Today the children began as if they already had a plan. Many of the children are recalling times of success and attempting to recreate that experience. Every team used inclines in their designs today. Some used only one incline and some used up to three levels. Today I asked them to see if they could make their marbles move through their paths without touching them. This challenge really sparked some new thought processes! All teams used inclines. Some more complex than others. I observed a couple of designs where there were two inclines turned in toward each other so that the marble went down and up and down again. One team discovered the use of the chalk board ledge as a holder of the wooden pieces. The pieces were stuck between the ledge and the Prometheum board. All were inclined at different angles. The children put a box under the pieces of wood anticipating that the marbles would fall to the floor. The children explored letting marbles roll down each piece of wood and fall into the box. They commented that marbles rolled down faster on some. I asked them why that was. One child said that the “hills go from up to down and that’s what makes them roll. The ones that roll faster point down more. The gravity pulls it down faster.” I asked them again today to try and make their pathway turn. One child got his to turn gradually by turning each new piece ever so slightly. This strategy succeeded in getting the marble to move down and around the turn. Another child made his wooden pieces overlap in a right angle flat on the floor. I asked him if his marble turned the corner. He said it did. When I asked him to show me, he pushed it along and picked it up when it got to the turn and put it onto the second piece. Obviously, some children are making more complex structures and are able to plan, try it out, revise it, and talk about it. Others are still in an exploratory stage that is less strategy based and more play based. During our reflection today some children wanted to talk about (complain) that they lost their marble and I would not let them get a new one. I asked the group to recall why I would not give them another one. One child explained that I was not trying to be mean, but that I was trying to help everyone think. (I was so proud!) Another shared that he lost his marble one day and that he began putting a block at the end of his path to stop it from rolling far away. JACKPOT! Tomorrow I will have a discussion before we begin to refresh their memories about some of the new strategies we have learned.
INTRO TO RAMPS AND PATHWAYS 