Teddy Builds a Ramp

In the Learning Moments CD, Children with Learning Challenges, one of the ten video clips follows Teddy as he experiments with building a ramp.  George Forman, creator of Videatives, makes this comment on ramp building:

"At this point we should pause and think about the way that Teddy shifts back and forth between making a ramp that works (a functional orientation) and creating an arrangement of blocks to have a definite pattern (a design orientation).  Young children often do this.  Sometimes a child will place a block because it closes a gap in a roadway and the car will roll better.  Sometimes a child will place a block because it replicates or completes a design, such as making both sides symmetrical.  This interplay between function and design causes the child to accidentally invent: sometimes a new solution precipitated by a design placement; sometimes a new design precipitated by a functional placement."

You can view the video clip, Teddy Builds a Ramp, as well as read all of Forman's commentary on the clip.

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