Today I challenged the children be setting the parameter or staying on a table top. I told them that they could not build to the floor or to another table. Dr. Causey, the professor who gave us this assignment, explained that giving children parameters challenges them to think and problem solve. And it certainly did. On one of the tables the children worked together to make five turns! This group chose all small pieces. Each level was not elevated, but the marble did make it around the track without a break in fluency. On the other tables, the children chose longer pieces. They seemed stuck with making one incline and a short run after it, with one turn at the most. It was clearly a challenge for most, as they continued to try and make their paths go to the floor or to another table. I reminded them of the day’s challenge and they reluctantly retracted back to the single table top. During reflection time the children’s vocabulary and ability to communicate what they did continues to become more detailed and advanced as they describe their discoveries and explain their understandings.
INTRO TO RAMPS AND PATHWAYS 