The Presentation of Electricity
The Montessori Method, particularly at the Primary level, is perfectly suited to the presentation of physics in general and of Electricity in particular, which makes sense given the method's inclusion of the Life Sciences. The Montessori approach to language and math is are an fit, though expansion is needed in the areas of vocabulary and measurement. The method's extensive use of manipulable equipment particularly the tools of practical life present the perfect opportunity to put physics into the primary classroom. The Montessori environment is a realm of action and that, after all, is the child's physics. So all we need to do is select a phenomenon or idea to be presented, isolate or emphasize it in an object capable of self-correctable process so that the child can use it independently. Then talk about it with the child. Name it, measure it and use it.
It should also be said that the first step in addressing this subject is the realization that we as primary teachers have both a right and an obligation to do so. One does not have to be an engineer, a scientist or a PHD candidate to present realities like electricity or plasma. These are common occurrences. They are in our environment like bread and water. And ultimately no one really understands their fundamental nature. Beneath the layers of mathematics, models and actual technology the mysteries remain. No one really knows what Light is, what Consciousness is, what Electricity is. Yet we all experience and use these realities everyday. So it is incumbent upon us as teachers to present them, simply and as such, to the child.
The Montessori Method, particularly at the Primary level, is perfectly suited to the presentation of physics in general and of Electricity in particular, which makes sense given the method's inclusion of the Life Sciences. The Montessori approach to language and math is are an fit, though expansion is needed in the areas of vocabulary and measurement. The method's extensive use of manipulable equipment particularly the tools of practical life present the perfect opportunity to put physics into the primary classroom. The Montessori environment is a realm of action and that, after all, is the child's physics. So all we need to do is select a phenomenon or idea to be presented, isolate or emphasize it in an object capable of self-correctable process so that the child can use it independently. Then talk about it with the child. Name it, measure it and use it.
It should also be said that the first step in addressing this subject is the realization that we as primary teachers have both a right and an obligation to do so. One does not have to be an engineer, a scientist or a PHD candidate to present realities like electricity or plasma. These are common occurrences. They are in our environment like bread and water. And ultimately no one really understands their fundamental nature. Beneath the layers of mathematics, models and actual technology the mysteries remain. No one really knows what Light is, what Consciousness is, what Electricity is. Yet we all experience and use these realities everyday. So it is incumbent upon us as teachers to present them, simply and as such, to the child.
Electricity already exists in the classroom.
We grownups turn the lights on and off everyday and even teach the recognition of on/off as blinking code to indicate the need for silence and attention, similar to ringing the classroom bell or clapping hands. Imbuing physical events with meaning thereby creating Language, whether it be expressed in light, sound, motion or electricity is a survival skill. Language is a fundamental technology, one of the the primary examples of the action of the mind in the physical world.
Given the opportunity children can easily perceive the presence and properties of electricity. Lights glow. Clocks tick. Recorded music plays. The filter in the fish tank bubbles. Telephones and intercoms buzz, chirp and ring. Battery operated devices come and go, like seasonal decorations or novelty toys. And even if tablets and computers are not provided as shelf work, we as adults have and use them in plain sight of our students. Certainly their parents do. Devices are given to children for play and distraction. At pickup time we send children off to their cars, mobile environments densely packed with circuitry, motors, lights and communication devices. All of these are powered by electricity and execute code expressed in electricity. Electricity literally surrounds the child. And yet we don't identify it and present it in equipment the child can use.
Despite myriad examples of the common applications, Electricity itself exists for the most part in forms which children cannot directly perceive. Some of it is actual flowing current like that in the wires inside the walls or inside a lamp cord lying in plain sight on the floor. Some lies stored and dormant, as inside a battery sitting on a shelf. Some exists as static charge, that spark you can't see until it jumps the gap between your finger and a door knob after you've shuffled across a rug on a dry day. Some exists as electromagnetic fields, for example from the local cell phone tower which is clearly visible through the classroom window and which, like it or not, has a direct cause and effect relationship with that little plastic block in your pocket that you do not hesitate to stare into, poke and hold up to the side of your head as your students watch you. Then there are the myriad television and radio signals permeating the space of the classroom. So do things like giving the child a radio and letting her tune it, only make sure it has a dial rather than digital buttons. Dials have coils. They are mechanical. They have a sensory feel. Make a counting game out of the number of stations she can find. Say the number names of the stations. Notice that there are two sets of numbers,
one called Amplitude and the other called Frequency. Finally, there is the electricity coursing over and through our own bodies and those of the animals and plants around us. A living creature is a complex integrated circuit capable of interacting with electrical fields and other circuits. The child's own internal electrical activity can be displayed with simple devices.
Exploring this invisible aspect of Electricity can be seen as an enhancement of Sensory Training. It is not difficult to use safe, inexpensive tools to show the child that electricity exits and so demonstrate that there is an invisible, or extrasensory, world that is every bit as real, measurable and important as the shades of red in the color box or the mathematical relationships between the cubes of the Pink Tower. In the context of Practical Life simple devices such as are described in this curriculum are in the same class as Hand Tools in general or Cooking tools in particular. A tool that employs Electricity, like a static tube, a cat toy laser, a microphone or an electromagnet, is every bit as valid in the classroom as is a spoon, a pencil, a pair of scissors, a hole punch, a screwdriver or an eggbeater.
