Learning Physics while Exploring

For me Physics is happening everywhere all the time, it just needs those observing eyes to notice it. It could be while playing Basket ball or drinking water from the faucet.

With an aim to share this vision, I explored “speed” with my 9 year old daughter’s class. My intention was to make them realize that they can grasp the concepts of Physics, simply by using their own bodies, minds and things around them. Even though it was the first such activity with them, but I believe that this and similar exposures have the POTENTIAL of sowing the seed of “inquisitiveness” in their mind, just as it was sown in my mind (when I was their age).

When I was 9 years old, I had seen a simple display of generation of electricity from water (at my school’s science fair). That little display on a 12” x 24” cardboard spoke volumes to me (on that fateful day). Without my awareness, it sowed a seed-of-inquiry inside me.

For the next few years, I continued to enjoy studying Physics and Math. I enjoyed it so much that a bad teacher did not alter my interest.
However, that seed within me sprouted after 7 years, when I learnt Physics from a great Physics teacher in grade 12. That Physics teacher had (a) a deep understanding of the subject and (b) all the necessary skills to teach. He was a rare combination of knowledge and wisdom. Whatever he taught- the examples, the derivations and concepts are still with me, fresh in my memory bank. I thank him for providing the much-needed-water-and-the-Sun for my “seed-of-inquisitiveness”.
After completing all my education in one stretch and working for a few years in an industry, I started teaching at the local university. My aim was to share my joy of learning Physics. However, I soon realized that most of my adult students lacked clear fundamentals. In addition, because of their age they had developed a closed mind towards learning familiar-yet-semi-understood-Laws-of-Physics in a new way. I felt as if I were watering the leaves instead of roots.

Just then, I decided to take some time off to raise my new born son. During that period, I tried doing “Physics activities”, as a volunteering parent at my daughter’s private school(s). It was then that I observed something astonishing. It was that the simpler I made the topic and the lesser the number of gadgets I used, the more the students opened-up-their-own-minds-to-explore. Further, the students who were most active and probing were the youngest ones in elementary school rather than the ones in the middle school.

I continued to pursue this “interesting research” at my own home, with my 3 year old son and 8 year old daughter. I encouraged them to explore.

I noticed that my son DISCOVERED (on his own) how the size-of-his-shadow-decreased as he moved away from the source of light. While, my self-motivated daughter EXPLORED how the attractive-force-between-two-magnets-changed when she placed them on either side of her finger or the glass top of the coffee table.

After about 9 months of “research”, I was convinced that Physics is a language (just like English) which needs to be started at home or at the latest in early school, e.g., by talking about reflections from spoon or mirror (just like alphabets). This conviction was further verified when my 4 year old son suddenly started DISCOVERING “h” in birthday cards and the sign boards (after his teacher introduced this alphabet). It was proved that a SMALL EXPOSURE leads to HUGE AWARENESS.

As seen through my eyes, Physics is simpler than those complicated equations. It is more beautiful than the words that describe it in most of the text books. In addition, it is even more magnificent than those magic-tricks shown by most of the teachers to get a "Wow" out of students. From my limited experience, I think that even though all these traditional ways are important in teaching Physics, yet its-real-essence is not felt. I feel Physics needs to be observed, probed, analyzed and then assimilated. I believe that for a balanced and complete understanding, EXPLORING needs to be added to the existing techniques of teaching Physics.

I pray that the universe (through like minded people) will provide the “exposure”, “encouraging parents” and the “dedicated Physics teachers” for all ELEMENTARY SCHOOL students, lest they should shut their minds off-Physics.

With Dedication,
Gunjan