My kids learned about conservation of energy yesterday, once again using the Richard Feynman lectures, and it struck me how strongly a concept can be retained once it is attached to a mental image, such as Dennis the Menace playing with his blocks. Dennis does all kinds of crazy things with his blocks, each remembered vividly by my kids, but no matter what happens the number of blocks are conserved. The dirty bathwater that Dennis hid some of his blocks in was a favorite in our house. That the water was so dirty that Dennis’ mother was loathe to fish around in it for the blocks still makes my kids chuckle.
This fun story also explained why scientists have come up with so many different formulae for different types of energy, but most importantly the story shows children how to logically think their way through problems and removes the mystique of scientific thinking. Anyone can do it, just use your noggin and you can explain the world.
Caltech has recently opened the entire set of Feynman Lectures on Physics to be freely available to read on the Internet, a wonderful thing for all homeschoolers with budget-minded parents. This particular story about Dennis the Menace and the blocks is a fun one to read aloud to nearly any age child. Even if your child doesn’t understand the algebra, they will definitely get the main point.
In my days in sales and marketing we called this association of concepts with compelling ideas being sticky. Sticky marketing was that wonderful state when people at large knew your company’s name and product and happily reached for their wallet at the thought.
Making learning sticky for kids means no dreary memorization, flash cards, or testing over and over. It also means they will remember for a lifetime.
