Total Curriculum Systems Module Joint Lesson- Developing

synthesis as a thinking skill

Aim- To understand what synthesis is and to develop some

visual synthesis skills.

Citizenship

• Understanding British identity

Starter

• Your teacher will give you a sheet with a series of images on. The images are all the names of places in the British Isles. In your groups work them out and write down the answers on a piece of paper. Make it a race if you like. The first one has been done for you on the next slide.

Ash tree Ford car

Ashford …… Get it?

Main Activity 1

• In your groups discuss this question:

Which methods did you use to work out what the pictures showed? How did your mind work? What order did you do things in in your thinking?

Mr Magee’s method

• When I look at a picture I start by giving each bit a key word e.g.

In this image I can see children, a globe and a classroom or library.

The children look interested in the globe.

I deconstruct the image in my mind, splitting it into key words

Then I reconstruct the key words into a new image or description of what the image shows

Picture

1- Globe2- Children3- Classroom or Library4- Interested

It’s a Geography lesson in a school

Synthesis

This method is called synthesis, you take what you can see in an image and take it apart in your mind and then put it back together in a way that tells you something new.

Synthesis in Maths

• As another example of how synthesis might work, let us imagine that we are given this question:

• “What is the HCF (Highest Common Factor) of 24, 48 and 56?”

• Now imagine that we have no idea what an HCF is. How can we use synthesis to work it out?

Highest Common Factor

• Firstly, we know that factors are those numbers that divide exactly into the given number, so why not make a list of the factors of each one:

• 24 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24

• 48 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24, 48

• 56 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 14, 28, 56

Highest Common Factor

• Secondly, let us then find those factors which are common; i.e. those numbers which appear in all three lists:

• 24 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24• 48 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24, 48• 56 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 14, 28, 56

• Our common factors are thus: 1, 2, 4, 8

Highest Common Factor

• Finally, we can now look to see which is the highest of our common factors:

• 1, 2, 4, 8

• And there you have it. Using synthesis we have found that the HCF of 24, 48 and 56 is 8.

• Extension Activity: Use synthesis to find the LCM (Lowest Common Multiple) of 4, 6 and 9.

Plenary

• In your groups discuss this question and tell the class your conclusions.

‘ In Total Curriculum you have Geography, History, ERS, Maths and English lessons. How could you use synthesis to help with your end of term Total Curriculum assessment task?’

Homework

• For next lesson choose one place in the British Isles and design your own image and draw it on a piece of A4 plain paper or do it on your laptop. Bring it to next lesson.

Lesson 2 Starter

• Pass your images around and see if other students and the teacher can get them right. See which group can get the most images right.

Main Activity 1

At first glance this is a cat looking out of a window.Look at it with a Total Curriculum

hat on.What can you see?

Geography – the weather, the landscape, the heating of the house causing global warming?

ERS- the ethics of keeping a cat indoors looking out onto the wild where it may belong?

History- The African origin of the wicker basket, how did the UK gain such African links?

Maths- The temperature differential between inside and out? The range between the two figures? Shapes of the window.

English- The thoughts of the cat looking out onto the cold landscape. Its happiness at being in the warmth? A poem about the 9 lives of the cat?

• What about newspapers? How might we read newspapers differently with our TOTaL hats on?

• As an example, how would we question a headline such as the following:

• ‘400 000 Polish immigrants upsetting balance of UK economy’

Possible questions:

• How many people live in Poland?• What percentage of the population has migrated?• What percentage of the Polish workforce has migrated?• How large is the UK population, particularly of working

age?• How does the average pay differ in Poland from the UK?• How many people are unemployed in the UK?• Are there enough jobs for everyone in the UK?• If not, then what jobs are we giving to the Poles?• Are Poles paid the same as UK residents?• How much welfare allowance does the Government pay

out for the unemployed in the UK?• What migration has Poland had from other countries?

Questioning Activity:

• On the worksheet you will see 6 statements or headlines taken from national newspapers

• With TOTaL hats on, particularly Maths hats, your task is to come up with at least 3 questions for each statement

• Questioning Worksheet

Main Activity 2

• Now that you have started to use synthesis to deconstruct and reconstruct images and ideas, as a group, create a standard operating procedure that we could use to do this next time.

• Use the images as a focus to do this activity rather than newspaper headlines

• Be ready to present your SOP to the class.

Suggested model for SOP

• Step 1- First you need to ……

• Step 2- Then ….

• Step 3- Next …..

• Step 4- Finally ……

Plenary

• In what situations would you use this SOP?

• How could it help with your Total Curriculum studies?