Kindergarten, Systems Thinking and "Why Am I Me?"

I was lucky to be able to attend Project Zero Classroom a few summers back and have been doing a lot of reading and thinking about how to develop systems thinking in students. The idea is that if students understand the part, purpose and complexity of how systems work they will be able to improve, change or preserve those systems. Agency By Design, an arm of Project Zero, produces amazing research and information about this is available on their website and publications: http://www.agencybydesign.org/ . I have been thinking more and more about how I can introduce systems thinking with my youngest students. Kindergarten students have been very interested in the human body so I thought I would try this as a subject to introduce the idea of systems and make connections with some of the identity work kindergarten teachers are doing in the classroom by linking it with the book “Why Am I Me?” by Paige Britt.

We started with talking about the systems in our bodies that all work together to help us do all the things that we love to do all day, like learning, reading, playing, running. All of this is possible because all of the systems in the body work together. Each week I introduced a system. The first was the circulatory system. I started the lesson by reading the wonderful book “My Heart Fills with Happiness” by Monique Gray Smith. Then we read the Pebble Go database article about the circulatory system and the parts in the system, the purpose of each and the complexity about how all the parts work together to deliver oxygen and nutrients to all parts of the human body. Students then explored the wonderful iPad app the Human Body by Tinybob (https://tinybop.com/apps/the-human-body) and students were able to zoom into the heart, veins, and blood flowing through the body and seeing the circulatory system in context of the whole human body.

The next step was the hands on activity. Each student was given a paper bag with a hole cut for the head and the arms. Each student was given a printout of the heart and blue and red ribbons. Students glued on the heart and ribbons to represent the circulatory system. This was our ongoing activity and every week students added a new system to their “body” so they would have a wearable systems map.

Each week we talked about a new system, starting with reading a book, the books included Breathe, Don’t Play With Your Food and Dem Bones, sharing our PebbleGo research article and exploring with our human body app. Then students would add the next systems to their bodies. We learned about the respiratory system, digestive system and the skeletal system.

The next part of the project was to make connections to the identity work that students do in the classroom. First we read the book “Thunder Boy Jr” by Sherman Alexie. This is a wonderful book about a little boy who doesn’t like his name and tries to think about all of the things he loves to do and wants to do that would inspire a more fitting name. We then talked about what they learned about their human body systems and making a connection to an activity that they love to do. Students worked in small groups to talk about what they love to spend time doing and what human body system helps them do that. Some of the reflections included students who loved their heart because it pumps energy to their muscles so they can run or loving their lungs because it takes in oxygen for their brain to let them read.

In the next session we read the amazing book “Why Am I Me?” by Paige Britt. This is a beautifully worded and illustrated story that asks the reader to think about why am I me? Who would I be if I was not me? Students spent some time thinking about these questions and we talked about what makes us who we are, what makes us the only me that there is? Students then made a connection with something that is unique about their physical features and something that they love to do. Some of the thoughts included “I am the only Matthew with brown eyes like my mom who loves to do gymnastics.” “I am the only Oliver who has a birthmark in the shape of an e who loves to play soccer.” We recorded each child sharing their “Why Am I Me?” reflections.

The final step was to do a culminating display that shared the students’ ideas and work. Using the online coding software Scratch, https://scratch.mit.edu/ , we uploaded the audio files of each student and coded it to a key on a keyboard. Then we used wire to connect to metal brads that were hooked up to a MakeyMakey. MakeyMakey is a small computer motherboard that can be connected to a computer and run a Scratch coding program. The MakeyMakey then connects to items that conduct electricity, anything from tinfoil to lemons!

We created a large collage with images from the book “Why Am I Me?” and pictures of each of the students. When all the components were up and running our final project was an interactive board! We displayed the board in the library for everyone in the community to experience. Students were so excited about the interactive board and to share their work with the whole school.

The next project with kindergarten will make deeper connections with what they learned about being human, human rights, and the water cycle. I am hoping that all of this year long work looking at systems will help my students develop the mindsets to identify systems and see where change is possible in the systems that need to change and why some systems need to be protected.