Teaching Character in Science Class

I recently read The Leader in Me which is basically the application of Covey's 7 Habits to elementary schools. Rather than giving specifics of how to implement the principles, the book tells a few stories of how Leadership principles successfully transformed schools. This leaves open a lot freedom for figuring out how. While there are plenty of examples given for English and History, Science seems like a bit more of a challenge so here are some ideas I've come up with.

Mutualism Teaches Habit 4: Think Win-Win.
Ants and aphids both benefit from their interaction.

 For a Life Science class specifically, in the Ecology unit there is a classic breakdown of feeding relationships in living organisms which is a great opportunity to talk about win/win. Feeding relationships in living organisms are traditionally divided into the categories of  commensalism, mutualism, predation and parasitism. Of these mutualism is basically the same idea as habit 4 think win-win and the other categories can also serve to show contrasting examples. Some other examples of organisms with a mutualistic or symbiotic, win-win type relationship are bacteria in the human gut, Ostriches and gazelles feeding together, Oxpecker with Rhinoceros, wrasse fish with black sea bass, yucca plant with yucca moth, Clown fish with Sea anemone and many many more including other pollinators. What I really like about learning the ecology relationships along with habit 4 win-win is that as students deepen their understanding mutualistic relationships they can also deepen their understanding of win-win in their personal life thus reinforcing both.

In the introduction to the 7 Habits Covey explains the power of a habit in our personal lives. One of the best places ways to illustrate the power of habit in Newtons first law of inertia. Covey uses the example of a rocket taking off overcoming the pull of gravity to show the principle but any application of the law of inertia can really illustrate the same idea. Good habits gain their own inertia once that have overcome the static friction of gravity while bad habits tend to resist change. Another similar example is a car cranking to start the most challenging parts are the first few rotations.

As static friction opposes the movement of an object

 so new habits are hard to get started

The book also helped me realize I don't need to re-invent the fundamentals of character/moral/ethical ideas for students in my class but openly talk about the 7 habits principles and encourage students to find examples in their own lives and in the subjects we study.

Although I felt empowered to
use the 7 habit language more freely in my classroom the book also reminded me that real change in a school needs to involve administration. On that note, it is unfortunate that the Covey organization demands so much money for their training which also highlights for me how some of their corporate tendencies are not always totally compatible with academic pursuits. I think for most schools a compromise of either training and reading the book and figuring out how to apply the principles themselves works well enough although it would be nice to see more involvement from the Covey Organization directly in university teacher training. With direct teacher training new teachers wouldn't have as much disconnect between what they've already learned and something as effective as the 7 Habits.

Necessary sequences and order and the cell cycle, developmental stages, stages of a virus.

4 Insights From the Father of Artificial Intelligence- Herbert Simon

1. One idea can lead to so many fields. 
First off, I'm surprised his autobiography was not titled Mazes of my Life because the recurring theme is mazes and their meaning in decision making. Overall his account has some real gems but is so filled with boring acronym laden academic politics that could have been left out. If the reader is willing to sift through that, Simon gives clear minded first hand accounts of the life as a hard working ultra rational political genius who grappled academically with the cultural upheavals of  world war II, Cold War and founding of a business school. He pursued human decision making questions through revolutionary realms in Economics, Psychology and pioneering early computers into 'artificial intelligence.' What initially interested me in his biography was my constant lookout for a renaissance man type interdisciplinary thinker and even more a modern successful one. What kept me going was his honesty and how he reminded me of certain family members of mine.

 image from saxonianfolkways.wordpress.com

2. A Father in Feedback Systems
Simon gives a forthright telling of his life events with the objectivity that helped make his thinking so logical. In his own words his youth did not show signs of anything particularly original which is a good reminder for parents who over or under stress their own children's talents. Although he did say he skipped grades and wrote an atheist letter which caused some controversy.  His father was a leading engineer who exposed Herbert to industry and did new research in servo feedback designs although Herbert did not appreciate this until much later.

3. He knew 20 languages?
Mr. Simon claimed to know 6 languages well and that he could read up to 20. He definitely had a powerful brain and his work showed that, although he was also a self described workaholic. He successfully took on speaking assignments to large groups of local government leaders early in his 20's assigned by mentors. His career made as near seamless transition from academic graduate studies to a career in managing government as his professors recognized his abilities. One nugget is his list of advice given to a working professor. (add quote) His own experience teaching a wide variety of classes gave me a more realistic picture into the life of a professional university academic. The biggest critique on his dissertation and later in social and personal life were his lack of moral consideration and empathy which he disappointingly never quite seemed to fully grasp.

4. Its who you know even for Nobel Prizes

JOHNNIAC photo by Adam Schuster

Mr. Simon's redeeming trait was his honesty which he exemplified in admitting had he not known the right people he likely would not have been given a Nobel prize. Similarly he recognizes collaboration was extremely important to his AI breakthroughs as he recruited a research team and gave them a location to work. If I understand it correctly his main thesis in economics was that surrounding forces influence people's decisions (what he called bounded rationality) more than their desire and ability to optimize happiness as 'neoclassical economists' believe. (I am grossly simplifying here). Although this is likely partially true I can see why it was unpopular as it is a lot easier and more natural to think of people making their own decisions to pursue their own happiness.

5. Discovering Artificial Intelligence was to prove someone wrong 
The section of his book on conflict with other scientists shows that another major reason that he made his discoveries were to disprove those who said machines can't think or do things like solve geometry problems. This highlights one of the other most valuable insights of this book, his first hand perspectives on how science really happens. Discoveries come in brilliant brief moments of joy when a team is pulling together after long hours of following hunches and developing a taste for finding valuable research. They do not easily fit into neat categories requiring controlled variables. For Simon it was writing the program that helped bridge the gap between computing and thinking using symbols. Although his mind and training were tickets to the game it was in the end Simon's political abilities to recognize valuable problems and bring people together that allowed him to make a lasting contribution to human achievement.