January 2nd is selected for this day because it was Isaac Asimov’s birthday, Jan. 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992. Asimov was an American author best known for his works of science fiction and popular science books.
Some of Asimov’s predictions for the year 2014 (that he wrote in 1964):
“Communications will become sight-sound and you will see as well as hear the person you telephone. The screen can be used not only to see the people you call but also for studying documents and photographs and reading passages from books. Synchronous satellites, hovering in space will make it possible for you to direct-dial any spot on earth, including the weather stations in Antarctica.”
“Robots will neither be common nor very good in 2014, but they will be in existence.”
“[T]he world population will be 6,500,000,000 and the population of the United States will be 350,000,000.”
World population is 7 billion and the US has 317 million.
Make Your Own Predictions
Here’s a video from 1964 of Arthur Clarke talking about what life might be like in 2000.
Talk to your kids about how technology has changed and affected our lives over time, such as the telephone, mail, the internet, etc. Ask them to make their own predictions.
Write down their predictions or better yet, make a video. You could even make a time capsule to open at a later time!
Here’s a few of my kids’ wishes for the future:
“A way to be in 2 places at once.”
“Changes to computers so that ‘screen time’ would be something you could do all day.” (that’s my son of course)
Make Space Crafts
Puffy Moon
http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2009/05/lunar-landing.html
Read Sci Fi Books
- http://best-sci-fi-books.com/25-best-science-fiction-books-for-kids/
- Books we love: The Hobbit, A Wrinkle in Time, The Giver
- Books we want to read: Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, A Wind in the Door, The Arm of the Starfish
Watch Sci Fi Movies
