Saturday, February 19, 2011

Tug and Pull

The children assess the height of the tree? Does it an impact on their ability to dislodge the branch?





A chance encounter with this fork shaped tree and a branch wedged inside it presented a wonderful opportunity for the children to do some problem solving.
At first the children were intent on dislodging the branch so they could remove it; they pulled, tugged, and swayed it back and forth across the fulcrum. But, the branch refused to budge. They then decided that it needed to be snapped in half in order for them to remove it.
While watching this video you will be able to see how the children think; the pitch in their voices, the words they use, the position of the children across the branch, the number of children on each side, the child who stands in the middle to orchestrate the work. Did the teacher change the work of the children when she asked one of the boys to get off the branch?


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