Waldorf Methods/Sciences 1
Introduction
" ... ancient wisdom contained no contradiction between body and soul or between nature and spirit; because one knew: Spirit is in man in its archetypal form; the soul is none other than the message transmitted by spirit; the body is the image of spirit. Likewise, no contract was felt between man and surrounding nature because one bore an image of spirit in one's own body, and the same was true of every body in external nature. Hence, an inner kinship was experienced between one's own body and those in outer nature, and nature was not felt to be different from oneself. Man felt himself at one with the whole world. He could feel this because he could behold the archetype of spirit and because the cosmic expanses spoke to him. In consequence of the universe speaking to man, science simply could not exist. Just as we today cannot build a science of external nature out of what lives in our memory, ancient man could not develop one because, whether he looked into himself or outward at nature, he beheld the same image of spirit. No contrast existed between man himself and nature, and there was none between soul and body. The correspondence of soul and body was such that, in a manner of speaking, the body was only the vessel, the artistic reproduction, of the spiritual archetype, while the soul was the mediating messenger between the two. Everything as in a state of intimate union. There could be no question of comprehending anything. We grasp and comprehend what is outside our own life. Anything that we carry within ourselves is directly experienced and need not be first comprehended. ... Precisely because man had lost the connection with nature, he now sought a science of nature from outside." - Rudolf Steiner in "The Origins of Natural Science."
In Waldorf education, the science subjects do not start with nor are built from theories and formulas. Rather they start with the phenomena and develop in an experiential way, by first presenting the phenomenon, having the students make detailed observations, then guiding the students to derive the concepts that arise from the phenomena, and finally deriving the scientific formulas and laws behind the phenomena.This methodology reflects the way basic science actually has been developed by scientists and trains the pupils stepwise in basic scientific thinking and reflection on the basis of personal experience and observation of the phenomena of nature and the history of science. In kindergarten and the lower grades, the experience of nature through the seasons is brought to the children through nature walks, nature tables and observation of nature around. In later grades, there are specific main lesson blocks dealing with Man and Animal, and other themes. In grade 5, scientific ideas may be taught historically through the study of the Greeks, for example, Aristotle, Archimedes and Pythagoras. In grades 6-8 the science curriculum becomes more focused with blocks on physics (optics, acoustics, mechanics, magnetism and electricity), botany, chemistry (inorganic and organic), and anatomy. In high school, science is taught by specialists who have received college level training in biology, chemistry and physics and these three subjects are taught in each of the 4 years of high school. Course Outlines
Waldorf Methods/Sciences 1
Lesson 1: Chemistry/Kindergarten/Grades Lesson 2: Chemistry/Classes 9 - 12 Lesson 3: Physics/Introduction Lesson 4: Physics/Classes 6 - 8 Lesson 5: Physics/Classes 9 - 12 Waldorf Methods/Sciences 2 Lesson 1: Life Sciences/Introduction Lesson 2: Life Sciences/Classes 4 - 5 Lesson 3: Life Sciences/Classes 6 -8 Lesson 4: Life Sciences/Classes 9 -10 Lesson 5: Life Sciences/Classes 11 -12 Waldorf Methods/Sciences 3 Lesson 1: Geography/Introduction Lesson 2: Geography/Classes 1 - 8 Lesson 3: Geography/Classes 9 - 12 Lesson 4: Gardening and Sustainable Living Lesson 5: Technology |
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Tasks and Assignments for Waldorf Methods/Sciences 1.1.
Please study and work with the study material provided for this lesson. Then please turn to the following tasks and assignments listed below.
1. Study the material provided and look up other resources as needed and appropriate.
2. Create examples of curriculum that addresses the learning method and content appropriate for the age group in question. Curriculum examples should include outlines and goals, activities, circle/games, stories, and illustrations/drawings:
Create 2 examples for this age group.
3. Additionally submit comments and questions, if any.
Please send your completed assignment via the online form or via email.
