Education

A lesson about the universe was much about love

Surprise! The guest speaker Friday at the Shelter Island School was a renowned scientist from the Harvard University/Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory who is engaged in a project called the Black Hole Initiative.

But, more importantly, David James is the father of four Shelter Island students. He came to the school not to talk about the Black Hole Initiative but to share with elementary school students his deep knowledge about the solar system.

When his son Tennessee, 6, spied him walking in the door of his first grade class, he rapidly embraced him and cuddled with his dad throughout his presentation.

The children have been studying the solar system and weren’t shy about shouting out answers to Mr. James’ questions, which showed how engaged they are in learning about planet Earth, the sun, gravity, the moon and stars.

They knew that the earth orbited the sun, something they had learned from teacher Cheryl Woods, but volunteer students danced around guided by Mr. James’ instructions, illustrating how the planets feel the pull of gravity from the sun that also rotates and provides the planets with heat and light.

Some knew Pluto had been demoted from its status as a planet in the solar system, but learned that it is now called a “dwarf planet.”

Mr. James warned the students to never look directly at the sun either by staring straight at it or using a telescope to view it. It can burn your eyes, causing blindness, the scientist told them. And while the sun is large, there are many stars that are larger, he said.

They also talked about meteors and meteorites with the students learning that meteors are the rocks that fly through space and most often burn up before hitting the earth’s atmosphere. But when they hit the earth, they can cause minor to major damage.

A giant meteorite hit the earth eons ago and was likely responsible for destroying dinosaurs, Mr. James said. But many insects seem to survive even these devastating events, he said.

What Tennessee wanted his classmates to know was something much closer to earth: “My dad is the smartest in the world because he’s a scientist.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” a smiling David James responded, clearly thrilled at the love his son was showing him.

ELEANOR P. LABROZZI PHOTO
Mr. James with daughter Charlotte hug in teacher Kerri Knipfing’s third grade class prior to his talking to the students about the sun, moon earth and sky.

It was on to the next class where daughter, Charlotte, 8, was quick to embrace her dad. His presentation to the students was similar, if a bit more sophisticated with talk about solar and lunar eclipses.

As happened with Tennessee’s class, Mr. James’ children showed they already knew a lot about the solar system, having learned from their dad. They were quick to raise their hands to answer questions, but he largely reached out to other students he hadn’t schooled to involve them in the discussions.

Perhaps the one question the students had for Mr. James was the most important: “Can you come every day?”

He, no doubt, would love to do that, but his work, currently based at Harvard in Boston, prohibits his being on the Island that often. He is due back here on Oct. 18 to speak to the fifth grade class in which his son Benjamin, 10, is a student. That he and Benjamin are bonded as are the younger siblings was obvious, watching them walk down the hall of the elementary wing clearly enjoying one another’s company.

He won’t be talking to the class where his youngest child, Beaumaris, 4, is a preschool student because those children are a little too young to absorb the lessons their older siblings can.

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