At the same time, PhD students are given the opportunity to translate their research skills into understandable and accessible communication. In the show, scientists answer live questions from children in a creative and playful way, often using visual and practical examples. The project travels annually to different cities in the Netherlands and is financed by NWO, Utrecht University and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, among others. The Hoe?Zo! Show was founded by Barbara Braams.
Future vision Hoe?Zo! Show
The ambition is that initiatives such as the Hoe?Zo! Show gain a permanent place within education, especially at schools with diverse backgrounds. Teaching scientific/critical thinking - such as asking questions, forming hypotheses and dealing critically with information - is essential, especially at a time when information is abundant but not always reliable. Tatvan Todor: "I hope the show contributes to making science accessible to all children."
Significant impact
The Hoe?Zo! Show shows where science is moving: more emphasis on impact, accessibility and connection to society. As scientists, we often work within academic walls, but initiatives like this one make knowledge visible and relevant. At the same time, we as researchers ourselves are also learning to communicate better and think outside our own box. Especially at the Hoe?Zo! Show, I go home every time with the feeling that those kids taught me more than I taught them and that they have rekindled my curiosity about the world.
Biggest challenge
The biggest challenge is to make complex concepts accessible to children without underestimating what they can understand. As scientists, we sometimes think too quickly that something is too difficult, while children are often surprisingly good at thinking along. Where adults sometimes get stuck in jargon, children actually show how flexible thinking can be. Questions such as "Does the universe have an end?" force us to explain abstract theories in a visual and understandable way.
Examples of questions
Great questions we received from the children in the audience and were allowed to answer on the spot:
"Which brain disease is the worst?"
We depicted this with two sponges: one with large holes and one with smaller holes. This way we showed what happens to your brain in diseases like Parkinson's or Alzheimer's (diseases children often know about through their grandparents).
We explained that "the worst" disease depends on the person. For someone who relies heavily on memory (like a scientist), Alzheimer's can be very drastic, while Parkinson's can be very tough for someone who has always danced, for example, because of the movement problems.
We linked this back to their curiosity: why do some people get these diseases? Why especially the elderly? And can we cure them?
"How can we see? "
For this we used a large beach ball as an eye, a pool noodle as a rod (receptor) and a violin case as a cone. Using colored balls (photons), we showed how light is captured.
We explained that cones provide color vision during the day, while rods are more sensitive and help us in the dark - especially to see outlines and black and white. From there, a nice follow-up question also arose: what about blindness? And can blind people dream colors?