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 1.2.
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 1.2.
Chemistry/Classes 9 - 12
Following a developmental theme, adolescents in Class 9 are in a process in which the forces of their childhood which leant on the adult world now thrust them towards stark questions of identity. The accompanying emotional upheavals are sometimes cause, sometimes effect, but they are the horse which the rider must learn to master and take responsibility for. Through Class 10 the rider gathers the thinking powers that make some sense of the conflicts that are met inwardly and outwardly until the qualities of the steed are more familiar and the explorations have more self-discipline. In Class 11 skill in this regard reaches a high point, while in Class 12 the individual begins to take stock of the past and lay plans for the future.
The chemistry curriculum accompanies this development. In Class 9, the substances formed in the living plant and the substances created in its decay are followed up in technological processes - for example, through the oil industry. For the pupils in Class 10, the conceptual clarity required to study and analyse mineral substances, meets their new thinking ability, while in Class 11 they are ready to compare contrasting models of how matter is currently understood and to see how the atomic model has arisen historically. In Class 12, the environmental and social issues that have accompanied all these studies are examined in their relationship to the human being and the whole earth. At the same time unusual substances and reactions highlight some of the lesser known features of matter, in mineral substance and in the living world.
Class 9
On the basis of the work done in Class 8, a more comprehensive and detailed study of the plant world brings Class 9 to focus on the principles of plant chemistry and the manufacturing and technical processes that have arisen from it.
Although much oftheworkwould conventionally be called 'organic chemistry: the approach is to follow the transformations of substance (e.g. sugar- ethanol-ethanoic acid -ester) within the plant rather than examine substance in isolation as would be the case with a systematic study of an homologous series. Likewise, the use of formulae and equations is an unnecessary abstraction. Where pupils in a particular class show real interest, then it would be much better to use structural formula.
Many of the technical processes may have been examined in Class 8 (e.g. paper, ethanol), but these should be extended to highlight the principles (e.g. cellophane, esters). There needs to be a focus on the oil refinery and its attendant processes as the basis for Western material progress (from fuels to medicines, plastics and pesticides).
The theme of plant decay and decomposition to coal and oil, followed by analysis into individual molecules, needs to continue down to elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorine and hydrogen, as well as sulphur and carbon with their allotropic properties.
Class 9 needs to engage in individual practical work to test themselves with the hazards of apparatus and chemicals. Young people of this age should be encouraged to explore, to trust their senses and their thinking (though safety and health considerations are, of course, vital). Although they need to structure their observations, ideas and records, following a rigid scientific procedure with controlled experiments, testable hypotheses and exact measurements should not be allowed to dominate the mood of an investigation. The key elements of the scientific process of investigation can be distilled from the reflections that creative and enthusiastic teaching can demand from them. The more disciplined scientific training in method and thinking needed for Classes 11 and 12 is built up through Class 10.
* Photosynthesis and respiration as processes of oxidation and reduction
* The chemistry of sugars, starch, cellulose, alcohols, acids and esters both within the plant and in technological applications (e.g. cellulose, soap, artificial flavours. Explosives: sugar, starch, guncotton)
* Enzymes. Fermentation. Aerobic and anaerobic respiration
* Alcohol abuse. Addiction * Carbon and nitrogen cycles
* The chemistry of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Air pollution. Ozone
* Destructive distillation of wood and coal
* Factional distillation of oil
* Exploration and drilling for oil, refining and catalytic cracking, products of oil refining
* The chemistry of hydrocarbons and its everyday application (e.g. plastics, refrigerants)
* The chemistry of hydrogen
* The ecological and environmental conse- quences of the use of hydrocarbon derivatives (e.g. carbon dioxide, pesticides)
* Our personal, local and global responsibility for their use. Alternatives. Recycling
* The chemistry of non-metals (e.g. sulphur, chlorine)
* Biographies (e.g. Alfred Nobel and those not told in Class 8)
Class 10
Class 10 have gained sufficient control over their thinking to grasp concepts and work with them in following processes and in practical work to follow procedures. They seek clarity and are ready to take on the discipline of measurement through precision instruments - weighing and volumetric calculations. By way of contrast, projective geometry brings another kind of precision and quite a different perspective on crystalline form.
