is a Hot Dog Like a Shoe?
is the capacity to see 10 things where the ordinary man sees one"
Students practice using and explaining analogies that reveal their understanding
of new concepts.
Journey North invites students to become scientists, researchers, collaborators,
and investigators. All of these roles require critical thinking. One strategy
that will help students better understand abstract concepts is the use
of analogy. (This involves making comparisons and finding
similarities between two dissimilar things.) By making analogies, students
can relate new things they don't yet understand to things they do; they
can, in turn, better explain how the world works! Their analogies can
also help you assess their understanding of a concept.
world of science and invention is filled with discoveries made through
analogous thinking. Velcro, for instance, was developed after someone
examined the hooks on a burr and thought about the way zippers work. Use
the following ideas throughout your Journey North studies to enable your
young scientists to better understand unfamiliar concepts. (Be aware,
however, that when analogies are stretched too far, they can lead to misconceptions!)
the class to think about how two things that seem unrelated might
be alike. For instance, How is a dishwasher like a tree? In what
ways is a hot dog like a shoe?
At first it might seem as though these have nothing in common, but
after some thought, students should be able to generate responses.
For example, the tree and dishwasher both need water and they clean
things. The hot dog and the shoe are both long and thin, made from
animals, and go with another object (a shoe with a foot and a hot
dog with a bun).
to the class that they have created analogies and discuss what that
means and why such comparisons might be useful.
Here are some suggestions for integrating analogous thinking
into your Journey North studies:
this with students: Dr. Lincoln Brower has studied the monarchs
in their wintering sanctuaries for 20 years. Whenever he describes
the monarchs' winter habitat, he uses this analogy: "The
forest serves as an umbrella and a blanket for the monarchs."
Ask students to work individually or in pairs to think about the analogies
he uses and explain in writing what these reveal about how the forest
helps monarchs survive.
the students have tried to make sense of Dr. Brower's analogies, invite
them to explain some of their own. Here are two prompts:
How are the seasons like a circus? (Other options: an alarm
clock, riding a bike, a trip, a dance.)
The seasons are like _________________. (Next, they'll explain
students have a seasonal analogy, have pairs work together to write
as many statements as they can about how the two are alike. You might
suggest beginning statements with the words "They both . . ."
have students put their statements together to make a poem or short
description. Here's an example:
seasons are like a bike ride.
both take you into new territory.
both follow a path.
- No matter
how many times you go on a bike ride or through a season, you can
notice something new.
end up where you started.
can get pretty tired of riding and tired of winter.
both take some work to prepare for.
During the Journey North program, you might suggest analogies, or have
students do so, for other potentially challenging concepts: photoperiod,
satellite technology, migration, or isotherm, for instance.
Connections — Discussion and Journaling Questions
you made or explained analogies, did it cause you to think differently
about the topic? How?
did explaining analogies help you better understand something?
Use students' analogies and their explanations to assess their grasp of
a topic or concept.