Science is a breeze
'There's a lot of kids that are moving so fast they're not taking time to get back in touch with nature," maintains TV meteorologist David Epstein. "They don't think about their connection, their place in the world with nature."
In a bid to help rectify that, Epstein has devised a science program for kids that he will teach this summer at the JCC Maccabi Camp Kingswood in Bridgton, Maine.
Science? In the summer? "Kids go to music camp, kids go to soccer camp," responds Epstein, 44, of Natick. "Science camp: Well, there are kids out there - I would have been one of them - who want to learn about science."
"When you slow kids down and they're in small groups and out in nature, it becomes really neat for them, relating that to some of the things they hear on the news today about air quality, water quality, what happened to those trees, what kind of trees are they," he adds. "This is going be a challenge. It's not just meteorology. There will be geology, chemistry, and environmental science. Rather than tests, it's really about the hands-on experience. It's a living-laboratory kind of summer."
His summer at Camp Kingswood will represent something of a homecoming for Epstein, who worked as a counselor and administrator at the camp two decades ago.
Epstein says there will be "a thread of Judaism" running through the science program. "In Judaism, the planet and the outdoors and nature are very important," he says. "There's a huge respect for the environment in Judaism, from trees planted in Israel all the way through the holidays. I'll try to bring that out throughout the summer."
Epstein has been a freelance meteorologist at WCVB-TV (Channel 5) for many years, but has not been on the air there for a while. This summer, he plans to do the weekend weather forecasts on WGME-TV (Channel 13) in Portland, Maine. He also teaches meteorology at Framingham State College, and runs a website devoted to gardening, at www.GrowingWisdom.com, where he produces videos on conservation and how to care for plants.
It all began with a childhood passion for science. "I just loved it as a little kid," he recalls. "I was fascinated by snowstorms and thunderstorms, always at the window. I'm hoping that some of the kids I work with this summer are interested in the sciences." 