The Plover and the Jackal – A Trickster Tale

One day, Penny the Plover was going to her nest, when she spied a jackal following her. Instead of going to her nest, she started walking in a completely different direction. After a while, she spotted her friend, Sandy the Sandgrouse.

Penny: (whispering) Sandy, a jackal is following me. He wants to eat my eggs.

Sandy: (whispering back) I know Percy the plover lives nearby. He is very clever. I will tell him. You go on distracting the Jackal.

Penny the Plover kept on going round and round.

Sandy went to Percy the Plover.

Sandy: My friend, Penny the Plover, is being followed by a jackal to her nest!

Percy: (calmly) Don’t worry. Let’s get some long leaves, reeds, twigs and some egg shaped stones.

Percy the Plover: (calmly) Don’t worry.

They gathered all they could find. Then they found a deep pit near by. They covered the pit with the reeds, twigs and leaves. They made a nest using the remaining material. They left the stones inside as if they were eggs.

Sandy and Percy flew around till they found Penny. At one sharp turn, Percy and Penny switched places.

Percy led the jackal to the fake nest and pretended to walk away from the nest on another errand.

The jackal was very happy. He jumped into the nest and promptly fell into the pit!! When he tried to take a bite of an egg, he broke a lot of teeth!

Jackal fell into the pit.

Cursing himself, he managed to climb out of the pit with a lot of difficulty. He never went near a plover nest ever again in his entire life!!

(Inspired by reading Multicultural Fables and Fairy Tales)

Homeschooling Notes: Inquiry based learning for Grade 5- distance, time and speed

One of the big, big advantages of homeschooling is you can “have school”, as in teach and learn, anytime, anywhere there is an opportunity. This is invaluable, especially if you believe in experiential/discovery/inquiry based learning.

Following is a chat we had yesterday evening.

Srikar: Appa, is my cold better today, compared to yesterday?

Me: You do sound a little better.

S: So, at this rate, how long will it take for the cold to completely go away? (he has been missing cold food stuff because of the cold and is eager for it to get better)

Me: It might take another 4-5 days. (I was intrigued by his use of ‘at this rate’ – we had just finished fractions and decimals in math and I was just about to introduce percentages, unitary method etc. so, decided to press on)

Me: So, Srikar, what is ‘rate’?

S: Rate is how fast it happens. It is speed.

Me: How do you know the speed of anything?

S: You have this round dial thing – speedometer. It has a needle, you look at it to see the speed. (sitting in the front and watching the dials in a car or bike is his favorite activity)

Me: Where did you see speed last?

S: I saw the speed on the avenger (my bike)

Me: How much was the speed?

S: 70

Me: 70 what?

S: You know, Kilometers per hour. (he said this but it was clear he was just repeating something he heard or read)

Me: So, if you do not have a speedometer, say, you are running, and you want to know the speed, how will you know?

S: I will have to measure it.

Me: How?

S: Dunno

Me: Say, you jog from here to JP Nagar park in the morning and you want to find your speed, what will you measure?

S: Dunno

Me: You said speed is kilometers per hour. What is kilometers?

S: Distance

Me: What is hours?

S: Time

Me: So, to get speed, what do you need to measure?

S: Distance and time

Me: Say you measured and you know you ran 800 meters in 15 minutes, how will you get speed?

S: I will calculate it.

Me: How?

S: I will multiply. (this is his stock answer these days. He knows addition and subtraction situations thoroughly, so, when he doesn’t know, it has to be multiplication. I guess division hasn’t really been understood fluently yet)

Me: Okay, let us say you run 10 kilometers in one hour. What is your speed?

S: 10 kilometers an hour.

Me: So, if you run 10 kilometers in 2 hours, what is your speed?

S: 5 kilometers an hour.

Me: What did you do to get that?

S: Division.

Me: So, what how do you find speed? What do you measure and what do you calculate?

S: We measure distance and time and we divide them.

Thats it!! Distance, time and speed is done!

My submission here is that by the time children are in Grade 4 or 5, they have experienced a lot of things we are trying to formally teach them, somewhere in their lives. If we are able to help them connect their experiences with the math we are trying to teach, the learning comes through discovery, gives more joy and also, lasts long.

Have fun and let me know your thoughts in the comments.

PS: If you like this, please consider sharing. The satisfaction of reaching more people will definitely add to my intrinsic motivation. In addition, it could be useful for others and it might also raise your profile in your circle of friends 🙂 Thanks.

You might also want to look at my other posts in the series – one about the use of Socratic method in primary school, other about scientific method and one more about Problem solving through puzzles.

