Extensions!

 No I’m not asking for more time, although that’s what a lot of university students use that term for. October 4^th brought about great discussion about extending an activity to gain deeper understanding and even possibly being able to use an activity at a different grade level. One specific example was an activity using one eyes and two eyes and directing a person standing opposite of you to drop a penny into a small cup/tin, based on when you think the penny is directly above the tin.

While this activity can be completed with Kindergarten or Grade 1 students to show that seeing with two eyes is better than one, it can be extended into higher grades, even up to high school showing how depth perception is influenced when we use one or two eyes to see. These extensions all involve studying and understanding how humans see with two eyes and what could happen if we only have one eye, but there are many other extensions.

  One great extension that brings nature into the classroom would be discussing eyes of animals and how other animals see.  Bees have many eyes, predator’s eyes are placed and shaped differently than the eyes of their prey, so it is important for students to understand what differences there are and why the differences occur.  Even the shape of different animals eyes play a large role in how they survive. It is important to understand the content you are teaching and to be prepared to follow up with different activities based on the discussions in class as well as the student's interest and understanding of the topic.