Thursday, November 13, 2008

It's Simple But Loads of Learning



I set out two bowls with large polished glass. Some were colored some were clear. Stinky was initially very interested in how the rocks felt, what they tasted like and their weight. After her initial exploration into the proprieties of the rocks she began throwing them behind her. What happens? She looks behind and notices the rocks and their positions. She continues to throw them each time looking behind her. One rock accidentally hits the side of the bowl and she is intrigued by the sound it makes. She repeats and tests out this new theory. If I throw it against the same place will it make the same noice? Yes it does. Now she in intrigued by this new idea. She begins picking up the rocks in the other bowl and throwing them into the first bowl. The rocks continue to make the sound. But what about the rocks that she threw behind her? She throws another rock behind her and it doesn't make a sound. She continues this exploration for a few moments and then poses another question. What makes these bowls make sound? She begins exploring the bowls. She lifts them up, dumps out the rocks and then bangs them together. She eventually decides she is done for now, but maybe she will come back to this another time. She has learned cause and effect, weight, proprieties of objects around her and most importantly she has spent a little time asking questions and testing her hypothesis.

1 comment:

Mr Lim said...

Great insight. I've always wondered what goes on in a baby's head