Week 3 - Sustainable mathematics in and with the living world
This week the temperature has ranged from -25 to a balmy -12. While I continue to bundle up and walk outdoors, I found it hard to sketch outside; the imposition of mittens limited my ability to represent detail and taking them off was too uncomfortable. I tried taking a photo of a tree to come back and sketch indoors, but I found it frustrating because I could not see it all - I could zoom in but I couldn't rotate it to see other sides or where things started and ended. I gave up and moved to my indoor hydroponic garden.
Curly parsley
Lettuce
When I tried to draw human made objects, I had a bigger challenge. Even though I knew my plant drawings were imperfect, it didn't bother me. If a line went in another direction, it didn't matter - it still worked because nature is perfectly imperfect. It has a plan and a structure but a fascinating uniqueness.
When I tried to draw the floor of my shower, the hexagons seemed impossible to draw - see all the times I erased it? I forced myself to not use a ruler but it was frustrating. The lines and measurements have to be so precise for it to look right. I didn't really learn anything new while doing this. I think if I was doing this with children, I would encourage them to draw like this and then compare it to a drawing where they use a ruler and protractor. What would they learn by making the comparisons? How would this inform their understandings of straight lines and angles? They could also try to make these shapes and angles with their bodies, like in the video. I think the combination of informal and formal tools and representations would help to foster understanding and help make visible the connections between mathematical concepts (such as shape, space, number, and time).
In Williams (2008), the dangers of isolationist thinking are discussed. Traditional education models have historically encouraged the compartmentalization of concepts and ideas as well as the separation of mind/body. Williams (2008) calls for a shift in paradigms, one that recognizes systems thinking and holistic learning as frameworks for sustainable education. There are three tenants posed for thinking about sustainability education:
- The whole must be considered in order to understand its parts - we cannot just take things apart and understand how it functions as a whole
- Living systems are networked systems - we have networks nested within other networks, not hierarchies
- Ecological community relationships are non-linear and involve multiple feedback loops
These ideas are not new to me, but they definitely challenge many of my constructions of science. Much of my science education has focused on hierarchies - food chains, ladders, levels, etc. I am wondering about how this thinking leads some to separate themselves from the natural world - hierarchies are competitive, cold and fixed; where networks are dynamic, connected and complex.
Williams (2008) explains how this can come to life during an interdisciplinary gardening project. Life sciences, social studies, mathematics, health and physical development all become intertwined, with knowledge from one area fuelling another.
My questions for this week:
In your work, what other interdisciplinary projects have you done that would support the principles of sustainability education listed above?
When working with these types of projects, learning is also networked - it is not linear and can be much more circular. What do you see as the strengths and challenges of this and how do you navigate the challenges?
Hi Jen ,
ReplyDeleteI admire you for attempting to draw in the cold and I am sure that temperature did not include the windchill. Your tiles reminded me of honeycombs and that nature does need to be considered as a whole. The William’s paper sounds like a great paper that reminded me of a paper I just read on ecoliteracy/environmental literacy/ecological literacy . In this paper they look at the multitude of networked definitions for the aforementioned words and sustainable education. I though it blended well with William’s “living things are networked systems.”
As for your questions, I don’t think I did anything embodied as an undergrad science student but I did visit grade 10 classes to talk about climate change with two other chem kids. By no means creative yet we did have kids determine pH of ocean water with and without dry ice so I guess their was some hands on stuff. A strength is that kids remember embodied stuff and are actively involved in collaboration and questioning. A weakness is the cost of embodied lessons. The cost of time, collaboration with other departments to coincide lessons or combine two classes into one (not even considered with the pandemic), cost of equipment, supplies if cross-curricular, Although if I knew dance and drumming perhaps I could save personal pocket money by just teaching them to move as Maria did for her grade 12s in her week two blog. Navigating these challenges means meeting after school with the art and humanities teacher and it is much easier if I have a math and science 8 or 9 class. If I was strictly math 10 or 11 or 12 it would be harder to collaborate with other teachers as some kids don’t want to give up electives for math–even though it may help them see the big picture. What do you see as strengths and weaknesses?
PS-how is your research going?
Hi Carol, thanks for sharing your ideas - I think the constraints can be challenging in a secondary school environment as the courses seem even more compartmentalized than elementary, but similar challenges in each I imagine. I used to teach in a school that required and gave us both time and resources for interdisciplinary collaboration - but it was an expensive private school. This type of learning should be available and accessible to all - I see it as an equity issue.
DeleteMy research - busy! I am currently going through the REB process and it's tedious - requires a lot of information that I have had to figure out. I think it would be easier if I was doing it while we were taking the research course, but if I wait I will not be able to do it until the course runs again next fall. Cynthia has been very helpful, thankfully :)
Have you started?
Hi Jen,
DeleteYes I agree I think interdisciplinary collaboration is an equity issue--even within school districts. Ironically, I was at an equity meeting with my union when I found out that the schools in the higher populated, yet small, towns (two small towns and Hazelton make up my school district) have this collaboration time.
As an undergrad science student I became aware of the ethics board to work with my invertebrates critters but my supervisors did all the ethics paperwork for me. I have not decided yet if I am going to do an action research, right now I am learning towards extra elective. I wish you continued success with your REB process and project.
Thanks Jen for sharing your reflections on drawing your lettuce and parsley. I resonated with so much of what you said! Good for you for trying to sketch outdoors, but I think you made the better choice of staying inside. I found your comments about learning more and being less constrained with the natural materials vs. human made objects fascinating. It has me thinking about the importance of comparing both experiences together. It also connects well with the themes this week of grids, restrictions and looking at things differently.
ReplyDeleteYour explanation of Williams' article has me thinking back to Roger Antonsen’s Ted talk. If Williams is encouraging understanding by zooming out and seeing the integrated whole, Antonsen has us looking at the different perspectives or parts. It is a good reminder that the parts should not be considered in isolation, but motivated by a desire to understand the whole. I think Doolittle's article also brings up some of the challenges that can be created when we omit a holistic approach. He shows how the failures of this are obvious but what we do in response to these failures is not.
Your questions this week are challenging. Currently I am struggling with the administrative requirements to focus on grid like structures of specific approaches to literacy and numeracy with no real encouragement right now on interdisciplinary projects. The results of the current approach to the desired improvement is that I am not feeling very inspired. This is where I see the challenge. When you make one change it affects everything else. Some things will be improved, other things will stay the same and others possibly be hindered.
Thanks Jen for a thought-provoking post, and thanks everyone for a fantastic discussion! Jen, I love your comment that "nature is perfectly imperfect" and the reflection on how you would do it in the classroom. And I totally agree -- "interdisciplinary collaboration is an equity issue." As Carol said, it seems easier to combine with science classes. One year, I worked with a science teacher and organized a field trip to visit the city's art gallery and nearby park. I think we all see the great value in interdisciplinary collaboration. However, the amount of time, cost, resources, logistics, etc. make it challenging. I don't have a good answer except to say that, given the constraints, we may have to find small ways of incorporating these interdisciplinary connections in our classrooms.
ReplyDelete