We grownups turn the lights on and off everyday and even teach the recognition of on/off as blinking code to indicate the need for silence and attention, similar to ringing the classroom bell or clapping hands. Imbuing physical events with meaning thereby creating Language, whether it be expressed in light, sound, motion or electricity is a survival skill. Language is a fundamental technology, one of the the primary examples of the action of the mind in the physical world.
Given the opportunity children can easily perceive the presence and properties of electricity. Lights glow. Clocks tick. Recorded music plays. The filter in the fish tank bubbles. Telephones and intercoms buzz, chirp and ring. Battery operated devices come and go, like seasonal decorations or novelty toys. And even if tablets and computers are not provided as shelf work, we as adults have and use them in plain sight of our students. Certainly their parents do. Devices are given to children for play and distraction. At pickup time we send children off to their cars, mobile environments densely packed with circuitry, motors, lights and communication devices. All of these are powered by electricity and execute code expressed in electricity. Electricity literally surrounds the child. And yet we don't identify it and present it in equipment the child can use.
Despite myriad examples of the common applications, Electricity itself exists for the most part in forms which children cannot directly perceive. Some of it is actual flowing current like that in the wires inside the walls or inside a lamp cord lying in plain sight on the floor. Some lies stored and dormant, as inside a battery sitting on a shelf. Some exists as static charge, that spark you can't see until it jumps the gap between your finger and a door knob after you've shuffled across a rug on a dry day. Some exists as electromagnetic fields, for example from the local cell phone tower which is clearly visible through the classroom window and which, like it or not, has a direct cause and effect relationship with that little plastic block in your pocket that you do not hesitate to stare into, poke and hold up to the side of your head as your students watch you. Then there are the myriad television and radio signals permeating the space of the classroom. So do things like giving the child a radio and letting her tune it, only make sure it has a dial rather than digital buttons. Dials have coils. They are mechanical. They have a sensory feel. Make a counting game out of the number of stations she can find. Say the number names of the stations. Notice that there are two sets of numbers,
one called Amplitude and the other called Frequency. Finally, there is the electricity coursing over and through our own bodies and those of the animals and plants around us. A living creature is a complex integrated circuit capable of interacting with electrical fields and other circuits. The child's own internal electrical activity can be displayed with simple devices.
Exploring this invisible aspect of Electricity can be seen as an enhancement of Sensory Training. It is not difficult to use safe, inexpensive tools to show the child that electricity exits and so demonstrate that there is an invisible, or extrasensory, world that is every bit as real, measurable and important as the shades of red in the color box or the mathematical relationships between the cubes of the Pink Tower. In the context of Practical Life simple devices such as are described in this curriculum are in the same class as Hand Tools in general or Cooking tools in particular. A tool that employs Electricity, like a static tube, a cat toy laser, a microphone or an electromagnet, is every bit as valid in the classroom as is a spoon, a pencil, a pair of scissors, a hole punch, a screwdriver or an eggbeater.
We do not recognize the existence of Electricity.
Why is this so, given its importance in our everyday lives and the ease with which it can be taught? Historically the answer seems fairly simple.
The Montessori Method reached relative maturity and began to be spread world wide in the early twentieth century. Maria Montessori made her first international teaching tour in 1914. At that time Electricity, while in use in experimental laboratories and in limited practical application in some larger cities, was not yet pervasive or important in daily life. The struggle between Edison's Direct Current and Tesla's Alternating Current as the best means of wide spread generation and distribution of electricity was still technically and commercially undecided. Ubiquitous urban electrification did not become actual infrastructure until after World War I. In the United States the Rural Electrification Act was not signed into law until 1935. The Grand Coulee Dam was initially finished in 1944 and expanded expanded to be the largest hydroelectric generating facility in the country as late as 1974. Basically one could say that the Montessori Method didn't recognize Electricity as an element of Practical Life because it simply wasn't necessary to do so.
Now in the early twenty-first century Electricity is as common place and important as fresh water and sometimes easier to get to get. Electricity is fundamental to digital language and digital culture. Digital Culture is both local and planetary.
Digital infrastructure now controls the mechanical infrastructure, but the technologies of mechanical culture are older and deeper than electrical technology. Consider musical instruments, optical instruments, medical instruments. The point being that information technology, the basic form of technology education currently offered in our systems, should not be taught without the context of Electricity which should not be taught without the context of Physics in general. Given its central role in practical application Electricity is, however, the logical place to start.
Why is this so, given its importance in our everyday lives and the ease with which it can be taught? Historically the answer seems fairly simple.
