A Child’s Physics
Science in the Primary Classroom
As a practical matter, the child in the womb in the third trimester is not in a coma-like state totally unaware until the moment of birth when, like throwing an electrical switch, she suddenly wakes for the very first time and begins to experience life. The child has already been conscious for some time in some significant sense and is already experiencing and reacting to life.
The leading question I want to ask is this….
What does the unborn child not experience?
The child in the womb does not experience discrete entities in open space.
That simple.
She herself is not yet a discrete entity in open space.
Objects in space are, in fact, neither the first nor the predominant experience the child has during pregnancy, infancy, or early childhood.
If not, then what is?
What does the child experience before birth and then afterward in the world?
She experiences Change.
She experiences Energy.
The organizing idea and the derived curriculum and equipment set to be suggested in this series of articles develops the seemingly abstract concept of Energy by presenting concrete manipulable examples of the types of Energy a child experiences on a daily basis: consciousness, electricity, magnetism, motion, light, heat, sound and chemical reaction. It progresses from a series of specific examples, their properties and associated language to an underlying, unifying idea; a principle of organization, an intellectual tool, a world view. The child will be able to carry this basic idea forward through many years of subsequent experience and education. Teachers who apply it and play with it might find that they understand things in their world that previously may have seemed dissociated, much in the same way many of us who have come to the Montessori Method have struggled with mathematics until we experienced the simplicity expressed in the primary materials. Consider the Binomial Cube.
The Binomial Cube is a classic piece of Montessori primary equipment. It is a set of blocks designed to give the child a concrete, sensory, small motor experience of the Binomial Theorem. Next to it is a commercially available electrical analogy designed to give the child a concrete, sensory, small motor experience of Ohm’s Law.
What we are going to explore is not theoretical science but rather the child’s experience of simple applied science reduced to it simplest elements. No entertainment, no squeaky cartoons, no distractions. Just basic reality. As Lewis Carroll suggested, begin at the beginning and go forward. Theory comes at the end.
Experience precedes language. Language precedes concept.
Primary science can only be presented through the use of physical phenomena. To hold the presentation of physical science back until the elementary level or later and then try to present it predominantly through media rather than immediate reality is to miss the sensitive period for the subject. True fascination with such experiences as field effects, the tactile experience of angular momentum, or the difference between transverse and longitudinal waves belong to early childhood. An educational method that waits too long to introduce these concepts has to overcome distraction and boredom. The wonder of a real, invisible force field demonstrating real action at a distance becomes lost in today’s cacophony of animation and science fiction, just as the awareness that a sound is an octave above or below a root note loses meaning in a theme song from a movie.
Virtual reality, meaning symbols and imagery, derive their meaning from actual experience. To state the obvious, one cannot attain awareness of the existence of a magnetic field from a drawing of a magnetic field. Such awareness requires at least two magnets, iron filings or Ferro fluid or reactive film, a few nonferrous metals, and a field sensor: real objects presenting real phenomena.
On the other hand, symbols and imagery can augment sensory experience in ways primary teachers do not always use to the fullest extent. These experiences can be provided through simple print media, reactive films and digital equipment given to the child at the primary level as tools to explore her environment with her senses enhanced. Consider time lapse photography or thermal imagery. Digital imagery in particular makes it possible to show the child realities that lie beyond her senses, that cannot be expressed in simple objects, yet can be revealed with the use of technology. Digital and mechanical sensors in general give the child enhanced sensory perception by raising awareness of the existence of the various energies and quantifying them. Consider an infrared thermometer or a simple light meter. These are basically easy to use, point and shoot tools that associate numbers with phenomena. At the primary level the first step is not to understand the exact meaning of the numbers but to realize numbers can be associated with the reality. Its simple beginning measurement, like spooning a tablespoon of flour or pouring an ounce of water. The needle on the light meter dial does not point at the same number inside a cupboard as it is near a window. First you learn to use a measuring cup and acquire the language to talk about it. Then you perceive that you are controlling it, measuring with it. Then the units take on meaning. But you’ve got to start with the cup.
