As we all know, children ask many questions about the world and everything around us: Why is it raining? Why is the sea salty? Why is the moon up in the sky sometimes during daytime? How do planes fly without flapping their wings? In a recent survey, parents admitted that, more than half the time, they are stumped by their children’s questions. Indeed, the more “scientific” the question, the more dumbfounded the parents were. Curiosity is wonderful and good for the development of a child’s mind and personality, as well as for the discovery process and for solving society’s problems. There are countless quotes by educators and thinkers both stressing the importance of curiosity and linking it to scientific progress. Philip Kotler, a distinguished American professor of marketing, put it simply and best: “Curiosity is the starting point for great science.” Science is not some specialized technical work that only trained people do. Science is the exploration of the world, a methodical investigation into any of the questions that children or adults ask themselves about the world, and something that each of us can do any day. In Sweden, bank notes carry the great scientist Carl von Linne’s maxim “Omnia mirari etiam tritissima” (find wonder in everything, even the most commonplace). And that is why children love science at school — early on. Sadly, however, studies and the experience of countless teachers around the world have shown that children lose both curiosity and interest in science as they go from elementary to junior high school. By the age of 12 or 14, they find science boring, stuffy (too many facts and terms to learn) and unrelated to their world. In parallel, they do not want to read anymore, shrinking their minds and their imagination. Children lose both curiosity and interest in science as they go from elementary to junior high school Nidhal Guessoum In 2019, the Institution of Engineering and Technology found that interest in science had gone down 10 percent among nine to 12-year-old children in the previous four years. Seventy-two percent of the surveyed primary and secondary teachers of STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math) attributed the decline mainly to time pressure, that is having to teach a very full curriculum; 57 percent mentioned poor resources; and 42 percent pointed to class distractions as causes for that decline. Responding to alarming studies about children steering away from science and engineering at an early age, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers issued a report in 2010 calling for a focus on the 11 to 14 age group, Years 7, 8 and 9 in school, as the crucial period for engaging and inspiring students in STEM subjects. It also pointed out that engineering has the lowest proportion of females, hence engaging girls at an early age is likely to have a disproportionately positive effect on their attitudes toward STEM subjects as a career. In the last few years, I have been heavily involved in an ambitious science education project spanning the Arab-Muslim world (Algeria, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar) and aiming to reignite 10 to 14-year-old children’s interest in science, as well as improving science teachers’ approach and passion toward STEM subjects. We call our project and approach “Holistic Science Teaching,” by which we mean bridging and connecting natural science (biology, chemistry, physics, geology, environmental science) and technology (electronics, computers, etc.) to the rest of human knowledge (history, sociology, ethics, philosophy, religion). The holistic approach makes students and teachers much more interested in and excited by the science subjects Nidhal Guessoum We conduct intensive workshops with middle-school teachers, revisiting the different characteristics and methods of science, history, philosophy, religion and ethics, and explore pedagogical approaches that promote curiosity. We show the teachers that science cannot and should not be disconnected from other fields of knowledge and, in fact, most of the interesting and striking questions that kids ask in early science classes connect science to other fields. A few examples will illustrate this: Are humans special or are they just a different animal? Are there extraterrestrial beings out there? If yes, are they more intelligent than us? Is nuclear energy good or bad? Can humans make robots more intelligent than themselves? Early results in our project (which involves classroom implementation of our principles following the workshop training) have shown that the holistic approach makes students and teachers much more interested in and excited by the science subjects, seeing fascinating connections to the rest of knowledge and learning, as well as relevance to their world and to the questions they want to ask. We believe that nurturing curiosity by constantly and frequently showing all kinds of connections in knowledge as a whole is the key to success in science education. And raising standards of performance in education generally, and STEM in particular, is the key to our countries’ development and prosperity. Indeed, as Benjamin Franklin stated simply in his book “The Way to Wealth,” “an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Nidhal Guessoum holds the Sheikha Nama Majid Al Qassimi Endowed Chair in Education Across Disciplines at the American University of Sharjah, UAE. Twitter: @NidhalGuessoum Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News" point of view