TACTics Journal

A Publication for and by TOC for Education Practitioners

October 6, 2000

 

CONTENTS

CONNECTIONS

   (1)     Still Having the Sweet Taste of the Conference!, Zzippi Margalit, Israel

NETWORKING

    (2)      Scientific Thinking Study Using TOC Tools, Part 2, Dr. Rami Kallir / Maya Kallir, Israel

EDITORS’ NOTES       

   (3)     Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards

 

CONNECTIONS

(1)     Still Having the Sweet Taste of the Conference!

From ZZippi Margalit, Tel Aviv, Israel

 

Hello Friends,

After a joyful and happy journey, Arale and I are finally back home, and I'm still having the sweet taste of the conference!  I think that you will agree with me that, thanks to Kathy, it was a really inspiring and overwhelming experience.  As I wrote to her, it influenced both my heart and my mind.  Thanks to you all, I felt and still feel a continuos sense of family, partnership and brotherhood.

 

And to business:

(a) I attach here the address of the International Virtual Conference for Teacher Educators, which will take place during February 2001.  I'm sure that many of us can contribute to the conference, so please hurry and send your proposals to the section: "Integrating Theories of Management in Business, Industry and Politics Into Education,” http://vcisrael.macam98.ac.il/

Let's put TOC on the map!

 

(b) In referring to Gila's and Carlos' letters on using the Internet, I think you will be interested in my ideas about using the net for team working on TOC tools.  One of these ideas, that I'm very proud of, I presented in the conference: using the forum application as a platform for identifying the obstacles and the intermediate goals in teamwork and knowledge pooling without the need of appointments.  This tool can be used of course not only in education, but for business too.  If you wish to hear more about it, I would be happy to send more details.

 

Thanks,

Zzippi

 

 

 

NETWORKING

(2)     Scientific Thinking Study Using TOC Tools, Part 2

By Dr. Rami Kallir / Maya Kallir, Israel

 

Summary Part 1— The field of scientific studies, which emphasizes the direct personal experiences of students, is faced with a number of problems.  One of them is the need to find an effective way to explain to children the complex phenomenon, which happen right in front of their eyes, in simple language.  The various TOC tools enable a lot of knowledge to be worded in condensed forms and simultaneously make it possible for children to describe the experiences they conduct in a very clear way.  During the last two years Dr. Rami Kallir and Maya Kallir have developed a program integrating practical scientific activity and scientific thinking with the TOC thinking tools.  In last week’s TACTics, we pubished Part 1 of this article which featured the structure of the lessons using the tools.  To read Part 1 of Scientific Thinking Study Using TOC Tools, visit our website at http://www.tocforeducation.com/ and click on What’s New!

 

Part 2— Development of an Understandable Logic Language: Samples of Contents Studied in this Manner

 

Lesson subject:  THE CENTRIPETAL FORCE

Product:  Preparing a “Flying Tray”

Background story:  A veteran waiter in a small restaurant is getting old and his hands begin to shake.  Consequently, he spills the liquid from the dishes he serves and customers keep complaining.  The owner is debating whether to fire him or not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Injections suggested by the children:

IDEA

NEGATIVE IMPLICATIONS

Glue glasses to the tray

How will he serve glass to customer?

Does not prevent trembling & spilling.

Cover glasses with a lid

Existing glasses have no lids. Buying new ones require financial expense.

Freeze the drink and warm again at the customer’s table

 

No suitable equipment. Customers may not appreciate this service.

Put an absorbing pad under the glass and squeeze liquids back into glass

Not esthetic.

May drive customers away.

Make the waiter the manager/ give him another job in the restaurant.

Waiter is experienced and may be a flop in another job.

Install a small train with glasses to travel between the tables

Change the restaurant character. The waiter will be fired anyway.

Add another waiter for serving drinks. The trembling waiter will only serve solids.

Adding another waiter means extra wages.

 

The three first ideas relate to the way where the drinks can be “retained” in the glasses whilst the water moves around. The solution suggested by the teacher also enables movement without spilling the liquids.

 

Explanation- Why the water does not spill:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lesson Subject:  HARD AND SOFT WATER.

Product:  Preparing Tub Salt.

Background story:  My sister insists on maintaining a natural life style.  She eats natural food, when she is sick she prefers natural medicines, and her hand laundry she does with a natural washing soap.

During a certain period of her life she lived in an area where the water was hard (containing a high percentage of heavy metals).  When she washed her laundry with a natural soap, not only the simple stains remained on the clothes but also they were coming out with a thin layer of dirt.  The explanation Father, the chemist, supplied was that the fatty acids in the natural soap were getting tied to the heavy metals in the water and created a precipitate.  Detergent (a non-natural soap) is not getting tied to these metals and so, if she will wash her clothes that way the problem will be avoided.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Injections suggested by the children:

IDEA

NEGATIVE IMPLICATIONS

Take the heavy metal out of the water (use purified water).

My sister does not have the resources to buy or make purified water.

Add natural soap to the water, create precipitate and clean the water. Then use soap again.

Using a lot of soap.

The solution suggested by the teacher, using sodium bicarbonate, parallel in it’s logic to the kids suggestions: to neutralize the heavy metals in the water.

 

Presenting the solution in a logic branch:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


EDITORS’ NOTES

(3)      Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards

Thank you Dr. Rami Kallir and Dr. Maya Kallir for your contributions to TACTics. 

 

Perhaps it is a special quote, a pertinent announcement, or message you would like to share… send your contributions by mail to:  Cheryl A. Edwards,

2253 S. Hill Island Rd., Cedarville, MI 49719, USA.  Or send hyperlink to <redwards@sault.com> or <bucknek@resa.net.