The mystery of mass extinction.

Over a week ago, Tiarnan, 6, peered up at me, with questioning eyes, as we waited for his school bus, to take him to school in the morning.

“Daddy, why did all the dinosaurs die, but other animals are still alive?”

He had a point.

I then explained to him how many of today’s animals did not exist at the time of the dinosaurs. I explained that they had evolved since then and did not, therefore, have a chance to die in the extinction event that killed the dinosaurs.

He didn’t comment on my answer, he just listened, quietly.

I found his question impressive in a way. It shows that he is not just acquiring facts, but considering the “whys” of how they could have become, in the first place. It was clear to him, that not all animals had been treated the same way, it seemed...some lived and many had died. Therefore, he saw the fact that there were animals alive today, as a mystery in itself. That is an interesting way to turn around the question of mass extinction – he was not asking, “Why had the dinosaurs died?”, he was, in fact, asking: “Why had all these other animals not died?” That is quite a sophisticated way to reconsider the facts.

I rather like my mornings sending Tiarnan to school, even though it is very early. I like them because he is very alert and filled with questions. He likes to probe the mysteries of the world, through me, by posing questions whilst we wait for the bus. Some of them are scientific in flavour and answer – and some of them philosophical. Whichever it is, I am pleased to hear him, for by asking questions, of me, he is answering one of my own: “What is in my son’s head?” It is ever pleasing to find out. So, carry on questioning, Tiarnan!

Posted by Valentine Cawley.

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Close encounter of the Bird Kind.

Fintan's trip to the Zoo with Tiarnan had, as usual, its moments of surprise.

As we wandered about the Zoo, we encountered, a peacock running freely about. It was a male with its tail feathers hidden from display. It approached Fintan rather closely and he must have felt threatened by this, given their relative sizes (the peacock was quite big from Fintan's perspective). So, as the peacock neared, Fintan raised a short stick he happened to have in his hands, clearly intending to throw it at the bird to scare him off.

"Don't do that Fintan!" I ordered, quickly.

He dropped his raised arm, then said: "Why? Is it because it has dinosaur feet?"

I looked down at the bird's feet and, sure enough, the feet looked like those typically depicted for dinosaurs. Fintan, three, had spotted the commonality between birds and dinosaurs by observation. Presumably, he was saying that if it had dinosaur feet, perhaps it was like dinosaurs in other ways too - and so might prove to be unexpectedly dangerous, if he attacked it.

With a heightened respect, he let his arm fall and just watched the bird carefully. It didn't approach any nearer and, perhaps sensing that all was not well with Fintan's response, it backed off and away.

Fintan was very content in the Zoo. His liking for animals is most clear and there, he seems to be most happy.

(If you would like to read more of Fintan, three, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, seven years and six months, or Tiarnan, sixteen months, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted children and gifted adults in general. Thanks.)

A dinosaur in Singapore

Two days ago, Fintan, three, was at the pool with us. He had been in the water for some time, and had come out to talk to us - and ready himself for departure.

Suddenly he looked down at the floor and saw some smudged watermarks. He peered closely then looked up, sure of his find: "Dinosaur footprints!" he declaimed, of the marks on the ground, no doubt imagining the critter having just run around the corner. He looked again, and noting their small size said: "Baby dinosaurs!"

Fintan's world is an imaginative one - and one that I like, thereby. He doesn't just live in Singapore - he lives near the "jungle" - where anything can happen, and many a thing does live. His world is more alive than the real world, more filled with possibility - and it is wonderful to see it. I hope that it is ever that way and that he doesn't become like most adults who exclude the possibility of the fantastic from their minds with dull automaticity. I would like to see him continue on this imaginative path and become a creative adult one day, like many of his relatives. It would, I think, suit him.

I didn't cast doubt, therefore, on his assessment that a baby dinosaur had left those watery footprints, for his view was a better, more interesting one than the truth. His view was one that entertained a possibility that others might not. His view was one that allowed him to imagine a world that was not, but which would be more interesting than the one in which we live.

Of course, there was another reason why he might think of those somewhat rounded half dried footprints as dinosaurian - for long ago, as I have explained in a previous post, he saw a "baby dinosaur" one day - actually a large lizard. This peopled his world with the possibility that dinosaurs might be just around the corner. He is not at fault for this view - for I introduced the lizard to him as a "baby dinosaur" - for it made perfect a "dinosaur hunt" one day.

Many children believe in fairies and ghosts and the like. I have a son who believes in dinosaurs. Well, at least there are lizards, today - which look awfully like them - and at least they did actually live - one day.

Fintan spots a dinosaur

Fintan, three, has long wanted to see a dinosaur. I think this is an extension of his interest in animals. He has carefully surveyed his world but sees no overt signs of them. About six months ago, however, something very strange happened.

It was a Sunday. My wife had gone out with the other kids, leaving me with Fintan. To keep him interested I promised to take him to see where the dinosaurs were. This quite appealed to him and he soon readied himself for some dinosaur watching.

He sat in his pram, legs dangling over the side, for it would be far too far to walk at that age - or at least I had thought so.

We were to go to a wooded area near us: a kind of preserve, into which I intended to push the pram, if I could find the elusive entrance. All along the journey from our home to our destination, there were trees and vegetation at the roadside.

To keep up his interest, I asked him to look out for the dinosaurs in the woods - and he peered with great care into their midst. This stance went on for some minutes as we approached our goal.

Suddenly, in a moment of pure childhood magic, a giant green lizard came rushing out of the vegetation in front of us. It was quite the biggest lizard I had seen in Singapore. I couldn't identify its breed - but it really was at least a couple of feet long and quite bulky. I don't think it was a "Komodo Dragon" - for I have seen those in Malaysia - but it was impressive. It was green, tough looking - and dinosaurian.

Fintan's eyes were agog. Before him was a "dinosaur"...

"Look Fintan! It is a baby dinosaur!"

He was speechless. The "dinosaur" ran ahead of us for about ten metres then ducked back into the vegetation, having decided that it didn't want to be on the road.

Fintan craned to see where it had gone and only relaxed when it was clear that it was no longer to be seen.

The trip was a great success. In the most unlikely of ways, Fintan had come to see the "dinosaur" that Daddy had promised him. Never had I expected to fulfil the requirements of the day...but I had.

That evening, Fintan enthused about the "baby dinosaur" he had seen, to his mother, telling how big it had been - and how it had suddenly jumped out in front of him.

What a magical day.

(If you would like to read more about Fintan, three, or his gifted brothers, Ainan Celeste Cawley, a scientific child prodigy, aged seven years and four months, or Tiarnan, aged fourteen months, then please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html I also write of gifted education, IQ, intelligence, child prodigy, child genius, baby genius, adult genius, savant, the creatively gifted, gifted children and gifted adults in general. Thanks.)