Penny in a Bowl

Penny in a Bowl

You will need: Pencil, penny, bowl, water.

When rays of light enter another transparent substance they appear to bend, and this is called refraction.

You can see refraction at work if you dip a pencil into a bowl of water. Only immerse part of the pencil and you will notice that the pencil seems to bend.

Use refraction to play this trick on a friend. Seat him at the table and place a penny in a solid empty bowl so that it is just out of his view, hidden by the rim of the bowl.

Tell your friend that you can bring the penny into view without his moving and without moving the bowl or the coin. Pour water gently into the bowl, so that the coin is not disturbed. As the bowl fills, the refracted rays of light will gradually make the penny appear to float into view.

Children learn best through doing

Before children can understand a thing, they need experience: seeing, touching, hearing, tasting, smelling; choosing, arranging, putting things together, taking things apart. Experimenting with real things.

Old-time school teaching used only words and the teachers thought children knew something if they could repeat it. Now we know better. To reach practical understanding we do not need to use many words with young children.

Children are clever. They learn a lot, without being taught. The greatest skill - to be able to talk, to communicate is learnt outside school. In the classroom it's the children who need to talk the most. Unfortunately it is the teacher who does most of the talking!