I admit it. I’ve been dragging my heels getting my seventh grade materials together. Many of you have been asking for more resources and ideas for Waldorf grade seven and it’s taken me awhile to pull out my 7th grade files to see what I can share. (Maybe there’s a part of me that doesn’t […]
G7 physiology and G8 anatomy Teaching G7 physiology and G8 anatomy is a challenge in the Waldorf classroom! There really are not many resources on it. I have had to myself compile ideas from various sources such as my own textbooks and online journals. Then, I added my own layer of ideas and imaginations - after all, that is what Rudolf Steiner had expected we would do in our teaching! Whether you are teaching in a classroom for your students or in a home school for your children, you might find this post with an outline for blocks useful as a starting point. I have included in this post the five key elements of the physiology or anatomy blocks. I then list four concepts within each of the four systems for physiology and anatomy. In this way, you will have a guideline for a four-week block. Most likely, you will conceive of your block in your own special way to meet your beautiful students. I have updated this blog post to include a link to an eBook I wrote that addresses the topic of reproduction. You might find it helpful in opening a conversation with your teen! The eBook contains illustrations and a week's worth of ideas for a lesson on the reproductive system. Click on the photo here. "Let's Talk Biology and Biography" eBook Be Authentic, Enthusiastic, Interested, Open, and Understanding. Tie in the Artistic, Musical, Performance, Language Arts. Use your own brand of teaching and skill set to infuse the science blocks with vibrant life! THE FIVE KEY ELEMENTS OF THE BLOCK 1. THEME. In the arc of your year, each block has some kind of underlying theme or message you want to convey. With anatomy, for instance, my theme combined the geometry of the cylinder and the social value of standing on solid ground. The umbrella themes for the upper grades are WELLNESS, SELF-IDENTITY, and HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS. 2. PERSONAL RELEVANCE. Draw the children in with how learning about their bodies is important to each of them specifically. 3. HISTORICAL OR BIOGRAPHICAL CONNECTION. Acknowledge the work of historical figures who have contributed to the study and progress of the concepts, and those where anatomy or physiology play an important role in their lives. 4. INTRODUCTORY CONCEPTS. These are the actual science concepts you wish to introduce to the students. 5. PATHOLOGY, DISORDER, or SOCIAL CONCERN. Offer examples of the social impact of disease occurrence related to the body. SEVENTH GRADE PHYSIOLOGY LIST OF MAIN LESSON CONCEPTS G7 student main lesson page WEEK ONE: Digestive System - Flow of EARTH 1. The Five Core Values of Food 2. Anatomy and Function of the Digestive Tract - including the idea that digestion happens before the first bite 3. Healthy Choices (Proteins, Carbohydrates, Fats) 4. Biography of an Olympic athlete, or someone you might know who is struggling with a nutrition disorder. WEEK TWO: Circulatory System - Flow of WATER 1. Components of Blood (Red Blood Cells, White Blood Cells, and Platelets) 2. Blood Flow through the Vessels and the Heart 3. Blood Typing, Blood Transfusion 4. Biography of Hippocrates or Galenus WEEK THREE: Respiratory System - Flow of AIR 1. Tree and Human Relationship 2. Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, and the Alveoli 3. Healthy Lungs, Unhealthy Lungs (Smoking) 4. Biography WEEK FOUR: Reproductive System - Flow of FIRE 1. Male and Female Parts 2. Eight-Petal Flower 3. Female Fertility 4. Spermatogenesis An extra note regarding the Reproductive System: In the week, it was beneficial for the boys and girls to have a break out discussion with the boys and a male teacher, and the girls with a female teacher to discuss more gender-specific concerns. Another option is to have students anonymously place questions in a box for the teacher to answer in a whole group situation. EIGHTH GRADE ANATOMY LIST OF MAIN LESSON CONCEPTS G8 student main lesson page WEEK ONE: Skeletal System 1. Bone Shapes and Function of Protection and Action 2. Bone Growth 3. Bone Structure - Compact Bone with Osteons, and Spongy Bone with Marrow 4. Joints and Fulcrum Action WEEK TWO: Muscular System 1. Three Types of Muscle (Skeletal, Smooth, and Cardiac) 2. Muscle Structure 3. Sliding Filament Model 4. Biography of Olympic Athlete WEEK THREE: Nervous System 1. Central Nervous System - the Brain and Spinal Cord 2. The Neuron 3. Peripheral Nervous System - Somatic and Autonomic (Rest/Digest vs. Fight/Flight) 4. Biography: Ivan Pavlov WEEK FOUR: Reproductive System 1. Review of Eight Petal Flower of Seventh Grade (This will soon be an eBook!) 2. Fetal Development 3. Maternal Health 4. Biography or Invite someone in your community who is a midwife or who is pregnant! An extra note on Fetal Development: One of our more memorable activities was using a balloon during my presentation and I blew it up to match the size of the uterus as I talked about fetal development. When the uterus was at term, I had the students put their own balloons under their shirts to mimic being pregnant - it was fun and silly. But....serious too - one of the girls whose balloon she wore under her shirt was adjusting it when it slipped out. One of the boys in class, thinking he was funny, grabbed the balloon, and popped it. My female student was visibly upset to lose her baby. So a lesson there for all of us - these things we do for our students really do matter. NOTE: For the G8 Anatomy participants: soon, I will post the illustrations as promised that tie in the different systems. Dr. Rick Tan
Project by Jeff.
Jen has just finished her Physics block and now we have moved on to Chemistry, this is what she has been busy with over the last week. This was an amazing experiment. We filled a round glass bottle with water, stuck a cork onto the bottle and inverted it into a large and sturdy glass. We …
Jen has just finished her Physics block and now we have moved on to Chemistry, this is what she has been busy with over the last week. This was an amazing experiment. We filled a round glass bottle with water, stuck a cork onto the bottle and inverted it into a large and sturdy glass. We …
Elizabeth brought home her 7th grade work and I thought I'd share some of it. This is the cover to her main lesson book. The instructions ...
Jen has just finished her Physics block and now we have moved on to Chemistry, this is what she has been busy with over the last week. This was an amazing experiment. We filled a round glass bottle with water, stuck a cork onto the bottle and inverted it into a large and sturdy glass. We …
As you read about the people who lived in Çatalhöyük and Jericho, you may have wished that you knew more about what they thought and did and...
Waldorf physics and meteorology in the 8th grade. Every year I'm surprised by how much I love the sciences. This year will be no different!
I thought it might be nice to share a little snapshot of a sample lesson with you. If you've never used my curriculum guides before, this is what you get.
The kids and I are all down with colds, but I wanted to give you a little peek at some homeschooling from the past few months. I thought ...