One printed image which should be standard in every primary classroom and which has been both beautifully rendered and totally neglected is the Periodic Table. The idea is to make the Table a normal everyday experience and topic of discussion as a basis for understanding the nature of an element and secondarily, alloys. Atomic numbers and models are not the point. Actual elements can be placed in the child’s hands and used in a series of sorting, matching and language exercises. Let’s do a short list of easily obtained elements: gold, silver, tin, copper, aluminum, zinc, carbon, silicon, oxygen, hydrogen. Oxygen and hydrogen? Actually these are readily produced through simple electrolysis of water. The sensory identifier is the size of the resulting bubbles.
Science in the primary classroom has to be real and concrete. In fact, a number of classic physics demonstrations normally reserved for high school and university students can be easily adapted for the primary child precisely because such demonstrations are simple by their very nature. Typically, however, they wind up being performed by a lecturer in front of a group of older, passive observers instead of being given to an active participant at the appropriately early age. The child needs to be able to take equipment in her hands and use it. She does need to watch an initial presentation, and subsequent developmental presentations, but thereafter she needs to do it herself. Here is a simple, concrete example of the use of a slinky to show the difference between transverse and longitudinal waves.
The hand both informs and expresses the mind. The senses feed the mind. Action develops dexterity, perception, and independence. These are basic considerations in the choice and design of equipment in a Montessori or any other primary environment. At the same time, we need to remember that the objects are not the point; they are the means by which a concept is expressed. Take care to not become infatuated with the myriad of commercially available science based classroom items. It is a big business with a big market and potentially a great deal of wasted money. Much of what is proffered obscures basic realities with glitz and noise on the premise that the only way to get the child’s attention is to entertain her. On the contrary, simplicity and dynamism are the keys. Remember the child’s fundamental experience is that of change, of energy. The feel of a gyroscope spinning in her hand, a simple electrical circuit she has built making a single sound, the feel of two magnets held in opposition, a remotely controlled robot that has only two degrees of freedom, a mechanical typewriter with its linkages and sounds — these are experiences that fascinate the young child. Stay focused on the real purpose and do not confuse objects with the experiences they are intended to present. No one object is the perfect object to fully express any idea. Grasp the idea and adapt available materials to the classroom environment. And above all keep it simple.
The purpose of the classroom equipment, in this context, is to emphasize for the child the presence of the underlying Energies that flow through and around the objects, animals, and people in her world. Offer her sunlight on a plant and sunlight on a solar cell. Although she has always been aware of these energies, she has not yet become fully conscious nor developed the language that will anchor her awareness and lead to the concepts that abstractly describe the realities. Show her videos and talk about animals who use different senses: a hammerhead shark, a bat, a preying mantis, an elephant, bees. The natural world, animals, plants and insects are a key portal into the child’s interests. She will become aware that these energies are the natural world and while not always within the grasp of her human senses, with the right tools she can perceive them, for instance, ultraviolet light or ultrasound sound. She will become aware that these energies can be measured, controlled, transformed into one another and used in the real world to reach real world goals.
This is the unifying idea at the heart of a primary science curriculum. It is a fundamental, pragmatic, world view useful in any subsequent education or profession. In Montessori terms it has ramifications for Practical Life, Culture, Language and Mathematics, the Life Sciences, the Great Lessons and perhaps most profoundly in Sensory education. In public policy terms it satisfies, in addition to basic language and math skills, the standards of critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and problem solving, i.e., the so called 21st century skill set - as if no one used these skills before. For parents who will purchase and administrators who must market and manage such an approach it creates a high profile, concrete addition to any basic primary equipment set and produces concrete verifiable results.
The Eight Energies
The child experiences Energy in eight forms. These energies can all be converted into one another with Electricity and Magnetism being central to practical conversion processes and equipment. Energy conversion underlies and makes possible our digital-industrial culture. The relationships between these forms of energy can be visualized with a simple mandala.
This is not a theoretical model of the physical universe. It is a pragmatic description of the child’s experiences. It is a child centered approach to science and can be used to develop a concrete, specific equipment set as well as the language and mathematics that will eventually be used to model the universe.
