I AGREE with Miss Melissa Tan Siew Ting that parents should get their children interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects when they are young ("Boost scientific literacy in today's info-laden world"; June 11).

In learning science, the five Ws and one H, (why, where, what, when, who and how) should always be asked. If there are no ready answers, we should search for them until they are found.

With the Internet, information is easily available. But we should not take everything we get from the Internet or books as the absolute truth.

For a scientific theory to be established, observations and laboratory tests are carried out. What may be seen as correct today might be disproved in the future.

We can learn much from scientist Galileo Galilei. He questioned the then accepted model of the solar system with the Earth in the centre. He built a telescope, and with it, made necessary observations to disprove the theory, asserting that the sun should be in the centre of the solar system instead.

Interest in science can be reinforced by encouraging students to write short science essays or articles in a fun and easy-to-read way in school publications. In addition, they could keep a journal to note their most significant lesson of the day.

Parents should take their children to the Science Centre Singapore, museums or nature reserves, instead of shopping malls. Even though schools organise such trips, parents can nurture their children's curiosity before they even go to school. Then, they will not think of studying science only for the sake of passing examinations.

Lee Kay Yan (Miss)