My youngest son is home for spring break. He brought home a pile of school work that he's completed. Mama asked that I go through it to see if there is anything there we want to keep. Keepsake kinds of things that will mark time so to speak.
I was going through it, sifting out the "usual" stuff, the stuff I consider crapola. It's little wonder we have whole societies that think very much the same. Look at your kids school work and you'll see why.
I kept one thing. Here's why. The lesson was science and the topic was "levers". For those not familiar with levers, think of a teeter-tooter in a playground. There were several pages of the usual stuff, explanations of a lever, how you could use them etc. The best part was the question at the end of the unit. The question, interestingly, was designed to test the young students ability to think outside the box, in a real world sort of way. The question read, " Read the problem below. Plan a solution and then make a drawing of your suggestion." Then, "Jon dropped his math book on the driveway and his dad drove the car over it so that it was under the wheel. By the time Johnny found the book, his dad had taken a cab to the airport. The keys were with him. Jon looked in the garage and found a long board, some bricks, a wheelbarrow, a rake and a crowbar. Can he use any of these things to free his book? How could he do it?"
A simple enough question "if" you understand levers. As I'm reading I'm solving the problem, just like any man would. Now I need to digress here for just a moment. I need to tell a story I heard many years ago, about the scientist Copernicus, while he was in school figuring out a "simple" science question. This story helped to put "learning", "thinking" and "school" into perspective for me.
The story goes something like this. Copernicus was in his science class. The problem posed to the class was how tall is the Leaning Tower of Pisa? The class was given a barometer, an instrument that measures air pressure. Copernicus took his barometer to the top of the tower and dropped it off, timing its descent to the ground. He then calculated the height based on time and the acceleration due to gravity. He handed in his paper. He gets his paper back and the answer is marked "wrong" even though when comparing it to others in the class the answer is the same as those that have been marked "right". He approaches the teacher who says he did it "wrong" and if he would like to get the marks he would allow him to do it again, properly. Copernicus agrees, taking said barometer out to the tower and holding it at arms length while backing up so that said tower is the same height as the barometer. Then doing some algebra, he calculates the height of the tower, and hands in his paper. His teacher is furious, sends him to the principals office. The principal reams him out but gives him another chance to solve the problem the "right" way. Copernicus agrees, takes the barometer out the the tower, ties a string to it and lowers it over the side until it touches the ground. He then measures the string and voila! he has the height of the tower. Hands in his paper. Straight to the principals office where the principal asks him why he keeps doing the problem the "wrong" way. His answer I loved. "Science is about "thinking". There are many ways to solve any problem and we must resist the temptation to believe there is only one way to solve any problem." Thankfully, they listened to what he said. (Later in his life he would pay a heavy price when they wouldn't.)
My son's solution was equally elegant and just for the record he comes by it honestly because his mom armed with an understanding of levers and the same question came to the same conclusion. Here's what he said, and I quote, " He could take a brick and smash it on the window, crawling inside and then switch the car and back it up then get the book. Then he could break the wood and fix the broken window." How thoughtful! There is a fantastic picture to illustrate this as you can see. I case you're wondering. He got it marked "wrong".
My one male friend once said, "If you get to the end of your life and you say "you wouldn't change anything" that means you haven't learned anything. Learning is making mistakes, realizing the mistake and doing it differently. We don't learn much by being "right" we learn lots by being "wrong"".
Amen to that,
I was going through it, sifting out the "usual" stuff, the stuff I consider crapola. It's little wonder we have whole societies that think very much the same. Look at your kids school work and you'll see why.
I kept one thing. Here's why. The lesson was science and the topic was "levers". For those not familiar with levers, think of a teeter-tooter in a playground. There were several pages of the usual stuff, explanations of a lever, how you could use them etc. The best part was the question at the end of the unit. The question, interestingly, was designed to test the young students ability to think outside the box, in a real world sort of way. The question read, " Read the problem below. Plan a solution and then make a drawing of your suggestion." Then, "Jon dropped his math book on the driveway and his dad drove the car over it so that it was under the wheel. By the time Johnny found the book, his dad had taken a cab to the airport. The keys were with him. Jon looked in the garage and found a long board, some bricks, a wheelbarrow, a rake and a crowbar. Can he use any of these things to free his book? How could he do it?"
A simple enough question "if" you understand levers. As I'm reading I'm solving the problem, just like any man would. Now I need to digress here for just a moment. I need to tell a story I heard many years ago, about the scientist Copernicus, while he was in school figuring out a "simple" science question. This story helped to put "learning", "thinking" and "school" into perspective for me.
The story goes something like this. Copernicus was in his science class. The problem posed to the class was how tall is the Leaning Tower of Pisa? The class was given a barometer, an instrument that measures air pressure. Copernicus took his barometer to the top of the tower and dropped it off, timing its descent to the ground. He then calculated the height based on time and the acceleration due to gravity. He handed in his paper. He gets his paper back and the answer is marked "wrong" even though when comparing it to others in the class the answer is the same as those that have been marked "right". He approaches the teacher who says he did it "wrong" and if he would like to get the marks he would allow him to do it again, properly. Copernicus agrees, taking said barometer out to the tower and holding it at arms length while backing up so that said tower is the same height as the barometer. Then doing some algebra, he calculates the height of the tower, and hands in his paper. His teacher is furious, sends him to the principals office. The principal reams him out but gives him another chance to solve the problem the "right" way. Copernicus agrees, takes the barometer out the the tower, ties a string to it and lowers it over the side until it touches the ground. He then measures the string and voila! he has the height of the tower. Hands in his paper. Straight to the principals office where the principal asks him why he keeps doing the problem the "wrong" way. His answer I loved. "Science is about "thinking". There are many ways to solve any problem and we must resist the temptation to believe there is only one way to solve any problem." Thankfully, they listened to what he said. (Later in his life he would pay a heavy price when they wouldn't.)
My son's solution was equally elegant and just for the record he comes by it honestly because his mom armed with an understanding of levers and the same question came to the same conclusion. Here's what he said, and I quote, " He could take a brick and smash it on the window, crawling inside and then switch the car and back it up then get the book. Then he could break the wood and fix the broken window." How thoughtful! There is a fantastic picture to illustrate this as you can see. I case you're wondering. He got it marked "wrong".
My one male friend once said, "If you get to the end of your life and you say "you wouldn't change anything" that means you haven't learned anything. Learning is making mistakes, realizing the mistake and doing it differently. We don't learn much by being "right" we learn lots by being "wrong"".
Amen to that,
Dr. Mike