 

 

 

 

Homeschooling Notes: A lesson in problem solving, through puzzles

The kid was feeling bored in the afternoon, so I gave him the matchstick puzzle below to solve. You have to make the fish flip around as shown in the pictures below, moving only 3 matchsticks.

His first solution was to try and move the tail and fin, keeping the body where it is. This meant moving 4 matchsticks, which I dutifully pointed out.

 

His second solution was to try and use the tail as part of the body. Unfortunately,  this also involved moving 4 matchsticks.

Now he started thinking – after about 5 – 7 minutes, he was getting ready to quit.

That was when I asked the crucial question.

Me: Where are you thinking of making the body of the fish?

Srikar: Here (points to the current body and tail area of the fish)

Me: Where else can you make the body of the fish?

Now, that set him thinking. In under a minute he gets it.

S: Here! (pointing to the area between the tail and the fin)

Me: So, which matchstick can you move first?

S: This one! (points to the bottom fin as it would obviously be not needed for the new fish, given the place where body is being made)

After that, it was just a question of helping him see which matchsticks are part of the new fish and which could be moved. And we had the solution!!

By this time I was feeling a little bit happy about the way things were going, so, ventured to the next one.

Remove two sticks from the arrangement below and get two squares.

We first tried removing the two horizontal sticks on the inside and then the two vertical sticks on the inside, ending up with two rectangles. Removing any of the sticks from the sides also did not work. Then we started talking.

How should the rectangles in the answer be? Should they be equal size? Would they be side by side? How can the arrangement look like?

And only when we started thinking along these lines did we start allowing for the possibility of the rectangles in the solution being of different sizes and not be next to each other.

A little more thought, and moving the sticks at random and we had the solution.

Now for the lessons from these experiences. In the first puzzle, the end state was known – it was our thoughts about the orientation of the fish that stopped us from solving it. In the next puzzle, we needed to imagine the end state and again it was our thoughts about the orientation of the rectangles that stopped us from solving it.

In both cases, we got to the solution by asking the right questions.

This confirmed my belief that many times, a creative or out-of-the-box solution can be uncovered by looking critically at our assumptions – our understanding of the current status, the way we look at the constraints, our ideas of the shape of the solution etc.

The examples above are an illustration of how to teach such creative problem solving – there is no point trying to explain the process to a kid. Instead, it might make more sense to expose the kid to more and more touch-and-feel models where he/she can see the process working. I don’t even feel the need to articulate the process while doing this.

The hope of course, is that the kid will learn to generalize and use the process, preferably without having to couch it in such difficult sounding terms as i did  🙂

Have fun and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

PS: If you liked this, please consider sharing in your networks. You might also want to look at our other posts in the series – one about the use of Socratic method in primary school and the other about scientific method.

Homeschooling Notes: Socratic Method or the joy of discovery

The other day, we were discussing decimal numbers and what I describe below happened more or less spontaneously. Prior to this, we had discussed decimal number format, place values and comparison of decimal numbers.

Me: Write a decimal number between 8 and 9.

Srikar: 8.5

Me: A decimal number between 8.6 and 8.7?

S: None

Me: So, where is 8.65? Is it smaller or bigger than 8.6?

S: Bigger

Me: Is it smaller or bigger than 8.7?

S: Smaller

Me: So, where is it?

S: Between 8.6 and 8.7.

Me: What other numbers could be between 8.6 and 8.7?

S: 8.61, 8.62, 8.63, 8.64, 8.65, 8.66, 8.67, 8.68, 8.69

Me: That’s very good. What numbers are there between 8.61 and 8.62?

S: None.

Me: So, where is 8.615?

S: Between 8.61 and 8.62

Me: What other numbers could be there between 8.61 and 8.62?

S: 8.611, 8.612, 8.613, 8.614, 8.615, 8.616, 8.617, 8.618, 8.619

Me: That’s very good thinking. So, what numbers are there between 8.611 and 8.612?

S: None

Me: Where is 8.6115?

S: Between 8.611 and 8.612 (after similar set of questions about it being bigger or smaller than 8.611 and 8.612)

Me: So, what other numbers could be there?

S: 8.6111, 8.6112, 8.6113, 8.6114, 8.6115, 8.6116, 8.6117, 8.6118, 8.6119

Me: Now, what numbers are there between 8.6117 and 8.6118?

S: None

Me: So, what question should I ask now?

S: Where is 8.61175?

Me: So, where is it?

