The Multiple Intelligence Classroom

Over recent decades, the idea of multiple intelligences has gained credibility within the field of education. Multiple Intelligence theory was developed by Howard Gardiner. Prior to this, many people thought that the only ways people could be 'smart' were through math or language based skills. Opposed to this old school thinking, Multiple Intelligence theory suggests there are multiple ways people can be smart. Currently, according to Gardiner's theory, there are 9 intelligences, including:





This afternoon in our classroom, during inquiry/student directed learning, I looked around and noticed something..... among our group of 11 students, I could easily observe at least 6 intelligences occurring through various activities. I was impressed with how naturally our students seemed to gravitate towards activities that suit their abilities and interests as well as how students often seemed very attuned to activities and opportunities that are beneficial to them at any given moment. For example, Khayden had been having a bit of a tough day and opted to spend some time on his own, rather than joining his peers. He naturally knew what would help him to feel better and gravitated to that activity. 

Please check out our pictures representing some of the multiple intelligences we observed :) 

Owen loves making and listening to music (musical)

Lucas, Tommy and Nathan at the science inquiry station (naturalist and mathematical/logical) 

Khayden spending some down time (Intrapersonal)

Dorian, Bhagya, Madison and Lucas creating our school banner for Special Olympics (visual spatial, interpersonal)

Rainbow Density Science!

We are learning about density in science. What is density? Students explored the concept of density by examining two same sized buckets that were filled with different things. One bucket was filled with paper towels and the other was filled with modelling clay. We asked how the clay bucket could be so much heavier, since both buckets were the same size and both filled. We discovered that it was heavier because it was more 'dense'. We said that when something is dense, it means that it has 'lots of stuff in it'. After that, we used sugar water to demonstrate density and to see it in action. 
We took 4 cups and filled each one with the same amount of water but different amounts of sugar. We then coloured each with a different colour of food colouring. Finally, we layered our sugar water, starting with the one with the most sugar because it's the most dense.  We were amazed at how our rainbow was created and thought it looked awesome! Check out our experiment in the pictures!