Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Hypothesis
Chapter 4 was a harder read for me. I had enjoyed the comparisons and language of the first 3 chapters. In this chapter I felt like I was stumbling through engineering terminology. However as I read I kept thinking, how can this apply to my teaching? What can I do with this information? I am such a list maker and as I read I composed a list that seemed relevant to instruction in second grade. The first words were inspiration, experience and observation. I want my students to be inspired and to think on their own. Also they need experiences to learn new concepts. Of course observation is a key fact in many of our science units that we do. Another idea that made my list was being able to criticize your own work. It is often difficult for some children to analyze and improve their work. The final thought was about standards. For the engineers there are safety standards and for our students there are learning standards.
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One other thing in this chapter that struck me, and that I think I can so more of in my classroom, is thinking about approaching challenges/problems in all disciplines in the same way: look at the problem, think about the information (observation, experience, prior learning) you have that could be applied to the problem, create a hypothesis and try it out. Whether resolving a conflict, solving a word problem or designing a toy, these steps can be applied everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI also feel as though sometimes, I give my students too much help/information and don't let them work through to a solution on their own, as much as I could.
I agree that it is hard to give them the time they need to solve problems on their own. Especially when you can see that there is an error in their thinking. I guess they need to learn from their mistakes.
DeleteSorry for the delay, but I have been without electricity for a week. As for chapter 4, I thought he could have said everything he did in half. It took me a day plus to process this chapter. The engineering connection to science became clear when you consider the fact that engineered designs are considered failures if one thing fails. It is nothing better than how we do test a hypothesis. It is why we need to teach kids it is ok to be wrong and how to learn from it across the curriculum.
DeleteWith that being said we now have ammunition when talking with colleagues about engineering, a strong connection back to the scientific method.
Kathy, I think you are on the right track to get your kids into engineering. Just the language you used in your post. Inspiration, experience, and observation. These are all very positive inviting words. If they have fun then they will explore ideas further.
ReplyDeleteKathy,
ReplyDeleteI too thought Chapter 4 a bit more challenging, and found I needed to read slowly, to comprehend portions of it. Yet, on a personal level I could relate to page 46," But what might we have to consider if we were standed on a desert island with only the lumber for a house and not the plans or experience of a builder," having had the real thing, 30 years ago,for $8,000,sans lumber, we bought a small heavily wooded island in China Lake, and the "adventure" is still ongoing.
What I thought from Chapter 4 I might interject within a Second Grade building lesson is the strength of a beam based on the positioning. I have yardsticks and "Straws and Connectors" made by a Canadian company, which are developmentally appropriate. The Straw and Connectors are strong, durable,colorful, and children are actually able to build interesting, creative,structures to the ceiling that they can walk in and out of. The creative possiblities are almost endless. They are easily disassembled. I haven't included yardsticks or the idea of beam placement in the past, and this may be an interesting learning experience the children will enjoy.