The mineral world provides rich opportunities to focus Class 10 on these considerations. Acid- base polarity in the forming of salts leads to practical work whose principles can be followed in living organisms as well as in the human being. The reduction of ores and the chemistry of metals leads to the Reactivity Series and the Periodic Table, laying the basis for the atomic theory in Class 11.
* Mineral forms
* Geology and geography
* Geometry and symmetry
* The origin and history of common salt
* Crystallising, dissolving and melting
* The biological significance of solutions (e.g. osmosis, plasmolysis)
* The thermal decomposition of salts (e.g. calcium carbonate)
* The formation of salts from acid and base (the lime cycle, cement)
* Acid-base polarity in the living world (e.g. breathing, the digestive system). Indicators and titration. Insoluble salts
* Analytic chemistry: tests for acid radicals and metal ions
* Electrolysis of a molten salt (e.g. lead bromide) * Industrial applications (e.g. electroplating) and historical discoveries (e.g. sodium, aluminium etc.)
* Chemistry and technology of metals, particularly those discovered by electrolysis
* The Reactivity Series
Class 11
At this age, the pupils' thinking ability can firmly grasp the clarity of a model while holding a perspective which can challenge it as well as consider other possibilities.
Quantitative chemical laws should be introduced and the historical discoveries which led to the Periodic Table. This should be presented as only one way in which a coherent picture of the chemical elements can be summarised.
This is the age at which the atomic theory can be taught in detail. Although only a small number of students are likely to be considering chemistry as a science to specialise in, when the approach is historical with attention to biographies and to the moral, social and environmental implications of the use of nuclear fission, the whole class can be engaged.
Contemporary research indicating the intimate electromagnetic relationship between water and chemicals could be included alongside some discussion of the biography of Samuel Hahnemann and homeopathy. The emphasis throughout, however, should be on scientific methodology and the nature of 'proof': formulating a question based on observation; forming a rational conjecture (hypothesis); making predictions based on this; testing the predictions through experiment; analysing results (deduction). This could be contrasted with mathematical modelling, where existing evidence is used to make predictions on the balance of probability (also argument from analogy). A contrast can be drawn between complex living processes, which can permit only limited observational intervention, and the relative transparency of experiments in chemistry (organism and test tube).
Such discussion would be harder in Class 10 and probably impossible without vehement polarisation and adversarial argument in Class 9!
The mood should always be entirely positive towards a science that is ready to develop new ideas, remainmg open-minded towards all phenomena and grounded in clear thinking and exact observation. It is unfortunate that science is usually presented as synonymous with technology and that its current ideas, from 'big bang' to Darwinian evolution, are to be believed as if they are absolute truth. This is not a healthy point of view for the future of science.
* Establishing the concepts of element, compound, mixture and the basic laws of chemical combinations
* An historical and practical approach to:
* Laws of conservation of mass, constant and multiple proportions
* Relative atomic mass, the use of formulae and equations
* Gas laws
* Avogadro's number
* The Periodic Table
* Radioactivity, the atomic theory and the Manhattan Project (along with the Physics main-lesson)
* The moral, social economic and environmental effects of nuclear power
* Homeopathic and/or other models of the interaction of matter and life
* Biographies (e.g. Dalton, Lavoisier, Mendeleev, Curie, Bohr, Rutherford, Oppenheimer)
Class 12
As in other areas, Class 12 needs the opportunity to have an overview of the subject. Such an approach would survey the origins and historical development of contemporary atomic theory already worked with in Class 1, look at the global effect of chemical technology (economic, social, environmental) and consider the effects of a range of chemical substances on the human organism.
The exploration of unusual chemical reactions gives a practical side to studies at this level and keeps alive the sense of the unknown in such phenomena.
