Chewing on Ideas Engaging students in meaningful learning about digestion

Michael P. Clough and Sara J. Clough

L
earning is the active mental process of arranging This view of learning has a number of implications
ideas and information to interpret the world for teaching. For instance, teachers must create an envi-
around us. Individuals will attempt to make ronment where students will be mentally attentive to the
sense of situations by connecting them to pre- planned experiences—be it an activity, discussion, or
existing ideas. Prior ideas affect not only the learning of reading. Because students’ prior ideas are critical in
new concepts, but perception itself. That is, phenomena learning, determining these ideas and pressing students
disconnected or at odds with what is believed often go to consciously wrestle with them should be at the fore-
unnoticed or are dismissed as anomalies. This helps ex- front of teaching strategies. Teachers should continu-
plain why students do not learn the concepts that lessons ously monitor students to determine how they are inte-
are designed to convey. grating new experiences with prior knowledge. Not
surprisingly, lecture, traditional reading as-
signments, and cookbook activities rarely
compel students to engage in the cognitive
discomfort associated with deep learning.
For example, students have a lifetime of ex-
periences eating, but because these experiences
are largely unexamined, students have miscon-
ceptions about digestion. Students ignore the
role of the mouth, small intestine, and particu-
lar organs, believing that digestion occurs pri-
marily, if not entirely, in the stomach. Students
also think of digestion solely in terms of energy
extraction, not as providing matter for the
physical makeup of an organism. The function
of intestines is perceived to be simply passing
food along before it is eliminated.
Even after prolonged time-honored instruc-
tion regarding digestion, students often retain
the ideas held prior to formal instruction. This
is not surprising given that lessons regarding
digestion often fail to catch their attention in
ways that force students to question their prior
ideas. Consider, for instance, how typical intro-
ductory biology textbooks introduce and elabo-
rate on the digestive system. The student is
greeted with explanatory text, diagrams, and
vocabulary. If an activity is suggested, it typi-
cally follows this stale introduction, is often of
the verification variety, and offers little oppor-
tunity for students to make decisions and chal-
lenge their prior thinking.
Teachers can modify activities to make
them more congruent with desired goals and
how students learn (Clark, Clough, and Berg
2000; Clough 2002; Clough and Clark 1994a
and 1994b). Here we provide an example sug-
gesting that stale textbooks, like cookbook ac-

12 T h e S c i e n c e Te a c h e r
 FIGURE 1

Digestion activity.
tivities, can be modified to encourage student ideas, raise
questions in their minds, and make subsequent instruc- Before you eat:
tion more meaningful. The following activity was cre- 1. List the foods you will eat.
ated by turning dull facts about digestion into experi- 2. How many hours have passed since you last ate?
ences and questions to be investigated. We know from 3. List three areas where you feel your salivary glands.
years of experience that the activity promotes student 4. Describe how your stomach is behaving.
interest, forces them to be mentally engaged, creates a 5. What stimuli are making your salivary glands secrete saliva?
window into their thinking, and compels them to recon-
sider prior notions about digestion. This experience Answer these questions while you eat:
physically and mentally engages students in the study of 6. How many times do you chew before swallowing? How
digestion and they are reminded of the activity on a daily did you determine this answer?
basis throughout their lives. 7. Describe in what order you use each type of tooth (for ex-
Come hungry! ample, where does the food move while you are chewing?)
8. Try chewing without using your tongue. Describe your ex-
We give students two days notice before the digestion ac- perience.
tivity; they must come to class hungry and not eat for at 9. What are some roles of the tongue, lips, cheek, and roof
least six hours—preferably longer—prior to class. A re- of the mouth?
ward exists for their effort because they will be eating 10. Try swallowing while sticking your tongue out. Describe
during class. (As a safety precaution, teachers should never your experience.
allow students to eat in the laboratory; students should 11. What role(s) do the tongue, cheeks and roof of the mouth
instead eat in the classroom, away from chemicals and play during swallowing?
harmful products.) Students may bring almost any food 12. What occurs when you swallow? Order the steps.
they wish, but our students typically choose to pool money 13. Where do you think the food will go now? Without look-
together and order pizza. The two-day advanced an- ing in your book, trace the pathway and provide what you
nouncement gives students time to bring their money to believe are the functions of each step in the pathway.
class the day before the activity, decide the kind and num- 14. With a partner develop five questions you could investi-
ber of pizzas they want, and place their typically large gate regarding aspects of digestion simply by eating.
pizza order. To avoid any potential problems with drinks,
we bring water and a variety of soda for the activity. We
also clear this activity with the school administration and Final observations:
explain the rationale behind the activity, as well as how we 15. Keep track of all foods you eat until your next bowel
motivate students to engage in serious learning. movement and then:

