“All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
As a former science teacher, how could I not love this Emerson quote? When I taught chemistry, my favorite days in the classroom were days we did experiments, so we did a lot of them.
I never really cared if my students memorized the Ideal Gas Law Equation (PV = nRT) or knew the elements of the periodic table by heart. I wanted them to understand that we learn through experimentation and to know what it takes to make a good experiment.
A good experiment is not necessarily one in which your original hypothesis is confirmed. Some of the most valuable experiments are ones in which we are surprised by the outcome. In science, as in life, we must be prepared for unexpected events.
A good experiment is also not one in which there are no errors. We are human, we will err. It is good to have confidence enough to examine your method of problem-solving for ways to improve for the next time. And there usually is a next time.
Finally, a good experiment is one that is challenging, yet enjoyable, because that is a good attitude to have toward life: seek out challenges and have a good time. I wanted my students to learn to be problem solvers, both in the chemistry classroom and in life. Experimentation is a valuable tool to accomplish those goals.
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” – Isaiah 43:19
I am linking with Welcome Heart for Let’s Have Coffee, Soaring with Him for Recharge Wednesday, Debbie at Dare 2 Hear, Crystal Storms for Heart Encouragement, Rachel Marie Lee, Jessica and Amy at Live Life Well, Raisie Bay for Word of the Week, Susan B Mead for Dancing With Jesus, Embracing the Unexpected for Grace and Truth, Lyli Dunbar for Faith on Fire, and Worth Beyond Rubies.
Please click on the following link to read more funny or inspirational one-liners. One-Liner Wednesday.
Meditations in Motion 
This is an important message. We seem to live in a society that wants all the answers handed to us.
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Yes, sometimes students wanted me to hand them the answer, but it meant more when they discovered it for themselves!
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Experiments are such a great way to learn. I like your attitude toward them.
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Yes. Kids need to be able to fail without it being too painful so they can try again. with a new plan
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I was always a theater nerd, but one of my favorite and most inspiring high school teachers was my biology teacher in my junior year. She, like all good science teachers, ignited a sense of wonder framed by intellectual rigor. I even like dissecting the frogs and giant earthworms 🙂
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That sense of wonder combined with intellectual rigor was always what I was aiming for as a teacher too! The dissecting was what convinced me to major in chemistry, rather than biology, though! 🙂
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I like that you say: “We are human, we will err.” It is so easy to want to beat ourselves up over the little things sometimes.
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Yes, I certainly do that way too often. We do need to learn to be kind and forgiving with ourselves, just as we are with friends and family (or maybe it’s just me who needs to learn that!)
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Oh no, me too … and the rest of the world it seems as well Laurie.
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That last scripture quote really spoke to me today. Thank you Laurie!
Bless you,
Jennifer
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So glad I included it. Thank you, Jennifer!
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Great post.
I will be experimenting with training for 26.2.
I hope I get a good result.
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Oh, nice, Darlene! Good luck. I hope you get a good result too!
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I really like that saying (as someone who doesn’t really do motivational sayings that’s quite something). Thinking this way about life puts less pressure on people to get things right, or be perfect.
#abitofeverything
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That Ralph Waldo had some great quotes! We all need some space t try new things without the possibility of disaster if we don’t get it right the first time!
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Laurie, I didn’t realize you were a science teacher. As a student who feared doing the experiment incorrectly, I can still say, I always enjoyed the experiment. It is so true, the lessons stick, and are more meaningful, when we are hands on in life. I am also grateful He goes with me into every new “experiment” – also known as experiences. Have a great Wednesday!
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So true, Joanne. He does go with us for every new experiment. I think we all need some space to try new things without getting it perfect right off the bat! 🙂
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I’m guessing that you were definitely a favorite teacher for many, Laurie! It sounds like you truly lived your calling (and still are).
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Thank you, Judy. I always did feel like I lived my calling. I loved teaching, but the schedule wore me out!
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I knew you used to be a teacher but I didn’t know you taught science. I’m a scientist! It seems like there are a lot of runners who are also scientists.
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Oh, so cool! I didn’t know you are a scientist.
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Love this analogy! laurensparks.net
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Thank you, Lauren.
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Great post. The satisfaction of figuring something out; following through to the end and learning from it, is a lesson for both chemistry class and life
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Thank you, Glen. That sense of satisfaction was exactly what I was aiming for with my students.
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It was a great post. Something we all need to keep in mind.
