Old Man in a Peanut - #Inquiry #Edchat

As I was flying home the other day, I sat next to a young girl and her mother. I noticed that the girl, who was maybe 4 or 5 years old, was playing a game on her mother's phone. The flight attendant passed out the usual snacks, which gave me an idea. I asked the girl's mother if her daughter had ever heard of the old man in the peanut. Neither of them had. I asked if I could show her daughter and she said I could. I opened a peanut and revealed the small man with a beard hiding inside just like my grandfather did for me when I was her age. They were both so surprised. I asked the girl how she thought he got in there. The phone was now sitting in her lap and she was turning the peanut in her hand. She picked at the small man and he popped out. His beard now missing. I gave her another peanut and she opened it up. I could tell she was curious. She began exploring other peanuts and noticed that there were differences between each little face. Some were longer or narrower or had pointier beards. She looked carefully at the beards and slowly looked at each one until she ate it. She never answered me but the peanuts took the place of the phone. With a couple small questions, I changed perspectives forever. I would not be surprised to see them opening other types of seeds. I would hope that in some small way, they never looked at seeds in the same way again. I wondered if the idea virus I planted would spread to other people. We got off the plane and went our separate ways. After nine months in a classroom, we all change perspectives and give students tools to explore and see the world in different ways. We hope they continue to be curious. For most, we will never know the results of what we shared with them. We just hope that the idea viruses we shared will get passed along. Long live the old man in the peanut.