Looking Deeper into “Why?”

A child asked his mother a question: “What color is the sky?” She answered, “Blue.” The boy then asked, “Why is it blue?” And the mother answered, “Because light has all colors, but blue is the color that interacts with the air and bounces off to be seen by our eyes.” The child is impressed with the answer, but then follows up with: “Wow! Why does blue light bounce off the air?” Mother: “Excellent question. I don’t know. I will find out!” This engaging discussion was facilitated by the mother’s ability to answer the child’s first “why” question—the basic answer to why the sky is blue. Without this first answer, the conversation would have stopped short and disappointed the child.