Montessori in the News

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Ten-year-old discovers 'new molecule' while tinkering with educational model

By Nina Golgowski
4th February 2012
+ Watch Video in Original Article

A 10-year-old Missouri girl may be the youngest in history to discover a new molecule after a brief introduction on molecular formation by her middle school science teacher.

Clara Lazen of Kansas City was piecing together over-sized atoms from an educational model in her Border Star Montessori School classroom when she composed something her teacher had never seen before.

'I just saw that these go together more,' Clara told Fox4 while holding up her molecule's model. 'Like, they fit more together and they look better. And all the holes have to be filled in for it to be stable.'

When she showed it to her teacher Ken Boehr, he in turn reached out to a friend and PhD chemistry professor at Humboldt State University in Arcata California for advice.

Sure enough, after completing a computer analysis on her formation, the University professor Dr Robert Zoellner turned back to the two to say it looked real, just previously unheard of.

Today Clara's molecule is the highlight of a scientific publication in a major theoretical chemistry journal by Dr Zoellner which features her name as well as her teacher's as co-authors.

'I have never partnered with a middle school student, a 10 or 11 year old student. Never happened before,' Dr Zoellner told Fox4.

What remains to be seen however are the tests behind her possible discovery. 

Can it be synthesized by chemical engineers?

Dr Zoellner says he's working to capture a major research university to begin the experiments and find out.

Being able to synthesize or physically create her molecule could lead to the possible creation of products like medicine, batteries and even, as Clara notes, explosives.

'And I was like, ‘Yeah, I can sell this to the military for money,’' Clara laughed.

She's already discussed splitting the money with Mr Boehr.

'Hopefully in Clara’s case and in her classmates’ cases, as well, this [discovery] will keep their interest in science going,' Dr Zoellner said.

MONTESSORI IN THE NEWS

"Superwoman was Already Here" - 321Draw Video
The original blog post by Montessori parent Daniel Petter-Lipstein
+ Read Blog Post

"Montessori: The Missing Voice in the Education Reform Debate"
Huffington Post, Jan. 27, 2012
"Over a century ago, Dr. Maria Montessori discovered through scientific observations of children that they are not empty vessels to be filled -- they are intrinsically motivated doers. She saw that providing a hands-on learning environment that valued choice, concentration, collaboration, community, curiosity, and real-world application produced lifelong learners who viewed "work" as something interesting and fulfilling instead of drudgery to be avoided...." 

"Montessori Mafia"
The Wall Street Journal, April 5, 2011
It may seem like a laughable “only in New York” story that Manhattan mother, Nicole Imprescia, is suing her 4-year-old daughter’s untraditional private preschool for failing to prepare her for a private school admissions exam.

But her daughter’s future and ours might be much brighter with a little less conditioning to perform well on tests and more encouragement to discover as they teach in Montessori schools. Ironically, the Montessori educational approach might be the surest route to joining the creative elite, which are so overrepresented by the school’s alumni that one might suspect a Montessori Mafia: Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, videogame pioneer Will Wright, and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, not to mention Julia Child and rapper Sean “P.Diddy” Combs.

Is there something going on here?  Is there something about the Montessori approach that nurtures creativity and inventiveness that we can all learn from?