ess was a phenomenal kid-centered curriculum popular in the 60's and 70's
scheduling:
this unit can be used at almost any level but has been most successful in
grades 4-6. About 8-12 hours of work spread over 4-6 weeks with 40 minute periods is
the most frequently noted lesson / unit plan.
introduce new
materials slowly -- when the child asks for them or when they are tired of one type of
experiment. Let the children predict what will happen, and let their experience it the
pendulum provide the answer. A scientists asks questions, and Mother Nature whispers
the answers.
individual children
will note different phenomena, raise different questions, and travel for quite a while in
different directions. In time, they will probably begin to encounter comparable things,
and the class will evolve a fund of common experiences. Delaying a general class
discussion can yield a harvest of ideas well worth waiting for.
this leads
to the an important consideration -- whether to stress the child's language or the
special images and technical words of the language of science. Scientific terms are
most likely to acquire significant meaning for children after thoroughly seen and
enjoyed. Pendulums intentionally avoids most of the language of physics in the belief
that the words children use to describe what they see happening will have more meaning
for them.
children's explorations
with swinging things an help them understand something of the world around them. They
may not be able to explain the WHATS AND WHYS of pendulums. If however, they're free
to evolve their own ideas on models, they will also feel free to change them as
circumstance require. It is for this reasons that there is not attempt to teach
concepts, as such, in this unit.
concepts will
emerges -- sometimes with faults, but in a manner that allows for change. If a child
develops a concept on his own, he is likely to modify it if it proves not to suffice for
changing circumstances. The importance of free play and need to avoid sustained
periods of directed teaching and explanations cannot be emphasized too heavily.