1. Study the material provided and look up other resources as needed and appropriate.
2. Create examples of curriculum that addresses the learning method and content appropriate for the age group in question. Curriculum examples should include outlines and goals, activities, circle/games, stories, and illustrations/drawings:
Create 2 examples for this age group.
3. Additionally submit comments and questions, if any.
Please send your completed assignment via the online form or via email.
Study Material for Waldorf Methods/Sciences Lesson 1.1.
Chemistry/Kindergarten/Grades
Popular science books,
including those for children, frequently
introduce models of atoms and molecules that bear
little resemblance to contemporary understanding of 'sub-atomic' and particle behaviour. The crude, billiard ball picture of chemical processes
is both inaccurate and at odds with a
phenomenological approach to the subject.
The Steiner-Waldorf curriculum for chemistry, as for other subjects, aims to give a developmental and adaptive picture to children and young people, based on clear observation and open-ended questioning. In this way, pupils follow some of the key steps taken during the history of the physical sciences and can learn to appreciate the intricacies and the power of practical applications of the subject. The chemistry curriculum is informed by the principles that inform the other subjects, encouraging lateral and creative thinking across the whole curriculum. By fostering imagination from early years onwards and working from this towards close study of observable phenomena, the pupils are well-prepared for atomic theory and, the sphere of life science, genetics and Darwinian evolution, which will normally be studied in depth in Class 11.
Kindergarten to Class 6
In popular understanding, the word 'chemistry' implies crystals, powders and liquids in bottles. If the study of chemistry is not to isolate children from the living world, then it must be deeply integrated into the life science curriculum from the beginning and not used during this phase of childhood to train them into current materialistic/ reductionist explanations. All the considerations given to the place of the life sciences therefore apply to the chemistry curriculum. The whole curriculum, from kindergarten onwards, supports the approach to chemistry that will come to focus in Class 7.
In Class 6, within the geology main -lesson, limestone, silica, chalk and coal illustrate the way in which what is dead and mineral can arise from life. Living organisms shed enough materials in growing and dying that they can be responsible for substantial geological strata. It is only relatively recently that science has acknowledged the living origins of such deposits and it is an important counterbalance to the prevailing view that a dead mineral world is the foundation of life (evolved from a 'primeval soup'), to see that dead matter can arise from life through excretion and death.
Class 7
Now chemistry becomes a subject in its own right. The approach should be phenomenological, with the emphasis on accurate description and the children's own experiences, rather than those mediated entirely by measurement. It is also important to maintain the widest possible connections with world processes, in nature and in the human being. The study of combustion, for example, will include observations of the burning qualities of different materials, descriptions of the power of a forest fire, the nature of biological respiration and the ritual/sacrificial use of fire in different cultures andlegends.
The imaginative and pictorial faculties engaged here provide a deeper basis for a conceptual understanding of the roles of oxygen, carbon dioxide and energy as well as the role of the plant world over the whole earth.
Biographies of scientists such as Priestley and Lavoisier show how science is set in an historical context and how determined and creative individuals pursued their fascination with the phenomena.
The technical applications (welding, smelting, fire extinguishers) then take their place within much wider moral, social and environmental perspectives.
Combustion
* The burning of all kinds of dead material (e.g. straw, cotton, pine needles, spores, alcohol, gas)
* The role of air in fire - forest, bush and oil fires, fire storms and chimney effects
* The generation of oxygen from pondweed and mineral sources
* The combustion of sulphur, carbon and phosphorus (volcanoes, charcoal burning and fireflies) * The role of oxygen and carbon dioxide in human, animal and plant
* Smoke and ash, acid and base
* Indicators, using red cabbage, beetroot, litmus * The chemistry of the candle
Salts
* Limestone and marble, origins and chemistry. Natural formations, caves and cliffs, flora of chalk soils
* The lime kiln and the lime cycle (limestone- quicklime-slaked lime-chalk). Cement and mortar
* The reaction of concentrated hydrochloric acid and solid sodium hydroxide to illustrate the power of the acid/base polarity in forming salts. Practical applications (e.g. toothpaste, the farmer's use of lime)
Metals
* The chemistry and the cultural/historical/ technical significance of those metals that can be obtained from the earth, naturally or by reduction of the ore with charcoal (e.g. iron, copper, lead, mercury, tin, silver, gold)
* Smelting of iron - historical links with charcoal burning
Class 8
The thinking ability at this age is ready for more conceptualisation and children are increasingly interested in technical applications. The choice of plant and food chemistry for Class 8 introduces quite complex chemistry, while maintaining the wider picture of the plant world, human diet, agriculture and food technology as well as relationships with other main-lessons. Simple experiments which involve measurement and testing are more appropriate now.