The Montessori Method reached relative maturity and began to be spread world wide in the early twentieth century. Maria Montessori made her first international teaching tour in 1914. At that time Electricity, while in use in experimental laboratories and in limited practical application in some larger cities, was not yet pervasive or important in daily life. The struggle between Edison's Direct Current and Tesla's Alternating Current as the best means of wide spread generation and distribution of electricity was still technically and commercially undecided. Ubiquitous urban electrification did not become actual infrastructure until after World War I. In the United States the Rural Electrification Act was not signed into law until 1935. The Grand Coulee Dam was initially finished in 1944 and expanded expanded to be the largest hydroelectric generating facility in the country as late as 1974. Basically one could say that the Montessori Method didn't recognize Electricity as an element of Practical Life because it simply wasn't necessary to do so.
Now in the early twenty-first century Electricity is as common place and important as fresh water and sometimes easier to get to get. Electricity is fundamental to digital language and digital culture. Digital Culture is both local and planetary.
Digital infrastructure now controls the mechanical infrastructure, but the technologies of mechanical culture are older and deeper than electrical technology. Consider musical instruments, optical instruments, medical instruments. The point being that information technology, the basic form of technology education currently offered in our systems, should not be taught without the context of Electricity which should not be taught without the context of Physics in general. Given its central role in practical application Electricity is, however, the logical place to start.
The experience of Electricity does not just occur.
It needs to be part of the prepared environment. Properly presented, Electricity is a substance that can be touched and guided by touch and controlled by other energies like motion, sound and light. It can be directly experienced as light, heat, sound, smell and shock and movement. It can be brought out of invisibility inside the walls, wires, batteries and boxes into the child's immediate sensory experience. Force fields can be felt and used. It can present action at a distance, the use of energy to move to move objects both solid and liquid directly without direct contact, giving the child the concrete experience that such things really can be done and the resulting realization that there is a world we cannot directly perceive that is every bit as real as the one we can.
Electricity has a set of terms all its own and special meanings for other words that have common use. The child needs to know them and so Electricity is a proper element in the study of Language. There are the subject specific meanings of common words like open and closed for, positive and negative or direct and alternating. Special terms like resistance, current and voltage. Daunting though they might seem when unfamiliar they are all only names for real things that can be expressed very simply and concretely.
Electricity can be measured and that makes it a proper subject of Primary Mathematics and Science. Batteries can be sorted according to their voltage numbers and sizes. An inexpensive battery tester can be used to sort good good from spent. Simple circuits offer any number of opportunities to count. An inexpensive AC current tester gives the youngest child the opportunity to use a scientific probe.
Electricity is integral to the practical production of Light, Sound and Heat and that makes Electricity a proper subject of Art, Music and Food.
Given the scope of the matter in the adult world, Electricity is surprisingly easy and inexpensive to introduce into the preschool environment. The same materials can be used to introduce Electricity into the 6 to 9 age group if there has been no preschool experience. They can also be used to extend the work indefinitely if there has been a preparation in primary school.
It needs to be part of the prepared environment. Properly presented, Electricity is a substance that can be touched and guided by touch and controlled by other energies like motion, sound and light. It can be directly experienced as light, heat, sound, smell and shock and movement. It can be brought out of invisibility inside the walls, wires, batteries and boxes into the child's immediate sensory experience. Force fields can be felt and used. It can present action at a distance, the use of energy to move to move objects both solid and liquid directly without direct contact, giving the child the concrete experience that such things really can be done and the resulting realization that there is a world we cannot directly perceive that is every bit as real as the one we can.
Electricity has a set of terms all its own and special meanings for other words that have common use. The child needs to know them and so Electricity is a proper element in the study of Language. There are the subject specific meanings of common words like open and closed for, positive and negative or direct and alternating. Special terms like resistance, current and voltage. Daunting though they might seem when unfamiliar they are all only names for real things that can be expressed very simply and concretely.
Electricity can be measured and that makes it a proper subject of Primary Mathematics and Science. Batteries can be sorted according to their voltage numbers and sizes. An inexpensive battery tester can be used to sort good good from spent. Simple circuits offer any number of opportunities to count. An inexpensive AC current tester gives the youngest child the opportunity to use a scientific probe.
Electricity is integral to the practical production of Light, Sound and Heat and that makes Electricity a proper subject of Art, Music and Food.
Given the scope of the matter in the adult world, Electricity is surprisingly easy and inexpensive to introduce into the preschool environment. The same materials can be used to introduce Electricity into the 6 to 9 age group if there has been no preschool experience. They can also be used to extend the work indefinitely if there has been a preparation in primary school.
The Basic Experiences
Static Electricity
Field Electricity
Flowing Electricity
Conducted Electricity, Direct and Alternating
Stored Electricity: batteries and capacitors
Induced Electricity: magnets, coils and eddy current tube
Circuits: closed, open, short, series, parallel
Language: volt, ohm, amp, watt, current, resistance, potential, power
Conversion into: > light, >motion, >sound, >heat, >magnetism, >chemical reaction, >consciousness
Electricity and Magnetism
Static Electricity
Field Electricity
Flowing Electricity
Conducted Electricity, Direct and Alternating
Stored Electricity: batteries and capacitors
Induced Electricity: magnets, coils and eddy current tube
Circuits: closed, open, short, series, parallel
Language: volt, ohm, amp, watt, current, resistance, potential, power
Conversion into: > light, >motion, >sound, >heat, >magnetism, >chemical reaction, >consciousness
Electricity and Magnetism