The Shoebox Project

(This was originally written in April 1995, when my son was not quite 10 years old, for the edification of my LEA. They were unimpressed, but I think it's a lovely example of self-directed learning.

It subsequently appeared in EONL no. 127, April 1999. I have modified it slightly. Anne Rix 4-6-03)

Dan asked for a shoebox to decorate. I provided this, together with old calendars and wildlife magazines as a source of pictures, which he also requested. Glue and scissors were available as a matter of course.

When he started to work, he became interested in the competitions (guess-the-animal type) in the magazines, and researched the answers in the magazines themselves (involving careful chronological organisation) and other available resources (nature books). He noted links with wildlife documentaries he had watched on TV.

As work progressed, problems were encountered with the moisture in the glue soaking the paper, causing softening and expansion (which necessitated very delicate treatment of the cut-out pictures), and distortion of the box on drying. The latter was a source of much frustration, eventually overcome by discussion followed by co-operative and imaginative use of a flat-topped storage radiator, a damp cloth (my suggestion) and a number of weighty tomes which he carefully selected to fit the task.

Dan then wished to classify the spare pictures, and spent some time arranging them in different groups according to a range of criteria relevant to his purposes. He did not feel completely satisfied with the groupings he arrived at on his own, and requested further discussion with me. We talked about the characteristics of the plants and animals in the pictures, the purpose for which he required to classify them, and the most appropriate storage system for the resulting groups. This involved consideration of the variety of living organisms, the difficulties of any system of classification, and appropriate criteria for his purposes. An old Nuffield Biology textbook provided useful background information and - just for fun - a foray into Linnean taxonomy and a brief overview of the criteria used for scientific nomenclature and classification of living organisms.

Dan's eventual decision was to make six groups:

Plants (including fungi)
Invertebrates (except Lepidoptera)
Birds and Lepidoptera (butterflies & moths)

Amphibians and Reptiles
Mammals with hooves
Mammals without hooves

It was then necessary to acquire envelopes of suitable dimensions to contain the pictures, which would also fit easily into the shoebox, as he had decided to use it to keep them in. I never buy new envelopes, so he had to balance the financial implications (he would have had to pay for them himself!) against the desirability of immaculate presentation. He compromised on good re-used envelopes, with carefully hand-written labels.

The project occupied about two days, although the actual time Dan spent actively working on it was of the order of about 5 hours. In between, while waiting for things to dry and/or cool, he sawed logs, washed up, went swimming, played computer games, tended chickens and rabbits and helped me balance my bank statement with the cheque book. My own involvement probably amounted to less than half an hour in total. However, it is clear that the activity has involved much that could be labelled "educational" in the fields of Science (biology, properties of materials), Technology (design and construction), Art (decoration and presentation), Maths (time, measurement, money) as well as practical skills. It also provided experience in problem-solving, decision-making, research, information handling and personal development.

All we have to show for it is a collection of magazine cuttings in a pretty shoe box.