Zooming In and Out with Scale and Systems Thinking
Student teams act as engineers and learn about systems thinking and scale by reassembling the separated pages of the engaging picture book, “Zoom,” by Istvan Banyai. The book is a series of 31 wordless pictures that start very close-up and then zoom out—from a rooster’s comb to outer space. Like a movie camera, each subsequent page pulls back to reveal the context of the previous scene as something different than what you originally thought. When the 31 un-numbered pages are jumbled, it is a surprising challenge for teams to figure out how the pictures connect. The task prompts students to pause and look closer so as to adjust to new points of view and problem solve to find a logical sequence. It requires them to step back and take a broader view. Students learn that engineers work together as teams and look at things very closely so that they see different things and come up with more than one solution when problem solving. To conclude, students go outside and practice their skills by imagining and then drawing their own Zoom-like small booklet stories inspired by items found in nature. The classic duck/rabbit ambiguous drawing is provided as a kickoff visual aid.
The cover of a student’s Zoom booklet.Copyright 2017 Ashley Whitehead, MRET Program, College of Engineering, University of Florida
Engineers and scientists often work across widely varying scales—for example, using microscopes to look at individual biological cells and telescopes to look at planets and stars. For very young students, this introductory activity launches a new way to look at objects and solve problems. Students act as engineers by paying attention to details, gaining new perspectives, and realizing that many solutions exist to solving problems. They come to understand that working in a team can help solve a problem—just as engineering teams work together to solve problems. As they solve the logical ordering of the book pages, from micro to macro, they experience the seed of systems thinking—that everything is a part of something else.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Collaborate by working together as a team to solve a problem.
- Pay attention to the details found in numerous illustrations so as to be able to put a series of images into a logical order.
- Use their five senses to observe the natural world around them.
- Practice “scale” and changing perspectives by creating their own Zoom-like booklets inspired by an item found in nature.
- Explain relative sizes—big and small—laying the foundation to be able to develop an understanding of the nanoscale in later grades.
- Express the idea at the core of systems thinking—that everything is a part of something else.
- Express the idea at the core of perspective—that people see things differently from each other.