* From Greek ideas of the atom and the elements and those represented by Dalton, Bohr and modern Quantum physics
* The impact of petroleum products on twentieth century, building on Class 9 and looking to the future of transport and renewable energy sources
* Enzymes, hormones and other biosecretions and their relationship to bodily processes
* Poisons - curare, mushrooms, cyanide
* Addictive substances and their relationship to consciousness
* Impact of chemicals on the environment (e.g. nitrates, hormones, pesticides)
* Carbon as the physical/chemical vehicle of life. (Concepts such as allotropy, an homologous series, polymerisation, the benzene ring)
* Unusual reactions, e.g.: Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction (spatial forms from a chemical reaction); Nitrogen iodide (unusual explosive); Phosgene (luminous spontaneous combustion); Iodine 'clock' (time reaction); Sequence reactions (colour changes and gaseous emissions)
The chemistry curriculum accompanies this development. In Class 9, the substances formed in the living plant and the substances created in its decay are followed up in technological processes - for example, through the oil industry. For the pupils in Class 10, the conceptual clarity required to study and analyse mineral substances, meets their new thinking ability, while in Class 11 they are ready to compare contrasting models of how matter is currently understood and to see how the atomic model has arisen historically. In Class 12, the environmental and social issues that have accompanied all these studies are examined in their relationship to the human being and the whole earth. At the same time unusual substances and reactions highlight some of the lesser known features of matter, in mineral substance and in the living world.
Class 9
On the basis of the work done in Class 8, a more comprehensive and detailed study of the plant world brings Class 9 to focus on the principles of plant chemistry and the manufacturing and technical processes that have arisen from it.
Although much oftheworkwould conventionally be called 'organic chemistry: the approach is to follow the transformations of substance (e.g. sugar- ethanol-ethanoic acid -ester) within the plant rather than examine substance in isolation as would be the case with a systematic study of an homologous series. Likewise, the use of formulae and equations is an unnecessary abstraction. Where pupils in a particular class show real interest, then it would be much better to use structural formula.
Many of the technical processes may have been examined in Class 8 (e.g. paper, ethanol), but these should be extended to highlight the principles (e.g. cellophane, esters). There needs to be a focus on the oil refinery and its attendant processes as the basis for Western material progress (from fuels to medicines, plastics and pesticides).
The theme of plant decay and decomposition to coal and oil, followed by analysis into individual molecules, needs to continue down to elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorine and hydrogen, as well as sulphur and carbon with their allotropic properties.
Class 9 needs to engage in individual practical work to test themselves with the hazards of apparatus and chemicals. Young people of this age should be encouraged to explore, to trust their senses and their thinking (though safety and health considerations are, of course, vital). Although they need to structure their observations, ideas and records, following a rigid scientific procedure with controlled experiments, testable hypotheses and exact measurements should not be allowed to dominate the mood of an investigation. The key elements of the scientific process of investigation can be distilled from the reflections that creative and enthusiastic teaching can demand from them. The more disciplined scientific training in method and thinking needed for Classes 11 and 12 is built up through Class 10.
* Photosynthesis and respiration as processes of oxidation and reduction
* The chemistry of sugars, starch, cellulose, alcohols, acids and esters both within the plant and in technological applications (e.g. cellulose, soap, artificial flavours. Explosives: sugar, starch, guncotton)
* Enzymes. Fermentation. Aerobic and anaerobic respiration
* Alcohol abuse. Addiction * Carbon and nitrogen cycles
* The chemistry of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Air pollution. Ozone
* Destructive distillation of wood and coal
* Factional distillation of oil
* Exploration and drilling for oil, refining and catalytic cracking, products of oil refining
* The chemistry of hydrocarbons and its everyday application (e.g. plastics, refrigerants)
* The chemistry of hydrogen
* The ecological and environmental conse- quences of the use of hydrocarbon derivatives (e.g. carbon dioxide, pesticides)
* Our personal, local and global responsibility for their use. Alternatives. Recycling
* The chemistry of non-metals (e.g. sulphur, chlorine)
* Biographies (e.g. Alfred Nobel and those not told in Class 8)
Class 10
Class 10 have gained sufficient control over their thinking to grasp concepts and work with them in following processes and in practical work to follow procedures. They seek clarity and are ready to take on the discipline of measurement through precision instruments - weighing and volumetric calculations. By way of contrast, projective geometry brings another kind of precision and quite a different perspective on crystalline form.
The mineral world provides rich opportunities to focus Class 10 on these considerations. Acid- base polarity in the forming of salts leads to practical work whose principles can be followed in living organisms as well as in the human being. The reduction of ores and the chemistry of metals leads to the Reactivity Series and the Periodic Table, laying the basis for the atomic theory in Class 11.
