Explore more WonderLab Learning Resources

Anand Varma, National Geographic photographer and Explorer, grew up exploring the woods near his childhood home in Atlanta, Georgia. As a teenager, he picked up his dad’s old camera and found that he could use it to feed his curiosity about the natural world — and to share his discoveries with others. Now he hopes to inspire the next generation of young scientists and storytellers. The brand new WonderLab, founded by Anand himself, invites curiosity and a deeper appreciation of the natural world.

"I Wonder" is an educational video series that follows Varma on his journey “to slow down, observe, find the mystery of things that hide in plain sight and take the time to explore the wonder of our world”.

Each episode focuses on a specific phase of his creative process and spotlights the Wonder Learning Strategies. The Wonder Learning Strategies are very simple instructional strategies that educators can use to bring back awe and wonder into their instructional practice to increase learner engagement.

Anand embodies what National Geographic recognizes as the Explorer Mindset: He manifests the attitudes, skills and knowledge of an Explorer, asking questions, experimenting and solving problems while accepting that it is fine to be curious, to try new things, and to make mistakes in the pursuit of knowledge.

A video viewing guide for each episode is included in the resources section above. Each guide provides learners with an introduction to the video, vocabulary terms and post-viewing prompts. Educators may want to do pre-viewing activities to activate learners' curiosity and prior knowledge. For this, educators can use the See,Think and Wonder learning tool.

Citation

^{Conijn, J., Rietdijk, W., Broekhof, E., Andre, L., & Schinkel, A. (2021). A theoretical framework and questionnaire for wonder-full education. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 54(3), 423-444.}