Subject: Systems thinking for preschoolers

Posted by Laura Skelton on 12/9/2008
In Reply To:Systems thinking for preschoolers Posted by Kahina Lasfer on 12/8/2008

Message:

Hi Kahina and others,

Yes, I think preschoolers could adopt systems thinking methods. I work for a nonprofit organization called Facing the Future (www.facingthefuture.org), and we have lessons for students in kindergarten and elementary school that promote systems thinking. In particular, we compiled a series of age-appropriate activities into a lesson called “Systems: Problems and Fixes”. We drew on songs (such as There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly), children’s books (such as Zoom, a great book on perspective), and kinesthetic activities to teach basic systems concepts. That lesson appears in our book, Teaching Global Sustainability in the Primary Grades.

We also have a free lesson online for older students that could easily be adapted for much younger classrooms. “Bears in the Air” is a fun, engaging lesson that allows students to experience limits to success, requires them to redesign a system for increased efficiency, and asks them to question the assumptions that drive behavior. You can access the lesson here: http://www.facingthefuture.org/Curriculum/DownloadFreeCurriculum/tabid/114/Default.aspx.

I look forward to hearing other answers to your question.

Laura Skelton
Program Director
Facing the Future

Follow Ups:

Systems thinking for preschoolers - Kahina Lasfer 12/9/2008 
Systems thinking for preschoolers - Niall Palfreyman 12/9/2008 
Systems thinking for preschoolers - Kahina Lasfer 12/9/2008
Systems thinking for preschoolers - Niall Palfreyman 12/11/2008
Systems thinking for preschoolers - Bill Rathborne 12/11/2008