Nurturing Observation Skill
Diwali means fireworks, delicious
food, and lots of fun. Making clay forts is also a favourite activity,
especially among children.
Once, I went to Satara to visit my
grandparents for Diwali. The hillfort of Ajinkyatara could be seen very
clearly from one of the windows of their house. I liked to look at it every
time I visited my grandparents. So this time I thought of building a replica. I
collected stones, soil, and all the material that I needed and built the fort.
The same evening my grandfather’s friend visited us. He saw the fort and said,
“Oh, this is beautiful, you’ve built a nice fort, but it doesn’t appear like
this from our house" He then took me to his place. His house was on the
other side of the fort. There was a large difference between how I had imagined
and built this side of the fort and how actually it looked. It made me realize
that while creating a replica of a fort, the fort must be first observed from
all sides. So I walked around the hill and observed how it changed from
different sides.
Friends, while working on a project
we should take note of many things. A person who can view something from all
angles can make an accurate replica. They can think of new innovative topics
for the project. We see many things with our eyes, but how many things do we
actually observe? There is a difference between “seeing” and “observing”.
Seeing something carefully is observing.
When we observe, we mustn't understand only how a thing appears from our perspective but also from all other perspectives. Viewing the object from all angles with details is observation. To work on a project we must develop the habit of observing things this way.
What do we exactly do when we observe?
When we observe we must aim to find
answers to some important questions.
We must note different features of
the object, person or event we are observing such as the shape, size, parts,
composition or stages, and steps of the process.
We should also find out its characteristics, if there is any relationship between its elements and its characteristics, how it functions, are there any changes taking place, if yes, then what’s causing the change, is there any pattern to it, and any special characteristics of this object.
Observation of objects –
While conducting experiments, we have
to note the features of many such objects, including their shape, size,
composition, weight, etc. To record these features, make a list of questions
that describe the object as completely as possible. Include questions that
describe the thing both, qualitatively and quantitatively. For an accurate
description, you might need the help of instruments like a ruler, weighing scale,
etc. Carefully note these observations on a piece of paper.
Previously, a group of students was collecting coins. While describing the coins from their collection, they made notes of many things such as patterns on the thickness, material, shape, radius, thickness, etc. In addition to this, they also took stamps of the images and described the pictorial details. They took the coins to a grocer's shop to note the weight.
Observation of living things -
Often, your projects might require you to deal with living beings. For instance, you can be collecting different types of flowers, observe animal locomotion, etc. In such cases when plants and animals are part of our experiment, their physical features, their movements, food habits, group behaviour, and many more things must be noted down. Make a list of things that we need to consider for describing living beings. For example, if you are observing a bird, then details of its shape, beak, head, body, tail, how it makes noises, where you saw it, when and which month you saw it, how it flies, where it lives, the arrangement of its nest, etc are important. The questions these observations should answer will vary with each living being. When the topic of the project is finalized, and its scope is confirmed, we will understand what kind of information we need and what kind of observations would help us get this information. The whole process will be easier if we have an exact idea about what to observe and how to observe it. If we are planning to study multiple living beings in our project, making a comparison table will be useful. You may have to use different tools like binoculars, lenses, or microscopes for observing certain plants and animals.
Observing a change –
When you observe changes in nature as a part of your project you can observe things like, how plants grow, how seeds germinate, how a spider spins its web, and how a river flows. All these are changes that take place in a process. While observing the changes it is important to note the state before the change, how the change took place, and the state after the change. The study of change means the study of a process. While explaining how the changes took place try to draw diagrams if possible so that they can be illustrated.
Making notes during the experimentation stage
While working on the projects many
times you have to conduct experiments and make notes during the process. Let's
take an example. Suppose you are studying the growth of plants under various
wavelengths of light by covering them under coloured transparent plastic
sheets. You will have to measure and note the daily growth of your plants.
While noting the observations, you will have to make a chart. What do you
exactly measure when you measure growth? Changes in length, change in the
thickness of the tree trunk, and weight changes are some of the indicators. The
number of earthen pots you will need to set up will depend upon the number of
colours you are experimenting with. You will also have to grow one plant in
natural light to compare the growth of the experimental plants with the natural
growth. After you finish planning the steps of the project plan you will have
to make an observation chart to make sure all the necessary observations will
be noted down.
Observation of skills and practices
Often, we have to practice hard to
play a game properly. . If we’re playing kabaddi we have to
practice the holds, if it is football, then we should practice passing the
ball, etc. The more we practice the better our gameplay will be. Observation
skill works the same way. If we observe a pencil the first time maybe we can
find only 20 observations in the first five minutes. But if we keep observing
different objects, then we can find out even 50-60 observations in the same
amount of time. So this is a skill which is not completely understood just by
reading the chapter but needs a lot of practice to master.
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While observing: Observe in a group or individually. Discuss the observations together. Make sure that you have not missed anything while you observe and try to make your observations more focused. Your observations should be careful, concentrated, cautious, rigorous, and accurate. They should be objective and should cover all angles and all areas. Make sure that you use not just your eyes, but use all possible senses. Try to use all possible tools and instruments to observe things and crosscheck your observations for correctness. Use some tests if necessary for this purpose. It is always desirable to know some background information about the things you are going to observe. |
Prashant Divekar
Jnana Prabodhini, Pune
Learning To Explore- Project by
Project
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