A story from an academic summer camp where I used to work:
In the dining hall one morning, a teacher sees three kids putting ice cubes into the toaster. The teacher walks up to them. Two of the kids dash away, leaving the third to fend for herself.
Teacher: "What are you doing?"
Student: "Putting ice cubes into the toaster."
Teacher: "Why would you do that?"
Student: "To see what would happen."
Teacher: "Okay. Let's think about this. What happens to ice when it gets hot?"
Student: "It melts?"
Teacher: "Yes, it melts into water. And what happens when you put water into an electronic device like a toaster?"
Student: "...it goes boom?"
Teacher: "So should you put ice into the toaster?"
Student: "No."
Teacher: "Thank you."
This is a camp explicitly for gifted & talented students, by the way. They are exceptionally talented in many ways, but they're still 11 years old.
> This was a camp explicitly for gifted & talented students, I might add
Believe me, they're the worst ;)
My son recently got on the wrong train to get home from school, it was one that was "fast" that is it doesn't stop in the place where we live, his train sailed straight through our station and the next several stations, before it finally stopped somewhere and he got off.
At this point he (rightly) whipped out his phone and called me for help/advice. I checked the train timetables, figured out that although I could have gone and picked him up in the car, it would actually be quicker - and perhaps a learning experience - for him to get the train back.
So, I told him "go to platform X and get the train at HH:MM and it will bring you home".
He went to platform X, but unwisely got on the first train which arrived, which unfortunately was a delayed - fast(!) - service. So, he ended up going in the other direction on a fast train - and (again) not stopping - straight through our station, until his train eventually reached somewhere it did stop at.
At this point he phoned me in tears. I got in the car and drove there to pick him up.
We filed that under "learning experience". We seem to be having plenty of them...
In the dining hall one morning, a teacher sees three kids putting ice cubes into the toaster. The teacher walks up to them. Two of the kids dash away, leaving the third to fend for herself.
Teacher: "What are you doing?"
Student: "Putting ice cubes into the toaster."
Teacher: "Why would you do that?"
Student: "To see what would happen."
Teacher: "Okay. Let's think about this. What happens to ice when it gets hot?"
Student: "It melts?"
Teacher: "Yes, it melts into water. And what happens when you put water into an electronic device like a toaster?"
Student: "...it goes boom?"
Teacher: "So should you put ice into the toaster?"
Student: "No."
Teacher: "Thank you."
This is a camp explicitly for gifted & talented students, by the way. They are exceptionally talented in many ways, but they're still 11 years old.