Two Odd Feet

Two Odd Feet

You will need: A cold floor, a mat.

When next you are standing around with bare feet, try this little experiment. Choose a floor that is quite cold-and this is true of most bathroom floors first thing in the morning!

Arrange the mat so that you can stand with one foot on the cold floor and one foot on the mat.

Which foot feels warmest? A simple question, isn't it? The reason lies in the power of some materials to conduct heat away quicker than others.

The floor allows the heat to flow rapidly from your foot so that it cools quickly. On the other hand (or more properly, on the other foot!) the mat is a poor conductor of heat and therefore allows that foot to retain its natural warmth.

A similar experiment can be tried with a woolen glove. Warm both hands equally, in front of a fire or on a radiator. Now put the glove on one of your hands. Because wool is a bad conductor of heat the gloved hand will retain its warmth for a much greater time than the other.

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!