The general theme is how metabolism and the food chain involve a direct relationship with nature and the seasons, although the ripening process can be halted (e.g. pickling), slowed (e.g. storage), or accelerated (e.g. cheese). Food production also involves separating out and purifying what was in the natural environment. The food products may still retain some of their connection with these origins until they finally become isolated into chemical substances (e.g. starch powder, vitamins). The need for cooking rather than eating food raw needs to be examined along with the highly processed food habits of the Western world. Issues of health and diet arise.
* The process that changes grain to flour, various cereals and milling techniques
* The properties of dough, the role of gluten
* Breadmaking (practical). Sourdough and yeast breads
* Extraction of starch from flour, potatoes or rice. The qualities of starch, testing with iodine * Glucose as the primary product of the plant/ sun relationship. Other sugars in nature. Testing for sugar (Benedict's or Fehling's solutions)
* Sources of sugar (historical and cultural). The effect of sugars on the teeth and the diet. Blood sugar and diabetes
* Glucose extraction from sugar beet and its manufacture from acid and starch
* Fermentation (practical) and decay
* Germination of seeds - starch/glucose
* The roles of starch, protein and yeast in bread- making
* Protein in milk, eggs, fish, beans, meat, feathers and fur
* The qualities of fats and oils, their relationship to water and fire. Their origins in plant and animal
* Milk - raw, pasteurised, 'long life' * Cheese and yoghurt (practical) * Soap manufacture
* Cellulose in plant and insect. Its role in human diet. Paper manufacture and recycling (practical)
* Leather and tanning
* Biographies (e.g. Pasteur, Lavoisier, Priestley)
The Steiner-Waldorf curriculum for chemistry, as for other subjects, aims to give a developmental and adaptive picture to children and young people, based on clear observation and open-ended questioning. In this way, pupils follow some of the key steps taken during the history of the physical sciences and can learn to appreciate the intricacies and the power of practical applications of the subject. The chemistry curriculum is informed by the principles that inform the other subjects, encouraging lateral and creative thinking across the whole curriculum. By fostering imagination from early years onwards and working from this towards close study of observable phenomena, the pupils are well-prepared for atomic theory and, the sphere of life science, genetics and Darwinian evolution, which will normally be studied in depth in Class 11.
Kindergarten to Class 6
In popular understanding, the word 'chemistry' implies crystals, powders and liquids in bottles. If the study of chemistry is not to isolate children from the living world, then it must be deeply integrated into the life science curriculum from the beginning and not used during this phase of childhood to train them into current materialistic/ reductionist explanations. All the considerations given to the place of the life sciences therefore apply to the chemistry curriculum. The whole curriculum, from kindergarten onwards, supports the approach to chemistry that will come to focus in Class 7.
In Class 6, within the geology main -lesson, limestone, silica, chalk and coal illustrate the way in which what is dead and mineral can arise from life. Living organisms shed enough materials in growing and dying that they can be responsible for substantial geological strata. It is only relatively recently that science has acknowledged the living origins of such deposits and it is an important counterbalance to the prevailing view that a dead mineral world is the foundation of life (evolved from a 'primeval soup'), to see that dead matter can arise from life through excretion and death.
