Yes, But Do They Understand? How Children View The World: Topic #1: Trees Are Made Of Air - Couverture souple

Olson Ph.D., Meredith

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0998462756 ISBN 13 : 9780998462752

Editeur : Glenhaven Publications, 2017

Synopsis

People in cap and gown, graduating from Harvard, not knowing where trees come from. That’s what the Annenberg You Tube shows. In 1600 Jan Baptist van Helmont planted a tree and watered it for 5 years. He found the soil it grew in did not change weight so he concluded that the tree must be made of water. The Annenberg tape says, “Despite twelve years of our country’s best education, our college graduates don’t know much more than van Helmont did in 1600”. How can that be? We breathe in Oxygen and breathe out Carbon Dioxide. Trees take in Carbon Dioxide and give off Oxygen. That is the big picture about how life works. We are told Carbon Dioxide is a terrible green house gas, but we exhale it. Does that mean we are bad? But wait. Trees need Carbon Dioxide to live. Does that mean Carbon Dioxide is good? And what about Oxygen? We need it to survive, but to trees it is a waste product. So how can we put this in a context so we, as citizens, make good decisions? So we understand? How can we know if out children understand? By listening, asking questions, and presenting the next exploration, children gain a feeling of competence, that a seemingly logical conclusion can be wrong, and that they can, with thought and effort, figure things out. This book is a narrative on how students come to understand. Memorization does not build understanding. Understanding comes from a discovery process. What are children thinking? How do they understand concepts? How do they explain their reasoning? First we must understand where the child is. What their beliefs are. Then how do we get them to engage in the process of them changing their beliefs rather than just believing what they are told? When we start by giving children the answer we unintentionally deny them the opportunity to discover their own understanding. This desire is understandable because when we know about something and are comfortable with the concepts it is great fun to regal others and we enjoy expressing and rethinking ideas out loud. But if we want to give others the opportunity to develop their understanding we must resist the temptation to tell them the answer. So, how do you get your young teen to talk, to express themselves, to reveal their engagement and excitement? What experiences can we give them to help develop and enlarge their ideas? What children remember from this process is not so much the facts but the feeling of competence, that they can learn, that they are not infallible, that a seemingly logical conclusion can be wrong, confidence in themselves that they can, with them and effort, figure things out. Here is an example. If we stand in the sun, we starve. If we put one step between us and the sun i.e. Photosynthesis, we don’t starve. Food is sunlight packaged so we can use it. We eat it. Simple sayings and mottos anchor overarching concepts and make a framework for future learning. It is fascinating to watch them grow. This book lays out a process of discovering and understanding the life cycle of our world; Photosynthesis and Metabolism. Of how burning is the reverse of photosynthesis. Of how Carbon cycles in and out. The Carbon Cycle.

A propos du livre

À propos de l?auteur

Dr. Meredith Olson, known affectionately as Doc "O" to her students, has taught elementary, middle school and high school math and science in Seattle for nearly 60 years. Her primary goal is in improvement of pre-college engineering education. By going to lab to work on contraptions every day, her students come to understand properties of the mechanical world. “It has been a long and interesting trip. Studying some metallurgy in grad school. Evening classes. After a full day of high school teaching. Consulting for JPL as the Mars Pathfinder Educator. Weekends. Working in the summer with UNESCO in Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Uganda. Teaching dozens of weekend and week-long summer teacher workshops in South Carolina and Montana. Being a consultant and curriculum designer for Health and Physiology education in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. Being a summer adjunct University instructor for more than 20 years in Seattle, Idaho and Montana. Teaching teachers. Teaching students every day, every year for 59 years. Observing how learning happens. Becoming aware when real learning isn’t happening. When it is just “show.” When it is just teacher–pleasing to get a grade. To get a credit. To get a university degree.” See Dr. Olson’s open letter outlining her philosophy of lesson design, available on the JPL website - Exploring Preface pp 11-13 http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/education/modules/GS/GS07-19_preface.pdf Dr. Olson believes that children must construct their own understanding from active design and assemblage of contraptions. By testing, failing, remodeling, and trying again, we come to see the structure when we look. By carefully examining materials we have, we may perceive how to use them in new and unexpected ways. Children begin to understand the engineering process. Besides, it is fun!

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Glenhaven Publications
• Date d'édition: 2017
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0998462756
• ISBN 13: 9780998462752
• Reliure: Broché
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 62
• Coordonnées du fabricant: Manufactured by Amazon on behalf of the author; https://www.amazon.fr/hz/contact-us; ; c/o Amazon Media EU S.à.r.l., 38 Avenue John F. Kennedy; Luxembourg; L-1855; Luxembourg