Spontaneous Generation

I recently told my 7th grade science students an abbreviated version of how the first cells were created. Essentially, proteins got caught in bubble and they formed the first genetic material inside an enclosed space.

One of my students asked, "Doesn't that mean that spontaneous generation actually DOES exist?"

Speechless.

I

was

speechless.

Five minutes later another student (who has low cognitive skills on the order of not knowing what class he's in) asked about the air when the first cells appeared on earth. I was impressed that this student had asked such a question. He mulled over the answer and then asked, "Where did the first seeds for plants come from?" Again, I was speechless. I said I wasn't sure and that we could do some research to see if anyone else knew. Bewildered that I didn't know the answer to his question, he then queried, "Do you think it could be GOD?"

I left school that day with a new sense of wonder. How much more can the 12-year olds teach me?

I love my job.