Several Activity Are Needed for Understanding

This article deals with understands starting with the concrete and moving toward a more abstract understanding. This article talks about the need to do this and provides a great sample of s... See More

This article deals with understands starting with the concrete and moving toward a more abstract understanding. This article talks about the need to do this and provides a great sample of scaffolding the understanding of force and motion through three days of activities that start with concrete and move toward more abstract ideas. As pointed out understanding must occur over a number of different activities and in a number of different ways and not just one activity which is what can be seen more in the elementary classroom. This article is a must read for all teachers.

Introduce New Concepts with Concrete Models

When introducing an abstract concept it is best to begin with concrete examples. The author details a continuum of items commonly used to explain concepts with real objects being the most co... See More

When introducing an abstract concept it is best to begin with concrete examples. The author details a continuum of items commonly used to explain concepts with real objects being the most concrete and text being the most abstract. This makes a good argument for introducing topics using objects instead of vocabulary. This article cautions teachers that students are unlikely to develop accurate scientific ideas simply from hands-on experience with concrete objects; students need teacher guidance and multiple experiences to formulate correct ideas. The author includes an outline for simple scaffolding of a forces and motion unit that can be used as a template for other units.