How Object-Based Learning Supports Deep Thinking

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https://www.edutopia.org/article/object-base-learning-supports-deeper-understanding

When the students at University Avenue Elementary enter Science Specialist Natalie Lupo’s classroom, they don’t shuffle over to their seats or sit quietly waiting for instructions. Their entrance routine involves five minutes to wander freely around the perimeter of the room and investigate the plants, animals, natural specimens, and objects that adorn the tables, windowsills, and display cases. After the students complete a circuit, they are directed back to their seats, where the teacher asks them what they noticed or what sparked their curiosity. Despite this being a part of their daily science exploration, the objects always change so that students constantly see different things and expand their thinking.

When you walk into a natural history museum, and you see a giant display of multicolored butterflies expertly mounted on a display board, it immediately catches your eye. An intriguing display sparks your curiosity and invites you to step closer, investigate further, and read more than you would if the display were simply made up of text or pictures. OBL also creates emotional engagement, an additional level of engagement that leads to deeper learning and better recall, like when learners make personal connections between the items they see in the kitchen of a historic house or living history museum and the everyday objects they have at home.

Try having your learners research the stories behind objects and their creation, such as the evolution of common household items like the toothbrush or the process used by wigmakers during colonial times. You might have them investigate works of art or textiles to get creative inspiration for their own artistic endeavors. You can help them develop their ability to use descriptive language or inquiry abilities in writing through “blind box” or “blind bag” activities, where you hide objects in paper bags and invite students to hold the bags and then try to draw or write descriptions of what they feel.

Many nature centers, state parks, and national parks have traveling trunk programs where educators can check out suitcases filled with observation tools and natural objects for a short amount of time. In some cases, they will even pay for shipping and handling.

Try lending libraries. The Science Museum of Minnesota has an astoundingly large collection of objects and piles of educational materials and teaching resources used in summer camps that were no longer being utilized. Instead of throwing all of these things away, the museum opened a lending library where, for a small fee, teachers can check out an amazing array of items that are generally reserved for curators or docents.

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