Her passion for science really kicked in when she worked for the ambulance service her truck-driver father managed on the side. There, she watched the technicians perform biological and chemical analyses and even some surgeries. Intrigued, VanCleave decided to become a medical technician. Before that could happen, though, she discovered a new, particularly heady type of chemistry: love. At 17, she eloped with her longtime sweetheart, Wade VanCleave; by 20, she had three children.
As a result, teacher's college became more practical than medical school, and in 1966, VanCleave found herself before her first students. She chuckles at the memory of asking a class of teenagers to trace their shoes on a piece of paper to create a paramecium model, complete with fringy cilia and two shades of glitter (now dubbed the Slipper Animal in her books). VanCleave learned an enduring lesson that day: "I don't care how old children are," she says, "you give them a jar of glitter, and you've got 'em."
You've also got VanCleave. From the get-go, she realized that if it was fun for kids, it would be fun for her. "On test days, lots of times I would say, 'Oh, guys, I'm bored. Just do questions one through five,'" she says. "I wanted to play! I guess I wasn't the traditional teacher."
It was these unconventional ways that later led to a book contract. VanCleave's first title, TEACHING THE FUN OF PHYSICS, debuted in 1985; by now, she's her own mini niche, with 2 million-plus books sold. Her most recent title, HELP! MY SCIENCE PROJECT IS DUE TOMORROW!, came out in November, and she reports 10 more books in the works.
To understand how VanCleave arrives at her hundreds of experiments is to understand her childlike curiosity: She never stops asking questions. Coming up with new experiments nonstop, though, can be tough. At the time we spoke, she'd just forged a breakthrough--a way kids can mimic the nest-building habits of the tailorbird, which weaves its home with its beak. After several false starts, VanCleave finally nailed her own "Aha!" moment: Have kids sew up a real leaf with tweezers and thread.
And when she's not thinking up experiments for kids, she's performing her favorites at schools and conferences across the country. It's a way to recapture some of her old teaching sparkle and also get kids' feedback--however oddly adorable it may be. Yes, VanCleave has been called "The Slime Lady" (a high compliment, she insists), and she once had lunch with a nine-year-old who had some reservations about dining with her: The girl suspected the meal was an experiment.
One of the author's choicest anecdotes occurred right in the parking lot of her favorite "science supply store"--the local supermarket. A former student, her three kids in tow, rushed up to VanCleave with an urgent question: "Are you still doing that magic stuff?"
Magic stuff. When was the last time you heard anything scientific discussed in those terms? That, says VanCleave, is how we must talk if kids are to embrace science. "When I give advice to parents, I always say be careful, be positive. You may or may not have liked science, but don't elaborate on how you didn't pass chemistry, that it was very hard for you. Then the child doesn't have the feeling that Mom and Dad can't do this, so obviously I can't."
It's a lesson VanCleave learned early on, albeit indirectly. "Neither of my parents was well educated, so they didn't have an opinion one way or another [about science]," she says. "They just didn't give me a negative feeling. So consequently, my positive feeling just blossomed."
Yet science questions can be daunting--for us grown-ups. What about the inevitable day when your six-year-old looks you square in the eye and asks, "Where do rainbows come from?" If you don't know, simply say so, suggests VanCleave, but don't leave it at that. Ask your child to write down the question, then visit the library for a book on weather phenomena.
Likewise, when you do know the answer, don't reveal it too quickly. "Don't always feel like you have to be the giver of information," she says. "The fun part will be spending time with your children finding the answers experimentally or in books."
Above all, VanCleave stresses that parents remember science is ubiquitous, especially for children, who have so many questions about the world. That said, VanCleave recommends that moms and dads nurture kids' sense of discovery early, as soon as they start noticing their surroundings. "Kids aren't ready for the explanation at three or four," VanCleave concedes, "but they certainly can play."
Now there's another word you don't usually link with science: play. It would serve kids well as a synonym for biology and chemistry, physics and astronomy. It's certainly an apt description of how VanCleave goes about her one-of-a-kind discoveries. So, with that in mind, accept this challenge as your family's first experiment: Set out to prove the VanCleave-ian hypothesis that science is truly fun.