Class 7
Now chemistry becomes a subject in its own right. The approach should be phenomenological, with the emphasis on accurate description and the children's own experiences, rather than those mediated entirely by measurement. It is also important to maintain the widest possible connections with world processes, in nature and in the human being. The study of combustion, for example, will include observations of the burning qualities of different materials, descriptions of the power of a forest fire, the nature of biological respiration and the ritual/sacrificial use of fire in different cultures andlegends.
The imaginative and pictorial faculties engaged here provide a deeper basis for a conceptual understanding of the roles of oxygen, carbon dioxide and energy as well as the role of the plant world over the whole earth.
Biographies of scientists such as Priestley and Lavoisier show how science is set in an historical context and how determined and creative individuals pursued their fascination with the phenomena.
The technical applications (welding, smelting, fire extinguishers) then take their place within much wider moral, social and environmental perspectives.
Combustion
* The burning of all kinds of dead material (e.g. straw, cotton, pine needles, spores, alcohol, gas)
* The role of air in fire - forest, bush and oil fires, fire storms and chimney effects
* The generation of oxygen from pondweed and mineral sources
* The combustion of sulphur, carbon and phosphorus (volcanoes, charcoal burning and fireflies) * The role of oxygen and carbon dioxide in human, animal and plant
* Smoke and ash, acid and base
* Indicators, using red cabbage, beetroot, litmus * The chemistry of the candle
Salts
* Limestone and marble, origins and chemistry. Natural formations, caves and cliffs, flora of chalk soils
* The lime kiln and the lime cycle (limestone- quicklime-slaked lime-chalk). Cement and mortar
* The reaction of concentrated hydrochloric acid and solid sodium hydroxide to illustrate the power of the acid/base polarity in forming salts. Practical applications (e.g. toothpaste, the farmer's use of lime)
Metals
* The chemistry and the cultural/historical/ technical significance of those metals that can be obtained from the earth, naturally or by reduction of the ore with charcoal (e.g. iron, copper, lead, mercury, tin, silver, gold)
* Smelting of iron - historical links with charcoal burning
Class 8
The thinking ability at this age is ready for more conceptualisation and children are increasingly interested in technical applications. The choice of plant and food chemistry for Class 8 introduces quite complex chemistry, while maintaining the wider picture of the plant world, human diet, agriculture and food technology as well as relationships with other main-lessons. Simple experiments which involve measurement and testing are more appropriate now.
The general theme is how metabolism and the food chain involve a direct relationship with nature and the seasons, although the ripening process can be halted (e.g. pickling), slowed (e.g. storage), or accelerated (e.g. cheese). Food production also involves separating out and purifying what was in the natural environment. The food products may still retain some of their connection with these origins until they finally become isolated into chemical substances (e.g. starch powder, vitamins). The need for cooking rather than eating food raw needs to be examined along with the highly processed food habits of the Western world. Issues of health and diet arise.
* The process that changes grain to flour, various cereals and milling techniques
* The properties of dough, the role of gluten
* Breadmaking (practical). Sourdough and yeast breads
* Extraction of starch from flour, potatoes or rice. The qualities of starch, testing with iodine * Glucose as the primary product of the plant/ sun relationship. Other sugars in nature. Testing for sugar (Benedict's or Fehling's solutions)
* Sources of sugar (historical and cultural). The effect of sugars on the teeth and the diet. Blood sugar and diabetes
* Glucose extraction from sugar beet and its manufacture from acid and starch
* Fermentation (practical) and decay
* Germination of seeds - starch/glucose
* The roles of starch, protein and yeast in bread- making
* Protein in milk, eggs, fish, beans, meat, feathers and fur
* The qualities of fats and oils, their relationship to water and fire. Their origins in plant and animal
* Milk - raw, pasteurised, 'long life' * Cheese and yoghurt (practical) * Soap manufacture
* Cellulose in plant and insect. Its role in human diet. Paper manufacture and recycling (practical)
* Leather and tanning
* Biographies (e.g. Pasteur, Lavoisier, Priestley)