Embodied Thinking – A Photosynthesis Play
For this assignment, students will use their bodies to act out the process of photosynthesis. There are seven roles: sun, plant, water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, glucose, and a narrator. Students would wear tags that identify which role they are playing. I would allow students to represent each element using their bodies however they felt appropriate, but you will find my examples below.
Sun (stands on a stool high above the other parts with arms outstretched, fingers wiggling)- The sun sends his energy to the plant.
Plant (stands straight with arms on either side, palms up, may tilt side to side)- The plant absorbs, sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water.
Water (lays on the ground near the feet of the plant, wiggles back and forth)- Water is taken in through the roots on the plant.
Carbon Dioxide (holds hands with the plant to represent entry through the leaves)- Carbon dioxide enters through the leaves.
Glucose (appears only after the plant has absorbed water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide, this person moves around the “plant” outlining the body to represent movement throughout the plant)- The plant uses these ingredients to make food (or glucose) and this is transported throughout the rest of the plant.
Oxygen (appears only after the plant has absorbed water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide, starts side by side with the plant, when the plant burps he moves away)- Oxygen is released by the plant.
Narrator- Reads the steps to photosynthesis as the other students act them out.
Image retrieved from: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/foodchain/photosynthesis.htm
My understanding of the cognitive tool of embodied thinking is that it is using your body to become the stimuli. I was a dancer for 15 years so I felt that this topic was easier for me to connect with than some of the others. I enjoyed watching the Math Dance video, as it is something that I can relate to.
Photosynthesis is a science concept and not something that we would generally think of using our bodies. Most often we think of these concepts as very concrete, so it still was a bit of a challenge for me to think about the concept using my body. Photosynthesis is a process that I teach my fourth graders every year during our unit on plants. Even though we can observe plants, we can’t actually see photosynthesis happening. This is why I thought it would be a good topic to embody.
While the examples above are my embodiment of the process of photosynthesis, I would imagine that my students’ representations would be very diverse. I feel that if students are embodying the parts of photosynthesis it will aid in their connection to the process and in turn create a better overall understanding. As the ancient Chinese proverb reads on page 181 “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand” (Root-Bernstein, 1999). If students are using their bodies to represent photosynthesis than they are connecting with the material in new ways.
On page 162, the Root-Bernsteins state “it is possible to conjure up feelings of body tension or touch or movement in the mind, but most of us overlook these imaginative feelings because we are trained so early to see them or translate them into descriptive words” (1999). It is interesting to think about the way we train our brains to be a certain way. I think back to when I taught kindergarten and how most of the learning we did connected to our bodies and/or movement. For example, when I taught sight words I had students create a body movement with every word. This proved to be an effective way to help students remember their words. As students get older, we do less and less of this. I would predict that embodiment would be easier for a child than an adult. The real question is, why do we fight this? Embodied thinking should be part of our everyday practice as teachers, as it clearly leads to better understanding.
References
Root-Bernstein, R. S., & Root-Berstein, M. (1999). Sparks of genius: the 13 thinking tools of the world’s most creative people. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Nicole Mifsud 