not grade 6. In any case, I would certainly test these out and see how they're received in the very least!