S: Between 8.6117 and 8.6118

Me: What other numbers could there be?

S: 8.61171, 8.61172, 8.61173, 8.61174, 8.61175, 8.61176, 8.61177, 8.61178, 8.61179

Me: Now, what about numbers between 8.61171 and 8.61172?

S: Oh, there will be 9 more numbers.

Me: So, what is happening?

S: It goes on forever.

Me: Where are all these numbers now? (look at the picture now. The picture is a reproduction. The original one we were writing was much messier but the point was clear)

S: Between 8.6 and 8.7

Me: So, how many decimal numbers are there between 8.6 and 8.7?

S: Many many many. Infinite.

Me: Will it be the same between any two other decimal numbers?

S: (thinks a little, we talk through another example partially) yes

Me: So, how many decimal numbers are there between any two decimal numbers?

S: Infinite!!

Oh, you should have seen his happiness!!

 

Homeschooling Notes: Scientific Method

Of late, I have been teaching my son, 9.5 year old Srikar. The other day, we conducted a small experiment with salt and sugar solutions to understand scientific method. What follows is a summary, written while discussing it with Srikar. So, the language (and a fair amount of the narration) is his, as some of you would recognize.

Why we did this:

We were trying to learn the scientific method.
We asked – “which dissolves more in water, sugar or salt?”.
Our hypothesis was that salt would dissolve more than sugar. We performed the experiment to verify this hypothesis.

Experiment 1:

On day 1, we took two transparent glasses. We filled them with equal amounts of water. We used a measuring cup to make sure the water was equal.

We added 1 teaspoon sugar to one glass and one teaspoon salt to the other. We stirred them both and both dissolved completely in water. we added more sugar and more salt and kept stirring. At about three and half teaspoons, the salt stopped dissolving in water. The sugar was dissolving. A picture is below. You can see the salt at the bottom of the glass on the right.

 

We stopped the experiment. It looked like more sugar would dissolve than salt.

After some thought we figured that the experiment may not be valid because sugar crystals were bigger than salt crystals and so, there could be more salt in one teaspoon than sugar.

It was lunchtime so we took a break for the day. We did taste trials of the solutions. First we tried them on ourselves and then on Amma.

Please note: Srikar laughed when Amma did not like the taste of the salt solution.

Experiment 2:

On Day 2, we did the experiment again. This time we ground the sugar into a powder. This time we also measured the weights of all the materials. Here is a picture of all the equipment we used.

First, we weighed the glasses. Glass 1 was 143 grams and Glass 2 was 139 grams. We used the measuring cup to measure equal amounts of water and also weighed the water. We made sure there was 45 grams of water in each glass.

Empty weights:
Glass 1: 143 grams
Glass 2: 139 grams
Measuring cup: 7 grams
Measuring bowl: 35 grams
Weight of water in each glass: 45 grams

We again added salt and sugar to each glass. This time, we measured teaspoonfuls and also weighed each teaspoonful. We found that sugar was lighter than salt. One teaspoonful of sugar was 3 grams but one teaspoonful of salt was 5 grams.

We went on adding salt and sugar to the glasses in small amounts. Table of salt and sugar added is below. After about 4 teaspoonfuls (20 grams) of salt, we could see salt at the bottom of the solution. This did not dissolve even when we stirred.

The sugar went on dissolving. The solution became cloudy and sticky. After about 12 teaspoonfuls (about 38 grams), we had a doubt that the powder sugar may not be dissolving but just floating around. So, we added half a teaspoonful of crystal sugar and stirred it. It dissolved.

We stopped the experiment as it was lunch time.

Note on measuring:

Our kitchen scales could show only whole numbers. It meant it could not show half grams or things like that. So, we weighed the glasses at the end of the experiment and found there was a difference of about 2 grams between the individual weights and the total weight. So, the error in each of the big values could be about 2 to 3 grams.

Conclusions:

1. Even this time, more sugar dissolved in the same amount of water than salt. We can now definitely conclude that more sugar dissolves in water than salt. Our hypothesis was disproved.
2. About 45 grams of water was able to dissolve around 18 grams of salt (actually between 17 and 20 grams).
3. We weren’t able to saturate the sugar solution, even after adding 38 grams of sugar to 45 grams of water.

More research:

We checked if our conclusions were correct. We found this graph on science project ideas for kids.

We figured from the graph that at about room temperature, about 30 to 40 grams of salt would dissolve in 100 grams of water. So, in about 50 grams of water, we should be able to dissolve about 15 to 20 grams of salt. That is nearly the same as what we found. So, our conclusions are correct.

