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Teaching Fundamental Aspects of Science Toys

Thomas O’Brien School of Education and Human DevelopmentState University of New York at BinghamtonBinghamton, New York 13902-6000

For centuries, it has been known that learning occurs rapidlyin natural, social settings where children are involved ininteractive, hands-on play. Combined with the importantplaytime shared with caring adults, nearly all children leam towalk and talk and develop other complex skills with minimumformal instruction or sense of failure. Yet from the earliestgrades, many children come to leam that school-based learningis hard work at which only a few are expected to excel.

This unintended side effectofformal schooling is especiallyproblematic in the case of physical and mathematical scienceswhere, historically, predominantly only white males have beenmotivated to continue through college training to sci-techcareers (National Science Foundation, 1990). Perhaps part ofthe problem is that some teachers across the kindergarten-university spectrum mistakenly disassociate fun, hands-onplayfrom minds-on work. Increased motivation and conceptualunderstanding will occur if both the fun and mental aspects ofscientific play arereunited. This article will outline therationale,resources, and techniques for teaching K-12 physical sciencevia toys.

Rationale for Teachingwith Toys and Scientific Play

Long before the groundbreaking clinical studies that ledPiaget to his developmental psychology and helped paved theway for the constructivist learning paradigm, astute observersnoticed the close correlation between physical (and mental)action and learning. As Leonardo da Vinci stated in hisNotebooks circa 1500, "Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant waterloses its purity, and in cold weather becomes frozen; even sodoes inaction sap the vigors of the mind." Yet, despite thecultural universality of toys, the obvious connection betweenmanipulative toys and spatial abilities and the correlationbetween spatial abilities and science achievement, relativelylittle research has been conducted on the connection betweentoys and science (Tracy, 1987,1990).

Occasional articles in science education journals haveoffered suggestions on specific toys for teaching science(Levinstein, 1982; Taylor, 1989a; Watson & Watson, 1987). Inthe early 1970s, one popular demonstration book (Blast, 1974)devoted an entire section to the physics of some 30 differenttoys. Items such as balloons, bubbles, and paper models remainpopular topics for both tradebooks and sourcebooks (Katz,1991). The credibility of using toys for teaching is alsosupported by university sponsored, graduate credit-bearing

inservice courses (Taylor.Williams, Sarquis, & Poth, 1990),national energy education kits (Kauffman & Zafran, 1992),commercialtextbookteacherguides (Physical Science DiscoveryDemonstrations, 1991), National Aeronautical and SpaceAdministration/American Association of Physics Teachers’Toys in Space video educational package (Gronseth, Sumners,& Fuller, 1987), and a science supplier who markets 35 toys forteaching chemistry (Flinn Scientific, 1991). Clearly, toys arenot just for kids. But what are their specific pedagogicaladvantages?

Using toys to teach fundamental principles ofscience canbeespecially effective since toys build on and extend the out-of-school experiences of students. Cognitive research has pointedto the fallacy ofthe blank slate, empty vessel model oflearning.Children ofall ages sense and interpret new information in lightoftheirpre-existing conceptions. Effectiveinstruction activatesand challenges naive theories (Driver, Guesne, & Tiberghien,1985;Osbome&Freyberg, 1985). Ifthe instructional materialsand terminology do not intersect with children’s mentalframeworks, atbest, the information willbememorized in arotefashion toberecalledonly in artifical, examination-type settings.At worst, students will become frustrated and alienated fromtaking additional science courses. Most children have directand indirect contact (i.e., advertisements) with a variety oftoys.Thus, toys touch home.

Forexample, concepts such as the conversion ofpotential tokinetic energy and elastic/inelastic collisions take on cognitiverelevance whenchildren are involved in guidedplay comparingthe properties for a variety of types of balls-squish and glueballs, kooshballs (Hunt, 1989), wobbly balls, superballs, andhappy/unhappy balls (Kauffman, Mason, & Seymour, 1990).

