Faculty Reflections: Crazy Question Tuesday
One of the elements of classical education I have grown to appreciate the most is the encouragement of students to pursue deeper meaning in their studies. As classical educators, we consistently encourage our students to ask questions and explore the who, how, and why of ideas.
One of the ways I try to foster this curiosity in my science classes, for example, is through “Crazy Question Tuesday.” This once-monthly event came to be because I noticed that my students had so many out-of-the-box questions that I did not know the answers to and/or that we did not have enough time in class to explore fully. However, I wanted to encourage this sense of wonder in my students. As a result, once a month, I now dedicate one entire class period to answering and discussing students’ “crazy” questions.
We are currently studying the layers of the Earth in science class, and I have already received several questions that students would like featured in this month’s “Crazy Question Tuesday.” My favorite question I have received so far is, “if you dug a hole straight through the Earth and there was no core in the middle, would you fall straight through to the other side of the Earth?” As it turns out, once reaching the middle of the Earth, you would actually float at the center of the Earth because the gravity would be converging in one spot.