Living or Biological Clarification

[Bernard NebelKeymaster]

Questions have brought to my attention that the category of “Living or Biological” needs some clarification.

Do look at this in terms of a hierarchy of classification. We have seen that all matter can be divided into three categories: solid, liquid, or gas (Lesson A-2). Another way to classify matter is to divide it into the categories: biological, natural earth, and human Made.

The “biological” category has three basic subcategories: 1) Things that are currently, actively living/metabolizing, i.e., living plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, etc. Also included here are things that may be in a state of suspended animation, e.g., seeds. 2) The second subcategory of biological things includes dead organisms, and parts of what were once living organisms, e.g, feathers, pine cones. 3) The third subcategory of biological things are exclusive products of living things, e.g., honey, butter, flour, sugar. In other words, living things and biological things are not synonyms; living things are a subcategory of biological things.

By way of analogy, think of an engine that is running, an engine that is broken down and stopped running, and disassembled parts of an engine. They would all be categorized under “engine,” would they not? “Biological” is equivalent to the “engine.” It includes all the parts, disassembled, or put together into a running functioning organism.

I wish to avoid using “non-living” as a category, because it makes no distinction between subcategories #2 or 3 of biological, and natural earth materials. This does cause confusion.

Thank you for your questions and comments. Please ask or comment further.

Bernie Nebel

[jacbeaumontParticipant]

Yes, thanks for the clarification!

The picture on the front cover was confusing me as they have placed many biological items (sub-categories #2 and #3) under the “natural” category. I came here to see if there was any more information to make sure I understood the differences correctly.

[Bernard NebelKeymaster]

Good observation. Consider that the cover photo shows that kids’ existing notions may lead to mistakes. However, take this as an opportunity to discuss and clarify the concept further.

[kunchikParticipant]

May I ask why have human made as a 3rd category? It seems more useful to have categories that are as mutually exclusive as possible? It also seems like a very anthropocentric view.

[Bernard NebelKeymaster]

Thank you for your comment and question, “kunchik”. My effort here is to view the world as a child views it and then to help them gain comprehension and understanding as to what they see. They readily see and interact with living/biological things, natural earth things and materials (rocks, air, water), and they also see and interact with all sorts of things and materials that are made/constructed by humans.

The core idea of the lesson, however, is to go beyond the simple categorization and get kids to recognize that anything/everything human-made starts with one or more things/materials from the biological or natural earth categories. Nothing can be made from nothing! (See the discussion portion of the lesson.) This is a basic concept that is foundational to all industry and technology. It is also central to the concepts of conservation, preservation, ecology and other areas.
I welcome further discussion. Bernie Nebel

[cinvela1Participant]

How can I best explain that paper is not biological? My son, almost 5, claims it comes from trees. I am not sure how to counter this notion.

[Bernard NebelKeymaster]

Thank you for your question. I think your son (for age almost 5) is expressing remarkably good knowledge and understanding. A perfectly logical argument can be made for paper being biological as it is made from from trees. It is quite arbitrary that we move it into the human-made category to express the role that humans played in producing it. Recognizing that everything human-made starts with resources from biological and/or natural earth categories should be a major point of this lesson.

I don’t know if this helps. Please ask further as you like.

[Bernard NebelKeymaster]

Thank you for your question. I think your son (for age almost 5) is expressing remarkably good knowledge and understanding. A perfectly logical argument can be made for paper being biological as it is made from from trees. It is quite arbitrary that we move it into the human-made category to express the role that humans played in producing it. Recognizing that everything human-made starts with resources from biological and/or natural earth categories should be a major point of this lesson.

I don’t know if this helps. Please ask further as you like.

[cinvela1Participant]

Thank you. So at this point in the program do I draw his attention to the fact that everything human-made starts from the biological and wait for him to label these items (like paper, a wooden block, etc.) accordingly?

I also got tripped up on how to categorize the sun and fire. He said both were Natural Earth. I know fire is not… going back to Volume I (p.55) Fire is a form of energy…although the idea that fire is a gas persists. This is hard for me to counter.

Thanks so much for your help!
Cindy

[Bernard NebelKeymaster]

Regarding your first question, everything human-made starts with from something biological (add) or NATURAL EARTH categories (or both). A tin can, for example is from natural earth materials–iron ore. (How much work sheet stuff you have your son do is up to you. If he enjoys it, fine; If he doesn’t like it, go easy on it. We don’t want him to get the feeling that science is too much forced dull work.

To round out the concept, introduce the word “resources”. Everything human-made demands starting with certain resources–biological and or natural earth.

Regarding your second question. I would let it go for the time being and move on to Lesson C-1. There you will develop concepts of energy and forms of energy, which are very different from any form of matter. Then you can come back to fire and the sun. What we witness here is heat and light, i.e., forms of energy.

The concept you are heading toward is that we have two things: matter (biological and natural earth) and energy, which makes everything go, work, or change. Energy becomes a required resource for everything we do/make in addition to the material resources.

Please don’t expect that learning should occur in specific steps that kids can check off on a worksheet. The vastness of everything out there is bound to cause confusion and missunderstandings. The real learning occurs as you recognize and accept the confusion and struggle with sorting it out and correcting the misunderstandings. You are on the right track by asking questions. Please keep at it.

[cinvela1Participant]

Thank you! I’m a teacher (Reading) by formal training so your advice reminds me not to let that kind of boxed approach to teaching get in the way for Science.

We don’t do any worksheets :), but we are trying to keep a science journal. In this journal he might draw, glue a picture and dictate an answer from the end of the book discussion questions – but too early to tell if it’s worth keeping.

Thanks again,
Cindy

[Bernard NebelKeymaster]

Sorry to harp on what you already know well, Cindy. I try to compose answers that speak to others in the group. I hope more will join in and comment or ask questions. I would love to see this group generate more questions and discussion.

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