How hungry are you? a) Describe the relative color and speculate why this occurred.
On the day of the activity as students enthusiastically enter b) Describe the relative texture and speculate why this occurred.
class, the overhead projector is on with only the first two c) Describe the relative odor and speculate why this occurred.
numbered items in Figure 1 revealed. We instruct stu- d) Speculate on the content of the fecal matter and explain
dents to begin writing. (Questions referred to throughout your reasoning.
this manuscript are found in Figure 1.) Students are in-
structed to begin eating only when given permission.
While students continue writing, we open the pizza reported physiological responses occurred even though the
boxes and strategically place the pizzas and other food students weren’t yet eating, thus raising Question 5. Students
students have brought around the room so students can see quickly note the role of odor and sight, but some students
and smell the food. We then ask students, “How hungry admit their physiological reaction began before they could see
are you?” Good-natured student protesting always occurs or smell the food. Simply anticipating eating the pizza
at this point. We then ask Questions 3 and 4. While some seemed to prompt a response, which indicates that prior expe-
students notice that their saliva output has increased and rience with a particular food influences physiology.
stomach rumblings are rampant, other students do not Because students want to eat the pizza more than they
report these responses. We follow these observations with, want to study their reaction to it, pressure exists to move
“What do you think may account for the different re- quickly through the pre-eating portion of the activity. How-
sponses?” With appropriate wait-time and positive non- ever, serious thinking is promoted only if teachers use appro-
verbals, students offer suggestions such as “how hungry a priate wait-time, positive nonverbals, accept students’ ideas,
person is” and “the kind of food available.” and use students’ ideas to further discussion. Done effectively,
Understanding that experience alone does not lead to a only five to ten minutes pass in the pre-eating activity, leaving
scientific understanding of phenomena, we point out that the plenty of time for students to eat and continue learning.

N ove m b e r 2 0 0 2 13
Let’s eat! unit. This is important for learning about digestion, but
We ensure students are aware they have tasks to com- also for teaching students that much can be learned about
plete while eating and reveal Question 6 immediately the health of an organism by attending to bowel habits—a
before giving permission to eat. While students are eat- personal lifelong habit we promote.
ing, we walk around monitoring that students are col-
lecting the required information. Rather than tell stu- Making multiple connections
dents to conduct X number of trials and average, This activity creates in students’ minds a “need to know”
questions should be posed such as, “How many trials grounded in everyday experience. Relevant and concrete
must you conduct to gain confidence in the number of experiences prior to discussing science concepts illus-
chews per swallow?” and “How might you present your trated in the activity help students better understand ab-
data so it is understandable and meaningful to others?” stract descriptions and explanations appearing afterward
For students not keeping track of their work we ask, in printed material. This in turn helps students make
“How will you remember all your data and ideas?” An- multiple connections grounded in personal experience—
other fruitful question is, “What factors affect how many necessary components of robust long-term understand-
times you chew before swallowing?” ing (Clough 2002).
After an appropriate amount of time, we ask Question Personal experiences—simply eating, looking in mir-
7. While monitoring students’ work, they should be rors, watching the movement of the sun, planets, and
asked, “What is the utility of using your teeth in that moon—do not compel students to seriously consider
order?” and “What kinds of food might call for a differ- these events and develop ideas consistent with the scien-
ent order?” After a few minutes we ask students to cut or tific community’s interpretation. The activity and
bite a very small piece of food (no larger than 2.5 cm2). teacher role described here ensure the activity reflects
Small ice chips can be used as well. Question 8 is then what is known about how people learn, effective teach-
asked, which always provides entertaining results. While ing, and powerful science activities (Bransford, Brown,
most students claim chewing isn’t possible without the and Cocking 2000). Sensitively addressing these issues
tongue, some students begin tossing their food back and also prepares students to consider personal habits to pro-
forth by jerking and tilting their heads. After Question 9 mote healthier lifestyles and personal examinations for
is revealed, students easily make connections to what signs of illness. u
they just experienced.
We then instruct students to stop eating and distribute Michael P. Clough (e-mail: mclough@[Link]) is an
cups with small ice chips. We ask students Question 10. assistant professor at Iowa State University, Center for
After students try swallowing the ice chips while sticking Excellence in Science Education, N157 Lagomarcino,
their tongues out, we ask Questions 11 and 12. Students Ames, IA 50011-3190; and Sara J. Clough (Sara-
come to understand the role of the tongue, cheeks, and Clough@[Link]) is a Ph.D. student at the University
roof of the mouth in swallowing. We then reveal Ques- of Iowa, Education Measurement and Statistics, S 300 B
tions 13 and 14, permit students to continue eating, and Lindquist Center, Iowa City, IA 52242.
encourage students to report what they think so we can
better plan forthcoming lessons regarding digestion. References
Bransford, J.D., A.L. Brown, and R.R. Cocking, eds. 2000. How
The end product People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington,
Toward the end of class, we move on to the final portion D.C.: National Academy Press.
of the activity. Students are aghast when they see Question Clark, R.L., M.P. Clough, and C.A. Berg. 2000. Modifying cookbook
15. After a few moments of acting as if we are serious, we labs: A different way of teaching a standard laboratory engages stu-
let them know that we are not requiring this task (how dents and promotes understanding. The Science Teacher 67(7): 40–43.
would we ever know they actually did what is asked in Clough, M.P. 2002. Using the laboratory to enhance student learn-
15a–c?). We then ask the following, “Assume that a per- ing. In Learning Science and the Science of Learning. 2002 NSTA
son wanted to check out the end product and associate it Yearbook. R.W. Bybee, ed. Washington, D.C.: National Science
with what they may have eaten, how could you know if Teachers Association.
what was being observed was associated with a particular Clough, M.P., and R.L. Clark. 1994a. Cookbooks and Construc-
food eaten?” After appropriate wait-time and perhaps fur- tivism: A better approach to laboratory activities. The Science
ther questions, some brave students claim that corn often Teacher 61(2): 34–37.
goes through the system undigested and that if it was Clough, M.P., and R.L. Clark. 1994b. Creative constructivism:
eaten along with the food in question it might provide a Challenge your students with an authentic science experience.
tracer. Notably, students do not need to actually perform The Science Teacher 61(7): 46–49.
the observations in Question 15 to raise significant ques- National Research Council. 1996. National Science Education Stan-
tions in their minds that will be addressed in the digestion dards. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.

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