Similarly, about 100 grams of sugar could dissolve in 50 grams of water. We stopped at 38 grams. So, we did not have a saturated sugar solution.

As Appa says: our conclusion is well supported in literature.

Two alligators who liked elevators – Srikar’s Poetry

After a long time, Srikar again had a poetry class with his father. Taking a cue from a Ken Nesbitt prompt – an alligator that likes to ride the elevator – Srikar wrote this poem.

There were two alligators

Who liked elevators

They rode them one time

Dripping grime and slime

 

The people were scared

Cause their teeth were bared

They ran away from them

and caused a big mayhem!

 

The police ran to the scene

The officers turned green

The alligators caught their chief

And turned him in to beef

 

Then I went right there

And saw the horrible pair

My stomach felt quite sick

And I threw up real quick

 

The smell kept them at bay

The pair just ran away

And I quickly walked away

“Phew”, was all I could say!

How to talk to girls?

We were sitting in the music class waiting for our turn during the rehearsal. Srikar was teamed with a girl (P) to sing on stage for the Music school annual day. They had rehearsed together twice and I was not sure whether he recognizes her and feels the need to synchronize his singing accordingly. As she entered the class today, I directed his attention to her and said that she is his team mate and that he should try and remember her and her name.

He took a long look at her, turned to me and asked ‘Amma, do I have any girl friends?’
My heart took a dive. Calmly, I said, ’You have friends who are girls’.
Then he was quiet and said ‘hi’ to her nicely. All this while, I was very apprehensive if he would use the word ‘Girl friend’ – she might take offense and not talk to him.
The rehearsal went well.

We went to take the lift down and P was waiting there already. Srikar asked me why the upward and downward buttons of both the lifts were highlighted.
I said ‘May be one of going up and the other going down’.
Then P laughs and says ‘No, I pressed all of them’.
Me : Which class are you in?
P : Grade 4.
Sri : I am also in grade 4 and I am home schooled.
P : What? (she didn’t get his accent and also that home schooled bit)
No answer from Srikar.

The lift opens. I go to a corner and stand praying he doesn’t say ‘girl friend’. She went to the other corner and my son goes to her and talks to her.

Sri : What are your likes?
P: Shrugs shoulders ‘I don’t know’.
Immediately comes back with ‘May be drawing’.
Sri (voluntarily) : I like drawing too, drawing pokemon and monsters. Then blah….blah…blah about pokemon.

Finally, we get to the ground floor. I run out of the lift with him relieved that he has not said ‘girl friend’.
P : Srikar, where do you live?
Sri : house no., cross, main, btm layout 2nd stage.
Thank god, he spared the pin code. I was dying inside with laughter.
P : I don’t remember a single line now. I just asked where you live.
Sri : I told you.

I stepped in and said he should just say ‘btm layout’ and he complied. Then, to keep the girl comfortable, I asked where she lives. She showed us her block. And we said bye.

Me : Srikara, you should just say the place when someone asks where you live.
Sri: Why?

Big sigh! So true, I don’t have a reason.

Me: If they want address they will ask for it.
Sri: Oh Amma, I forgot to ask P her floor number and flat number.

I gave up and quietly drove back home feeling amused.

What is ‘Normal’?

This is about a conversation I had with Srikar. I asked Srikar why he can’t say normal things and what he said made my day.
Srikar and I were studying fact and opinion. In this exercise, you are given either a fact or an opinion. If you are given an opinion, you need to come up with a fact and if you are given a fact, you need to come up with an opinion.

For a given opinion, it was Srikar’s turn to come up with a fact about bananas. He said – “Before the 21st century, war children did not know how to eat a banana”. I did not know what that meant and why he came up with it. While I was proud of him and was smiling, I could not help ask him this question.

“Srikar, why don’t you come up with normal things like the colour of the banana, it’s taste or something like that?”

To which he replies:

“Why can’t it be MY normal brain things? Why does it have to be YOUR normal brain things?”

Boy, it normally takes people about 30 years to figure it out enough to say it out loud in one form or the other. I only wish growing up would not spoil him, as it did most of us.

Srikar Learning Poetry – My Pets

 

It would be so nice
To have five little mice
I could feed them rice
Or, if they want, some lice

Why, then I could get
A striped tiger for a pet
It would be fun, I bet
When we go to the vet

Or I could get some rats
They can nibble my old bats
I could teach them some maths
And I could give them baths

You could get me some snakes
That like to have corn flakes
Nice chocolates, buns and cakes
And give icy cold hand shakes