Toys are readily available and low-cost. Despiteoverwhelming evidence for the educational efficacy ofinquiry-oriented lessons thatutilize concrete manipulatives (Boulanger,1981; Shymansky, Kyle, & AUport, 1983; Wise& Okey. 1983),most K-12 science classrooms continue to be dominated bylecture/discussions and deductive labs (if any) centered aroundexplicating and confirming the textbook answers (Mullis &Jenkins, 1988; Weiss, Nelson, Boyd, & Hudson, 1989). Whilea variety of factors contribute to this problem, the expense ofconventional science equipment is of considerable importancein many classrooms, especially at the elementary level.

By contrast, a large variety of toys are available throughlocal department or toy stores for under $4.00. Mail-ordercatalogs sell toys such as Bernoulli pipes, suction cup andspring equippedpopping toys, bimetallicjumpingdiscs (McNeil,

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1988), klacker balls and air-powered vehicles by the dozen orgross (see Appendix). Science museum shops are anothersource for interesting toys, as are flea markets, garage sales,thriftstores.and students. Periodically.certain toys will disappearfrom the marketplace but redesigned versions or new toysworking on the same principles are constantly appearing. Twoof the most expensive toys available are at least an order ofmagnitude cheaper than the standard science catalog item (i.e.,$ 10.00 hovercraftvs an airtrackanda$8.00 version of Newton’scradle).

Toys are inherently motivational and interactive (minds-onand hands-on). As Dewey suggested, "Teaching may becompared to selling commodities. No one can sell unlesssomeone buys." The first job of a teacher is to engage thelearner’s attention. Toys, especially ones whose behaviorappear discrepant in light ofcommon misconceptions, fascinatechildren of all ages. By contast, lessons without manipulativesor those that use expensive, unfamiliar science equipment maylead some students (to paraphrase a Sidney Hards cartoon) to"stop taking the medicine (science courses) because they preferthe original disease (science illiteracy) to the side effects(frustration and/or boredom)."

Examples of motivational toys include (a) spinning objectssuch as gyroscopes, optical tops, perpetualmotion toys (Schmidt& Insley, 1984). tippy tops, and spin bars (Walker, 1979), (b)spring-powered cars (Hanna, 1983), and (c) balloons whichcontaining differentgases (density) orvolatile liquids (molecularholes), rubbed with different materials (use hair to charge theballoon negativeand saran wrap forapositivecharge),puncturedwithout bursting by magic needles (polymers), inverted inempty bottles (airpressure), coloredblackinUFOflyers (radiantheat absorption and density), etc. (McGlathery & Malone.1991).

Toys help make otherwise abstract principles concrete andrelevant to students’ lives and demonstrate science in the real-world vs. science in the science laboratory. Effective instructioncreates a need-to-know and answers the unspoken studentquestion of "So what, why (should I) care?" which is often thelimiting reagent for learning. Beyond being motivational, toysare conceptually relevant in that they aid the development ofspatial perceptual and science process skills (Tracy, 1990;Zubrowski, 1991).

For example, windup toys and handpowered generators orflashlights provide a direct sensory feel for energy conversion,magic disappearing ink leaves a lasting image of acid-baseindicators, holiday candle-poweredcarousels give anew twist todiscussions of convection currents and turbines, and a set ofcolored stacking rings brings to light the inverse relationshipbetween wavelength and energy across the ROYGBIV colorspectrum. Additionally, many toys can be analyzed bothqualitatively and quantitatively in a playful, open-endedinvestigative way not normally associated with expensive andunfamiliar scientific apparatus.

Toys have high inquiry potential since functional parts are

often somewhat concealed. Conventional teaching typicallyprovides theory-basedanswers followedby teacherortextbook-posed questions. Inquiry teaching puts the real-world horse ofobservable phenomena and related questions before thetheoretical principles cart. Constructivist teaching takes thisone step further and actively involves students in posing theirownquestions which include exploring previously unquestionedanswers.

For instance, basic principles of electrical circuits can beexplored with toys such as a light-up magnetic spinning wheel,an atomic bulb (popularized by the Addams Family), andlight and sound tops with a centrifugal switch (Crowley,1988). From classic toys like water rockets (Newton’s thirdlaw) (Esler& Sanford, 1989), the drinking bird (vaporpressureand evaporative cooling) (Spooner, 1977), the slinky(compression and transverse waves) (Burger, 1987), and theradiometer (energy absorption and molecular recoil) (Ehrlich,1990) to newer drugstore items like the reusable heat solutionpacs (supersaturatedsodium acetateand latent heat) (Kauffman& Zafran, 1992), toys invite playful explorations of the basicquestions of what, how, why, and what if.