* Mineral forms
* Geology and geography
* Geometry and symmetry
* The origin and history of common salt
* Crystallising, dissolving and melting
* The biological significance of solutions (e.g. osmosis, plasmolysis)
* The thermal decomposition of salts (e.g. calcium carbonate)
* The formation of salts from acid and base (the lime cycle, cement)
* Acid-base polarity in the living world (e.g. breathing, the digestive system). Indicators and titration. Insoluble salts
* Analytic chemistry: tests for acid radicals and metal ions
* Electrolysis of a molten salt (e.g. lead bromide) * Industrial applications (e.g. electroplating) and historical discoveries (e.g. sodium, aluminium etc.)
* Chemistry and technology of metals, particularly those discovered by electrolysis
* The Reactivity Series
Class 11
At this age, the pupils' thinking ability can firmly grasp the clarity of a model while holding a perspective which can challenge it as well as consider other possibilities.
Quantitative chemical laws should be introduced and the historical discoveries which led to the Periodic Table. This should be presented as only one way in which a coherent picture of the chemical elements can be summarised.
This is the age at which the atomic theory can be taught in detail. Although only a small number of students are likely to be considering chemistry as a science to specialise in, when the approach is historical with attention to biographies and to the moral, social and environmental implications of the use of nuclear fission, the whole class can be engaged.
Contemporary research indicating the intimate electromagnetic relationship between water and chemicals could be included alongside some discussion of the biography of Samuel Hahnemann and homeopathy. The emphasis throughout, however, should be on scientific methodology and the nature of 'proof': formulating a question based on observation; forming a rational conjecture (hypothesis); making predictions based on this; testing the predictions through experiment; analysing results (deduction). This could be contrasted with mathematical modelling, where existing evidence is used to make predictions on the balance of probability (also argument from analogy). A contrast can be drawn between complex living processes, which can permit only limited observational intervention, and the relative transparency of experiments in chemistry (organism and test tube).
Such discussion would be harder in Class 10 and probably impossible without vehement polarisation and adversarial argument in Class 9!
The mood should always be entirely positive towards a science that is ready to develop new ideas, remainmg open-minded towards all phenomena and grounded in clear thinking and exact observation. It is unfortunate that science is usually presented as synonymous with technology and that its current ideas, from 'big bang' to Darwinian evolution, are to be believed as if they are absolute truth. This is not a healthy point of view for the future of science.
* Establishing the concepts of element, compound, mixture and the basic laws of chemical combinations
* An historical and practical approach to:
* Laws of conservation of mass, constant and multiple proportions
* Relative atomic mass, the use of formulae and equations
* Gas laws
* Avogadro's number
* The Periodic Table
* Radioactivity, the atomic theory and the Manhattan Project (along with the Physics main-lesson)
* The moral, social economic and environmental effects of nuclear power
* Homeopathic and/or other models of the interaction of matter and life
* Biographies (e.g. Dalton, Lavoisier, Mendeleev, Curie, Bohr, Rutherford, Oppenheimer)
Class 12
As in other areas, Class 12 needs the opportunity to have an overview of the subject. Such an approach would survey the origins and historical development of contemporary atomic theory already worked with in Class 1, look at the global effect of chemical technology (economic, social, environmental) and consider the effects of a range of chemical substances on the human organism.
The exploration of unusual chemical reactions gives a practical side to studies at this level and keeps alive the sense of the unknown in such phenomena.
* From Greek ideas of the atom and the elements and those represented by Dalton, Bohr and modern Quantum physics
* The impact of petroleum products on twentieth century, building on Class 9 and looking to the future of transport and renewable energy sources
* Enzymes, hormones and other biosecretions and their relationship to bodily processes
* Poisons - curare, mushrooms, cyanide
* Addictive substances and their relationship to consciousness
* Impact of chemicals on the environment (e.g. nitrates, hormones, pesticides)
* Carbon as the physical/chemical vehicle of life. (Concepts such as allotropy, an homologous series, polymerisation, the benzene ring)
* Unusual reactions, e.g.: Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction (spatial forms from a chemical reaction); Nitrogen iodide (unusual explosive); Phosgene (luminous spontaneous combustion); Iodine 'clock' (time reaction); Sequence reactions (colour changes and gaseous emissions)