One of my young (exceptionally talented) bridge engineers, Eric, also participates in a long list of hobbies and activities outside the office. One of them is scuba diving. Eric likes to dive in the cold waters off the north shore of Boston, where he explores underground wrecks and selects lobsters for dinner. Last week, Eric visited a pre-school class to give a demonstration on scuba diving.
The teacher asked the kids about what they learned, and here’s what they had to say:
Blaise: The flippers and the tank and the jacket and the snorkel and the book and the computer.
Dylan: He showed us a compass that had string and you need to go forwards, sideways or backwards. And he also used a big oxygen tank on his back. And he uses the underwater computer that changes color and it tells him things. He used how much water is above him and how deep he went. And he had an underwater book. And he a suit and there's a blue button on a tube that would blow the suit up and a gray button that would blow it back down. Also, he had a snorkel that squirted water up above the water. He had a black breather and if that one broke down and he was under water, he used a green back-up one and then he could breathe. And he used goggles.
Simon: What if he his oxygen broke and all those things broke and he was underwater and he couldn't come back up? He couldn't breathe.
Dylan: He also used a jacket and he had a water suit. And the last part, he used boots and he put the flippers on and he used boots. And he grabbed a lobster and put it in a yellow net. And then you would eat it for a snack, breakfast, lunch or dinner. And a measure for the lobsters to make sure they're not a mother. And if they were a mother, they would put them back in the ocean. And the last thing that he used was gloves and that's all!
Simon: I tried on a flipper. The end was short. At the park I helped make a cake. And then the first cake we made was really tall and then Blaise wrecked it and then the last thing we did was scuba dive at the park.