Toys can provide the impetus for design andbuild projects.In anefforttounderstand and/orimproveonhiddenmechanismsand operating principles, students can be invited to constructhomemade versions ofcommercial toys. Sample engineeringprojects includepaperairplanes (Churchill, 1990;Laux, 1987),hot air balloons (dry cleaning bag, straws, and a heat gun)(Radford, 1974), comeback cans (coffee can, rubberband, andlead weight), hopper poppers (racquetballs cut in half)(Guzdziol, 1991), RoU-A-Roo balls (off-center weighted ballfloating withinafluid-filledball) (Stannard, O’Brien,&Telesca,in press). Cartesian divers (Roberts, 1982; Ukens, 1978),mousetrap powered boats (Edelman, 1989), air-powered cars(Louviere, 1988), bridges (McCarthy & German, 1990), andrideable hovercraft (Altshuler, 1989). Design projects aregreatfor local science fairs and goodpractice forsomenationalscience competitions (National ScienceTeachers Association,1990). Also, students canbe encouraged to research large scaleapplications of these principles in sites such as circuses(Edelman, 1990), amusement parks (Escobar, 1990; Taylor,Page, Bentley,&Lossner, 1984),andworkplaces. Suchprojectscan lead science-technology-society connections.

Toys areeasy to integrate across theK-12 schoolcurriculum.For years, articles in School Science and Mathematics haveargued for integrating science and mathematics (McBride &Silverman, 1991). Clearly, science toys can provide relevant,motivational, concrete examples for otherwise abstractmathematical concepts. Conversely, mathematics providesthe tools for quantifying scientific phenomena, manipulatingdata, and identifyingrelationships. Motivationalandconceptualarguments aside, such integration also saves valuableinstructional time and the limited material budgets whichtypically constrain science and math instruction.

Forexample, battery powered, constant velocity cars or toy

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hovercrafts andvariable acceleration balloon-powered cars canserve the dual purpose of teaching measurement, division,graphing and science process skills like estimation andprediction, as well as the scienceofmoving objects. Homemadeor commercial musical toys (Griffiths, 1975; Papacosta, 1990)and art projects such as mobiles (Franklin & Rhoades, 1989),pinhole cameras (Young, 1989), harmonographs andspirographs, and magnetic sculptures suggest that one can gobeyond this conventional science-mathematics integration. Ofcourse, students are more easily motivated to write about realexperiences that they’ve enjoyed (Harris-Freedman, 1990).

Toys can be used in any phase of the teaching cycle. Theycan be interactive, inquiry demonstrations during engagement,explanation or evaluation or in student-centered, individual orcooperative learning group instructional settings duringexploration or elaboration (Bybee & Landes, 1990). Most toysare adaptable to a range of objectives, settings, teaching styles,and grade levels, thereby providing instructional flexibility.For example, consider therange ofconceptual levels that can beexplored with singing corrugated tubes (Crawford, 1974). Thepreviously cited toys have been used across the elementary-graduate school spectrum. Of course, depending on students’conceptual abilities and prior knowledge one must adjust thedepth of understanding targeted. Almost any toy is potentiallyeducational and can be used to develop science process skills,somelevel ofintuitive feel, andatleastarudimentary.qualitativeunderstanding of a given concept Such initial, preliminaryexperiences can lay a firm foundation for later more detailed,quantitative analyses.

Toys simultaneously involve both teachers and students inthefun andmental aspects ofscience. Considerhowelectrostatictoys (Mellen, 1989; Taylor, 1989b) add levity and generatequestions about an otherwise dry subject. Both personally andhistorically, scientific knowledge advances most rapidly whenthe line between play and work fades. Also, the expression "thefamily thatplays together, stays together" is appropriate. Whenstudents see the teacher having fun and seeking to involve themin the intellectual game of science, their image ofboth scienceand the teacher is enhanced. Research also suggests thatemphasizing the fun, hands-on, real-world, and cooperativeaspects ofscience can help counter the multiple forces that fromthe earliestgrades discouragemany students, especially females,from participating in the physical sciences (Fort & Vamey,1989; Gardner, Mason, & Lakes-Matyas, 1989; Mason, ButlerKahle. & Gardner, 1991; Otto, 1991; Tracy, 1990).