intersection of physiology and physics a visit to Benner Creek near Chester, CA When I had studied the human body in medical school, we spent much time naming every single bone, muscle, and organ in the body, we diagrammed metabolic processes, and we learned about disease and pharmacological treatments. Along with studies of the biological sciences as an undergrad at UC Davis, I came away with knowledge of other life forms as lesser species. It seemed that in our efforts in learning more about ourselves and our world, we are actually creating a widening rift between us and everything else. They are unicellular, we are multicellular with specialized cells. Their behavior is only instinct, while our cortical functions help us think things through. This is air, water, and fire, we are humans who can control the elements. Rarely in our academic studies in the sciences do we appreciate the relationships of us and the universe. Rarely are we given entrance into modes of thought that are more enlightened. It is no wonder that many systems today (economic, healthcare, environmental, government) are deteriorating. We are in need of new paradigms of thought that will lead to new ways to be responsibly and joyfully active in our work on this earth. A physics block with the serendipitous addition of some physiology for grade eight at East Bay Waldorf gave me a new paradigm of thought. It not only gave me that good teachery feeling of bringing something special to the students, but it gave me that awesome feeling of an aha moment! In physics with grade eight, we had been talking about heat, light, water, air, and electromagnetism. They can be regarded as the fundamental elements of fire, earth, water, and air. These elements are omnipresent around us, carefully balanced in nature. In terms of their movement and the way we experience them, they exist as a physical presence through flow and force. Flow and force. Like the yin and yang, flow and force is like male and female, death and birth, night and day. Equal and synergistic, like a magnetic field. The elements surge with power and grace, with strength and restraint, with awe and subtlety. We appreciate and interact with the elements everyday. The heat of the sun on bare skin, the crunch of river rock during a stroll along the river, water on the fingertips, a breeze to cool the nape of your neck. And as humans of high cortical function, we even go a step further and try to control the elements. In our study of physics, we gained knowledge of elemental properties, and often this knowledge allows us to control them for human use. The convection of air conditioning systems, refraction of light for corrective lenses, hydraulics, pneumatics, electric motors, and mag lev trains. I will not argue that our technology serves us and the world in some fantastic ways. But let's view the elements from a different light. In thinking of the elements (the physics) through the human body (the physiology), we discover a much deeper relationship with the elements. Charles Kovacs, in his book Muscles and Bones, touches on this relationship. And forgive me for this non-Waldorfy reference: Yoda, the Jedi Master, also shares this view. The force and flow of the elements are not only outside of us, and they are also more than something we can manipulate, they are within us. We are the elements. The fire element, the Sun, the magma that flows within the earth's core, is present in us. To maintain optimum metabolism, our bodies stay heated at 98.6 degrees F, and many chemical reactions in our bodies need heat and produce heat. We have a heat body. The water element, the oceans, the polar ice caps, Mars with its frozen tundra, is present in us. We are essentially water, as our bodies are about 70 % water and share the same density as water. We have a water body. The air element, the earth's atmosphere, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, is present in us. With every breath we take, air flows through our lungs and our blood, and every cell of our bodies. Our bones, as strong as they are, have air pockets. We have an air body. The earth element, stones, seashells, minerals, magnetic fields, bones and nerves, is in us. Like the electromagnetic force of the universe, our nervous system is powered by the flow of electricity and ions. Like the minerals of the earth, our bones are as tough and seemingly inert, the solid material of our bodies. We have an earth body. In this perspective, with humility, we are of the elements, without which, the human organism would not exist. We are one with the universe in this regard. The flow and the force of the elements surge within us. The new paradigm of thought that may allow us to live in harmony with our earth is to know that nurturing earth is the same as nurturing humankind. As we proceed with our human needs, we must encompass the needs of the earth. Physiology and physics must be studied and applied together. Thinking, feeling, and doing for us. Us, as in all things.
a wish for the new year I was sitting at the dining table yesterday afternoon, and the winter sun cast a soft glow on our nativity that rested quietly in the middle of the table. The table runner is of hand spun yarn that the family together had woven. Baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were felted by Jennifer and the children. The transparency scenes were created by Ricky and Joey. The twig house was made by me a couple of years ago. A family's heart and hands. While the Christmas items around the house will soon be stored or transformed for other uses, the image of the nativity will remain with me as the new year approaches. The spirit by which it was created continues to live on. The blessing of family bridges the seasons and the years. Our creative striving and our love for each other continue to sustain our souls for all eternity. My new year blessing to you: year to year season to season morning, noon, and eve with creative souls and giving hearts love does a family weave.
I’m so excited to release my first 8th grade curriculum guide. It’s a unit on the dynamics of air and water —Waldorf 8th grade physics and meteorology. My students and I had such a great time with this block. There was water squirting everywhere! Just the thing to liven up a bunch of adolescents! This […]
grade eight physics Grade eight at East Bay Waldorf completed their second week of physics, where we studied pathways of light and sight. T...