How might this look on any given day on a real shelf with actual equipment examples? Let’s imagine a labeled shelf. Bear in mind that Induction is not a separate form of energy but rather the fundamental interaction of Electricity, Magnetism and a conducting coil.
Each of these forms of Energy can be transformed into the others, which implies that these transformations are reversible. Sound, for example, into a microphone produces motion in a diaphragm which produces motion in magnet/coil. This produces an electrical signal which is processed by an amplifier and finally excites a coil/magnet which vibrates a speaker’s cone, producing sound at the output end.
So, we have Sound>Motion>Magnetism>Electricity>Magnetism>Motion>Sound.
The transformation of energy is a very useful organizational concept for the child when trying to understand what is happening in the world around her. It applies to everything from a screwdriver to the Internet. Like an electrical engineering student computing equivalent circuits, it allows highly complex situations to be simplified. A space shuttle, for all of its circuitry and moving parts, can be discussed with a child as having been designed to convert a chemical reaction into motion with, by the way, enormous loses in heat, sound, light and vibration. Try applying the idea yourself. How does your coffee thermos perform energy transformations? What are the transformations involved in a cell phone call? How is a yo-yo like a battery? What is your phone charger doing? What’s happening when you fry an egg? Is the stove gas or induction? What does a copper coil do with an electric current? What is happening when you play peek-a-boo with a baby?
“Begin at the beginning and go on…”
Let’s take a closer look at three of the eight forms of energy in order to establish a context.
Consciousness
As a person and a Montessori teacher I wish I could tell you that Consciousness is at the heart of a practical primary science curriculum, but it isn’t. On the other hand, it is also not an abstraction to be ignored.
The primary survival force for every newborn is interaction with another conscious being. There is, of course, the need for air, water, and food, but what keeps us alive, happy, and growing is conscious contact, personal interaction. That fundamental meeting of beings, of souls and behaviors, tells us we are not alone, that we are valued and will be helped. Also, it’s fun.
In the Child’s Physics in the primary classroom, Consciousness is simpler than an adult’s philosophical or psychological abstraction. Consciousness is a straightforward causal factor, a physical,emotional and intellectual reality to be exercised and discussed as such. It can manifest as eye contact, verbal interaction, gestures or writings or drawings, or a push from behind on the playground. It can express itself in code of any kind from signaling with the light switch to clapping hands in order to call for silence. It can be any active intention, for instance, direct remote control of a device, say a robot, expressing conscious will through machine behavior. It can be the use of hand tools to achieve a desired effect. It can be the use of biofeedback as a control. It can be direct neurological integration with prosthesis, such as a cochlear ear implant. In the Child’s Physics, Consciousness is a physical fact, like Electricity.
Spiritually, emotionally, culturally, and in terms of survival, Consciousness is the central form of Energy. But technologically and pedagogically Electricity is the starting point in this curriculum because it is the common ground which all the other forms of Energy share.
Consciousness generates and is affected by electrical signals. Consciousness imbues Electricity with meaning turning it into Language. Language itself is a technology so deep in the human experience we don’t even think of it as that, until we have to write code. Consciousness uses Electricity as a control interface to interact with devices through physical contact, programming, biofeedback, and direct neurological connection. Consciousness uses electricity to communicate, for instance through this web page, extending my thought to yours. Consciousness manifests in significant ways as Electricity. Electricity is a pervasive tool used to effect and inform Consciousness.
As a practical matter then, in terms of resources and design, Electricity is the medium our planetary culture uses to transform Energy from one form to another.
Electricity
From a pragmatic standpoint, Electricity is the common ground underlying our use of the other forms of Energy. While it does show itself naturally, like lightning or the crackle of a sweater when you pull it over your head, most of it is hidden inside objects like wires, walls, machines, batteries, plastic surfaces, electronics, storm clouds and living creatures. The idea is to give the child the tools to safely perceive its presence, learn its basic properties, control it, and be able to discuss it. Electricity can be directly converted into each of the other forms of Energy and each of the other forms can be directly converted into Electricity. Light, think bulb and solar cell. Motion, motor and generator. Heat, oven and steam turbine. Chemical reaction, fuel cells. Magnetism, induction. Consciousness, code.
