The California Condor is an expert at gliding, stretching out its nine-foot wingspan and combating the force of gravity by using rising pockets of air to climb in altitude. Take inspiration from this week’s featured creature with this simple and engaging way to help kids explore air resistance and gravity. Here’s how:
The Guide
Get inspiration from condors: Watch a video from the American Bird Conservancy of a California condor in flight. Notice together how the condor glides through the air. Wonder together how the condor stays in the air without flapping its wings.
Explore air resistance: Offer kids a piece of paper and wonder what would happen if dropped. Then, test it out and notice together how fast the paper falls and how it moves through the air. Welcome kids to try it again from a different height (on top of a stool, chair or couch). Wonder what would happen if you change the shape of the paper. How fast does the paper fall when it is folded? Crumpled into a ball? Invite kids to collect leaves, grass, sticks and other objects from nature and to make predictions as to which objects will float down slowly and which will drop quickly. Then, test it out!
Make a parachute: To make your own DIY parachute, use string to attach an egg carton (your basket) to a paper towel or light dish cloth (your chute). Invite kids to drop it and notice what happens. Continue testing out the parachute by dropping it from different heights. What happens if there is a “passenger” in the parachute basket? Add a nature treasure and observe together how the parachute drops with the extra weight. Experiment with adding passengers of different weights or test how many nature treasures can be added to the parachute.
Why is this activity great for kids?
It doesn't take much convincing to invite kids to drop objects as part of play! And experimenting with what happens when objects of different sizes, shapes and weights are dropped is also a super way to introduce kids to STEM concepts like gravity and air resistance, while also developing their curiosity, observation skills and ability to make predictions about how their world works.
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We think of self control as a child’s ability to focus on something in such a way that maximizes learning. In order to do that, they first need to direct their attention and focus on a single thing. They also need to discern which information around them is most important and deserving of their attention. Thirdly, they need something called “inhibition.” Think of inhibition as the ability to control impulses, block out distractions and continue attending to the same thing. Focus, discerning and inhibition all require rather fancy brain work and are thought to be part of the “executive functions” or the set of cognitive processes involving the prefrontal cortex that help us manage ourselves and the environment to achieve a goal.
Why does it matter?
Our world is full of distractions, more today than ever. Kids who are in any learning situation need the ability to control their impulses, block out noise and attend to the person, objects, events, or discussions that are central to learning. As classroom teachers, we saw that kids who did this ruled the classroom. As outdoor educators and parents, we know the same holds true outside of school.
But don’t take our word for it; the research is impressive. It turns out that these executive function skills are closely tied to success in the classroom, higher level education and life beyond school. Experts like Adele Diamond of the University of British Columbia have shown that, “If you look at what predicts how well children will do later in school, more and more evidence is showing that executive functions—working memory and inhibition—actually predict success better than IQ tests.” Although these skills are difficult for young children and don’t crystallize until adulthood, the more kids practice them, the better at them kids become.
Problem Solving
Category:
Thinking Skills
What are Problem Solving Skills?
When we talk about problem solving, we mean the ability to solve a problem in which the solution is not obvious and in which the possible paths to solution are many. To solve such problems, kids will need two things. First, they’ll need the self confidence and comfort to both attempt to find and persist in finding a solution. The only way to develop this is to be given the chance to struggle with ambiguous situations or open-ended problems. We parents are all guilty, from time to time, of helping kids avoid struggle or swooping in to alleviate frustration when our kid encounters challenge. The goal is actually to do the opposite whenever possible. As long as the problem is not too difficult to understand or challenging to solve, even young kids can get comfortable with the feeling of not knowing the solution and fall in love with the joy of finding a solution to a problem.
Kids also need strategies to attack problems with which they are faced. If adults are able to work with kids to solve problems “as a team” but in such a way that the children feel and act “in charge” of the decisions, adults can actually teach foundation problem solving skills and strategies through modeling. For example, when you solve a problem together, kids get practice with key parts of the process like brainstorming, testing ideas, revision and solution. It’s also pretty easy to model how to use simple strategies like trial and error or breaking a problem down into smaller parts. Although children age 1 to 7 should not be expected to name, catalog or identify when to use a particular problem solving strategy, they are able to form habits and repeat approaches once those habits or approaches have become familiar. The more problems they solve, the better they know and can use these methods.
Why does it matter?
“The highest ranked skills for students entering the workforce were not facts and basic skills; they were applied skills that enable workers to use the knowledge and basic skills they have acquired” (Source: Are They Really Ready for Work? Conference Board 2006).
Although it seems a long way to go before our young children are hitting the job market, the ability to solve challenging, ambiguous problems has already been identified as a critical skill for success in the 21st Century. With advances in technology, finding information has never been easier. However, knowing how to interpret a problem and use available information to devise a solution still needs to be learned. And, we fear that the classrooms of today are neither designed nor incentivized to teach these skills effectively. In most schools, so much time is spent learning discrete skills, that applied skills like problem solving are wildly underemphasized. In a world that demands it, it is increasingly necessary that children learn and practice these skills outside of school.
Age: 0 to 8+
Time: Under 1 hour
Materials: paper, objects from nature