In summary, most toys if utilized in an inquiry manner, fitthecriteriaofbeing safe, simple, economical, enjoyable,effectiveand relevant (O’Brien, 1991).

Tips for Teaching with Toys

In the introduction to his excellent guidebook on usingtoys to teach science, Radford (1972), states, "It should not bethought that scientific investigation will automatically develop

from toys and play. A bright child might have a flash ofinspiration but generally it isn’t until the teacher asks the ’right’question and provides the ’right’ environment that the childstops, thinks and then begins to wonder" (p. 4). Whenexaminingagiven toy forpedagogical usefulness, ateachershouldconsider.Will students consider this toy to be fun? If so, where and howmight the science concepts and process skills associated withthe toy fit into the curriculum? How mightmusic (Offutt, 1991)or other humorous techniques increase the toy’s appeal andlearning potential?

Beyond scope and sequence considerations, optimizingboth creative, playful fun and learning requires the teacher toguide a class to examine toys with scientific glasses withoutforcing each student to wear the same presciption. If toys areexaminedfrom anenergy perspective, acommon setofquestionscan be used to guide open-ended explorations: (a) Withoutdisassembling the toy, what observations canbe made about itsdesign? To what extent is the operation of the toy a black box?(b) What is the sourceofenergy thatpowers the toy? What otherforms of energy are exhibited by operating the toy? How doesit store and transform energy? How efficient is it? (c) Whatexperimental variablescanbemanipulatedtoobserve additionaleffects? What variables need to be controlled for a fair test? (d)What predictions can be made about the toy’s operation underdifferent experimental conditions? (e) What quantitativemeasurements might be taken to test these predictions? Howmightgraphs help to clarify keyrelationships? (f) What scienceconcepts and principles account for the behavior of the toy (ifit behaves in an unexpected way, what was not considered?) (g)How can the toy be repaired, improved, or built from everydaymaterials? (h) Whattechnological devices workin an analogousfashion?

Conclusions

Clearly, no single type of instructional material, teachingstyle, or approach is appropriate for all teachers, students, andobjectives. Variety is important to students and teachers forboth motivational and cognitive reasons. Toys add variety toteaching and have the capability to reunite the fun/hands-on andmental/minds-on aspects ofscience teaching and learning whiledeveloping process skills, attitudes, and content. Thus,thoughtful explorations with science toys arerecommended forbringing out the playful, investigative side of children of allages.

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AppendixMail Order Suppliers of Scientific Toys

Edmund Scientific Co., 101 East Gloucester Pike, Bamngton,NJ 08007 (609) 573-6270, (800) 222-0224

Exploratorium. 3601 Lyon St, SanFrancisco. CA94123, (415)563-7337

Flinn Scientific Inc., P.O. Box 219, Batavia, IL 60510, (708)879-6900, Chemistry of Toys catalog and Fax sheets

Harriet Carter, Dept.30. North Wales, PA 19455, (215) 361-5151

JerryCo, Inc., 601 Linden Place. Evanston, IL 60202, (708)475-8440

Johnson Smith Co., 4514 19th Court East, P.O. Box 25500,Bradenton, FL 34206-5500, (813) 747-2356, Things YouNever Knew Existed . . . and can’t possibly live withoutCatalog

Lawrence Hall of Science/Discovery Comer, University ofCalifornia. Berkeley. CA 94720, (415) 642-1016

Oriental Trading Company, Inc., 4206 South 108th St., Omaha,NE 68137-1215. (800) 327-9678

US Toy Co., Inc., 1227 E. 119th St., Grandview, MO 64030(800) 255-6124

Introduce a Colleagueto SSMA

The need for teachers of science andmathematics to be informed and involvedprofessionally has never been greater. Talkto your colleagues about the School Scienceand Mathematics Association and theassociation’s benefits. Contact the ExecutiveSecretary for membership brochures, samplejournal issues, or answers to questions aboutSSMA.

Volume 93(4), April 1993