Thinking by Analogy

7/28/2019 Thinking by Analogy

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Today you may“walk on the back of a

beetle, slide down the

throat of a foxglove, wade

through the hairs on a bean

sprout, or traipse over theback of your own hand.”

(Ruef, 2003, p. 3)



How to “LOUPE” Hold the loupe so the wide

end cups the eye

It must touch the bonesaround the eye

Close your other eye

Hold something up andbring closer to the loupe

until it is focused



TRY IT: Look closely at the back

of your hand

Make a list of 10 thingsyour hand reminds you

of

Be prepared to share If you get stuck, look at

if from a different angle



Two Important Questions ~

What ELSE does it

remind me of?

What ELSE doesit look like?



Student Observations of Their Hand class list

A maze

Cactus

Desert sand Crumpled paper

Pattern

Sand/sandpaper

Baby’s head with tinyhairs sprouting

Rock

Tree bark

Tree branches

Reptile skin

Close up picture of afly

Pottery

Pencil

Pool tile Fabric

Spider’s web

Icing on a cake

Craters



Sandwich Poem1. Write the bones-for-a-poem list (the analogies

in the forms of metaphors and similes)

2. Put the name of your topic as the title and thesame word as the last line.

3. The title and last line become the “bread” of

the sandwich

4. The sandwich is filled with analogies.

5. You don’t have to use every comparison from

your loupe-list.

6. Edit and revise as needed.



My Hand

My hand –

A complex mazeLike an old man’s hand.

Like fish gills,

And stars mixed together.

Deep, deep holes,

Tall mountains,

Small valleys,

Crevasses in the mountains.

A bloody river as wide as the Red Sea,

Wide rivers with under water caves,

Craters made by a meteor.

Looking over jagged cliffs.

My hand.

By Ben, 3rd grade, Decatur Private Eye



Increasing Scientific Literacy:Thinking By Analogy

Katie HartDenton ISD

[email protected]



First, beforeeverything else

comes the seeing of

nature with your own eyes, that is,experiencing it

yourself.

- Abraham H. Maslow

Psychologist



“Scientific Literacy” is

the knowledge and understanding of

scientific concepts and process

required for personal decision making,

participation in civic and cultural affairs,

and economic productivity.

(National Research Council, 1996)



Scientific Literacy is also… the skill of “reading” the natural or

manmade world.

the skill of theorizing about the world bylooking closely

(Ruef, 2003, p. 51)

The whole of science is nothing more than arefinement of everyday thinking.

-Albert Einstein



Analogies Analogies are a kind of magnifier!

Analogies will become the bones-for-

poems, the beginnings of short stories,

naturalist essays, and more.

Thinking by analogy is the MAIN TOOL of scientist, writer, visual artist,

mathematician.



“Scientists would get rid of all their

hardware, their fancy billion dollar

labs, before they could afford to get

rid of this habit of mind, thinking by

analogy , for it’s the way the majority

of scientific breakthroughs havealways come and will come.”

(Ruef, 2003, p. 25)



Use of Analogies Examples:

Leopard seal

Catfish

Rhinoceros Beetle

Macaroni Penguins

Ringed Seals



Why a LOUPE? Look closely at the world

Think by analogy

Change scale and theorize

Simple Questions to develop higher

order thinking skills, creativity, andscientific literacy.



The most beautiful thing

we can experience is the

mysterious. It is the

source of all true art and

science.- Albert Einstein



SSL (Silent Sustained Louping)

1. Choose an object from the basket

2. Create a list of at least 10

comparisons

3. If you finish early, continue your list.

4. Keep asking: What ELSE does this remind me of?

What ELSE does it look like?



Student Observations of a Sponge Corral

Grass

Spider’s Web Craters

Watermelon

Mouth talking

Pound cake Yolk

Honeycomb

by Madison, third grade

Bee hive

Swiss cheese

Mars

Cotton candy

Jelly bean

Rice Krispys

by Bailey, third grade



Sandwich Poem1. Write the bones-for-a-poem list (the analogies

in the forms of metaphors and similes)

2. Put the name of your topic as the title and the

same word as the last line.

3. The title and last line become the “bread” of

the sandwich

4. The sandwich is filled with analogies.

5. You don’t have to use every comparison from

your loupe-list.

6. Edit and revise as needed.



Daisies

These daisies remind me of ayellow and white hat.

The stems are as rough asgravel and as green asgrass.

Each leaf has zig-zag edges.

Some stems are wavy likewaves in the ocean.

The pedals are shaped like

small ovals and they are aswhite as snow.

The center is like a yellowpillow.

Daisies

Written by Danielle,

Third grade



Red YuccaIt’s blossoms are redder than boiling lava,

And the stem is darker than oak tree bark.

Although it’s as tall as I,

The stem is as thin as a pea pod.

With leaves like a palm’s

All covered with thread,

While the newest blossoms as as small as an

apple seed.



The flowers are shaped like a tulip,

With the center golder than gold.

The Red Yucca’s inside petals are a sun-shiny

yellow,

It’s flower is close to a hollow bucket, and askinny wine glass,

It has so many flowers and blossoms that it is

like a hive full of bees.

Red YuccaWritten by Kylie, third grade



References

Lesson adapted from

Ruef, K. (2003) The Private Eye (5X): Looking and Thinking by

Analogy . Lyle, Washington.

For more information and order forms

www.theprivateeye.com

Other sources:

National Research Council. (1996). National Science Education

Standards. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

http://www.theprivateeye.com/

http://www.theprivateeye.com/

Documents

Thinking by Analogy