This physical property of reversible transformation is a fundamental idea and is central to the presentation of Energy in the Primary classroom. It is a paradigm that explains the function of and organizes the tools, devices, and systems in the infrastructure of the child’s world. It explains simple objects and simplifies complex systems. For example, heat produces steam which turns the turbine which generates electricity. This is a series of energy transformations. A cell phone changes conscious intention and physical motion into electrical signals containing code into radiation which becomes light pulses in cables which reemerge elsewhere and are converted back into electricity which is transformed into sound and image which effects the consciousness of the listener in real time, from your thought to mine. Electricity can also be transformed into other forms of itself. Think of a cell phone charger: AC in, DC out. Consider the grid itself; the movement of massive amounts of Electricity over thousands of miles continues without interruption and transforms into currents having myriad precise shapes and sizes at myriad points of delivery. These properties of Electricity are used to power and control devices and environments and to communicate and store information. This is the child’s planetary culture. Electricity is central to our post-industrial, digital world. And so Electricity is the starting point in the Child’s Physics.
Magnetism
Magnetism, like electricity, is all around us, particularly in our devices. For the child Magnetism is similar to gravity but with two differences. First, it can push as well as pull. Second, as a classroom practicality, it can actually be put into the child’s hands while gravity cannot.
Gravity then raises an interesting point. Like electromagnetism it is one of the four fundamental forces and so, on an adult level, is arguably a form of energy. The child, however, does not experience gravity as such precisely because of its ubiquitous nature. The child experiences changes in Motion caused by gravity. The child does not perceive and interact with the universal attraction of matter. The child falls, and runs and jumps and rolls and throws. In the child’s experience, all of this is Motion/movement rather than gravity.
We live in a magnetic field as well as a gravitational field. In fact, we stay alive because of that field. Animals orient by it. The Auroras dance to it. And yet, as a physical reality, Magnetism can be easily and economically place in the primary classroom in ways the child can manipulate which present its defining characteristics.
In real world design, magnetism and electricity occur together, a version of yin-yang, heads and tails. In physical fact, each induces the other, that is, given the right design they excite each other into existence. This is Induction, one of the historically great discoveries. On the primary level electricity and magnetism can and should be presented simultaneously but separately, to keep clear their separate properties. For instance, permanent magnets are strictly bi-polar, while a static electrical charge can be diffused and disorganized. While Electricity and Magnetism are physically distinct, they are not entirely separate or independent but in terms of classroom presentation can be introduced as such. The two can then be united through demonstrations of the fundamental phenomenon, Induction, the relationship between a current, a coil, and a magnetic field. As long as a field and a coil move relative to each other a voltage will be induced in a circuit and a current will flow. Conversely, a current flowing through a coil will generate a magnetic field. This is easily given to the child as equipment to use, things to do and experience. It is also foundational to the technology upon which our planetary culture rests.
Why is any of this Important?
There are Primary schools all over the planet and many of them are Montessori schools. All of them can use this approach to primary physical science. Significant research confirms the Montessori Method in particular works. People in all cultures embrace it and have done so for a century. The Montessori Method may be one of the few cross cultural practices to which we can all point. But the planet has changed. The child’s world has changed. Both traditional and Montessori methods need to evolve in content.
We teach in a time when the idea of “Technology” has been co-opted and reduced to mean only end user interfaces: smart phones, touch pads, computers. Students become quite facile with these, creating the illusion of understanding. They do not understand, either on a technical or social level. Physical and personal consequences escape them. Being able to type with one’s thumbs does not mean one can understand and use a screwdriver, a 3D printer, the simplest of electrical circuits or the technical languages that underlie the overall system and the enormous variety of devices it drives.
A wider, more profound perception of reality begun in early childhood will enable the child to become an active creator rather than a passive consumer in a highly technological world. It will open the child to a whole range of skills and and a deeper sense of delight in the real world.