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Life consists of one experiment after the other! I hope you had a lovely Mom’s Day!
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I did have a lovely Mom’s Day, thank you Susan. I hope you did too!
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I loved Honors Chemistry my junior year but was destroyed by AP Chemistry my senior year. Had our teacher not curved our tests I think we all would’ve failed. I did well with the problems, but struggled with labs. I always felt like there were “common sense directions” missing from them; I’m very much a tell me every step type when it comes to following recipes, etc. so it never failed that I would tend to miss a step in a lab if it wasn’t spelled out for me!
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I taught Honors Chemistry, but never AP. In fact, our school did not have AP Chem until after I retired. I never wanted to teach it – I felt like it was too rigid and took some of the fun out of the class.
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Experiments are the best teacher, always have been. 🙂
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I agree 100%!
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Absolutely love the metaphor! A great one – everybody has to find their own path and no matter what advice we get, ultimately we will make our own mistakes #abitofeverything
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So true. Kids need a space to make some mistakes without them turning into a disaster. I always aimed to provide that safe space.
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Discovery is a gift! Thanks for these things to think on.
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So true. I love thinking about it in those terms – a gift.
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I love learning new things, so I love experiments too. And sometimes I love reading about other people’s experiments before I try them myself! ha. I wonder what experiments I can try today. Thanks, Laurie.
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I hope your experiments are good ones, Lisa!
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When I saw the title of this post in a linkup gathering, I KNEW it was yours, and couldn’t wait to read it. We’re in the throes of homeschool chemistry here, and, honestly, the experiments hardly ever turn out as neatly as the text book says they will, but there’s so much good that we learn from paying attention and then writing down what we see.
Chemistry is good for writers.
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Michele, you are a good mom and teacher to slog through chemistry with your son! 🙂 That’s one of the wonderful/frustrating things about chemistry – the experiments hardly ever turn out perfectly. Error exists in every lab. It IS good for writers. I never thought about it in that way!
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So true! In science and in life. So many people get upset when an experiment fails – they don’t understand that they learned something just the same, maybe more so, than if it had succeeded.
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Exactly. that was one of the hardest lessons I had to teach my students. The important thing was that they learned something – it didn’t matter whether the lab turned out as they thought it should!
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I learn so much more by experimenting and exploring options
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Exactly! The whole point of experimenting is to learn!
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These laws of science tie perfectly with life. You are making me want to do a scientific experiment. Great way to look at life.
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Yes. We all need a place to experiment without too big a risk of failure if it doesn’t work out the way we hoped. Thank you!
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…and it doesn’t come instructions!
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No. It would be boring if it did!
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Excellent! So many are afraid of failing, they do not even try. But failing is how we learn. Although I would just call it learning and skip the idea that if something doesn’t turn out right the first time it’s a failure. I’d like to abolish that word.
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I’d like to abolish that word too. I think everyone needs a safe place to try new things. I tried to give my students that place when I taught.
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That makes you a wonderful teacher! They were lucky to have you.
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Trying things in life, and learning on your own, is the best way, I think! Many times I make a safe decision only afraid of failure. I agree with Michelle’s comment that we need to abolish that word! Thanks for linking up!
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Yes, how many times have I tried to play it safe, only to find that my “safe” choice wasn’t really safe after all? Thank you for the chance to share, Michelle!
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We need to experiment in order to learn. Such an important message Thanks for linking to #ablogginggoodtime
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Thank you for the chance to share!
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When I was in school, I thought it was so important to ‘know’ the material. I sure could have used a teacher like you 🙂
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Awww…that’s nice of you to say that. 🙂
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So very true. Life is one big series of experiments. Sometimes those unexpected outcomes are the ones we learn most from. #ablogginggoodtime
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Exactly – the unexpected outcomes are often the best learning experiences!
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brilliant post, very important message
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Thank you!
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Teaching your students to be good problem solvers was so valuable to them. They were lucky to have such a good and caring teacher!
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Thank you so much, Deb! I was lucky to have been a teacher for 30+ years!
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I like that quote! It goes well with my motto of growing and learning about oneself as we live through our experiences. It’s not supposed to be all figured out by a certain age or deadline. Life is about learning as we go. Love the quote. #abitofeverthing
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I agree. we should all be able to keep learning for our entire lives. Thank you!
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I wonder if my blog is worth reading!
https://wondernspeculate.wordpress.com/
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