My love letter to STE(A)M March 2020

This is a love letter to my career, as somebody who helps educators with their daily challenges. This article is not aimed at anybody in particular, but if this brings you some hope in the midst of this crisis, be my guest and enjoy the ride.

--- Hippocrates refers to an epidemic in 412 B.C.

So, today I woke up - and as soon as I open my eyes the first thing I'm did was check my work email - a notification of a Quora user asking this question.

"Why do people spend billions on finding a black holes and reaching distant stars when there are nobler causes on our planet?"

I'm actually very tired of getting this kind of question. Earlier in January when I shared a post by my coworker Santiago titled some of the most innovative ideas being developed by NASA in 2020, I got a particular response that particularly irked me.

-but don't get me wrong, it was a well-constructed argument, made by a psychologist in my network.

Why do governments invest billions of dollars to search for black holes, when there are much more urgent and noble projects that would deserve on our Earth so full of problems to solve?

This same question was also asked to NASA's scientific director 42 years ago. I'm going to have to use his wisdom to answer this question, as NASA's common purpose is to pioneer exploration and leave an enduring impact on humankind.

This was his answer:

“About 400 years ago, an earl lived in a city in Germany. He was one of those good nobles and used to give a good part of his earnings to his poor fellow citizens, as there was a lot of poverty and the recurrent epidemics caused serious problems. One day the earl met a stranger. He had a work table and a small workshop at home, he worked hard during the day to have a few hours each night to work in his laboratory. He put together small lenses made of pieces of glass; He mounted them inside some cylinders and used them to observe very small objects. The earl was fascinated by what could be seen through those tools, things he had never seen before. He invited the man to transfer his workshop to the castle, becoming a special commissioner for the realization and improvement of his optical instruments." 

"The people of the city were very angry when they realized that the count was committing his money in that way without a specific purpose. "We suffered from the plague," they said, "while you pay that man for his useless hobbies!" But the count remained firm in his positions. "I give you everything I can," he said, "but I will also support this man and his work because I believe that one day something good will come out of this."

"We suffered from the plague"

Sounds familiar, huh? Sorry, I'm a huge pathology nerd who got H1N1 back in 2009.

Either way, let's continue.

"And indeed, something good happened, thanks to the work of other people in different places: the invention of the microscope. It is known that this invention has contributed more than many other ideas to the progress of medicine and that the elimination of the plague and other contagious diseases in many parts of the world has been possible in large part thanks to studies carried out under the microscope. By dedicating part of his money to research and discovering new things, the Earl contributed much more to alleviate human suffering than he could have done to give all his money to plague patients."

If you'd like to know more about NASA's budget, feel free to click here

Going back to the message I got from the psychologist, I told them that I valued their opinion and I actually agreed with many of the points they had said, but I had to put my foot down and make him understand that we are working towards the same goal. What I am currently doing right now by advocating NASA, advocating STEAM is bringing technology- the knowledge of the leading scientists and tech of Fortune 500 companies - into classrooms. I advocate NASA’s legacy of excellence and innovation to reach for new heights and reveal the unknown for the benefit of humankind.

One of the schools I'm working with right now has ELL and low-income children, bringing these skills alongside their STEM classes is going to help our most vulnerable households.

You can't deny that science teaches us about our past, how math can be used to deal with events that shape our everyday life - without the knowledge and research we had gathered from previous pandemic events like the Spanish Flu - we wouldn't be able to develop the strategies that today are preventing harm and saving billions of people across the globe while dealing with COVID-19, and will help us with the upcoming challenges that are to come. We have all heard of the Superbug problem being created by people using anti-biotics and giving certain bacteria immunity to our drugs, right?

Real-time evidence of flattening the curve. Lodi had the first Covid-19 case in Italy and implemented a shutdown on Feb 23. Bergamo waited until March 8. Lodi is coping and handling better with the situation, while Bergamo is letting their oldest die.

Using the knowledge we've gathered to explore the cosmos to help younger generations to overcome said problems will be key for our future. I've spoken with teachers who used their Spanish class to talk about the ethics and science behind the geneva convention too.

The technological transformation since the Industrial Revolution has helped curb ancient evils, from child mortality to hunger and ignorance. Yes, the planet is warming and antibiotic resistance is spreading. But the solution to such problems calls for the deployment of more technology, not less. So as the decade turns, put aside the gloom for a moment. To be alive in the tech-obsessed 2020s is STILL to be among the luckiest people who have ever lived.

Most of the things we use today are due to space research. Very often searches are so complicated that it is difficult to find the cause and effect connection. Studying the light from a star has led us to capture shadow lines in the electromagnetic spectrum, which in turn has led us to discover how to analyze the chemical composition of objects without touching and dissecting them. The search for life on Mars has led us to create devices that effectively analyze the presence of bacteria in aseptic environments. Einstein's relativity, to the prediction of the functioning of the cosmos and, consequently, to the creation of things like the GPS System.

Looking at a black hole will allow us to have new data, that will bring new theories, that will bring new inventions that will give indisputable advantages to humanity.

If you have any ideas that could help more schools accomplish that, I'm more than open to include them into our current curriculum. My goal is to ensure all aspects of education benefit, everyone. My goal, our goal in Cubit, is to help every child, well... Create!

I've noticed many conversations around setting up internet-based classrooms, so don't hesitate to ask me for help. I'm hoping to help teachers and parents alike.