The Hidden Importance of Moths When most people think of moths, they picture little insects fluttering around a porch light at night. Some may even see them as pests. But moths are far more important than many of us realize. These small creatures play a big role in keeping our environment balanced, and they can even tell us important things about the health of our world. Moths as Pollinators Moth Like butterflies, moths help pollinate flowers. What makes moths special is that they are active at night. This means they take over when bees and butterflies are resting. Some plants even depend on moths for pollination because their flowers only open after dark. Without moths, many nighttime-blooming plants would struggle to survive. A Food Source for Wildlife Moths are a key part of the food chain. Birds, bats, frogs, and even some small mammals rely on moths and their caterpillars for food. In fact, a single pair of birds feeding their chicks may need thousands of caterpillars in just a fe...
“Every country on earth at the moment is reforming public education.”
– Sir Ken Robinson
The key point coming from Ken Robinson’s TED talk is that education should always be relevant to the reality of its learners. It was intriguing to me that much of our modern education system was birthed in the Enlightenment Era and as a response to the Industrial Revolution. It was also interesting to note that even though we have been through other massive eras of social transformation, such as the World Wide Web and Globalization, that the system has not flexed much to accommodate all the changes that have occurred in learning.
As a life long learner, I am convinced that true learning is self directed and continuous. It is stimulation that entices people to thirst for and seek out knowledge. That causes people to dialogue and collaborate around issues they are passionate about and thereby acquire skills to contribute meaningfully to society and enact change. In essence it’s divergent, experiential and practical not scripted, theory dominant and impractical. When I think of the work that I get paid to do these days, I can honestly say that much of that knowledge was not learned, by rote, in the classroom. A lot of my learning occurred through working and collaborating with others around things that fascinated me; around things I could explore and experiment with in my own personal time and at my own pace.
Parting words…
Don’t just take my word for it…I highly recommend watching this video because if nothing else it may challenge the way you have been taught view education and the human capacity.
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