A balancing act
Vandana Aggarwal
A well balanced life is the key to happiness. When we are not able to find the right balance, there will be physical and emotional consequences to deal with. Yet finding it continues to be one of the biggest challenges that humans face.
Whether it’s a time table, curriculum or lesson plans, teachers also have to create a balance in order to draw the maximum advantage from it. Balancing school work, activities and social life is an important skill to imbibe from a young age.
Through an interdisciplinary lesson plan on balance, we can demonstrate how different subjects deal with various kinds of balances and influence our lives. It is critical that students connect the dots and realize how balance is vital in anything and everything that we do.
Warm up
Ask the students to stand on one leg. Are they able to do so or do they stumble and struggle? If they focus on balancing, are they able to steady themselves?
Impress on them the importance of balancing their body and mind. Inform them that balance is an important skill which impacts every sphere of their lives.
Draw their attention to the story of Shravan Kumar who set out on a pilgrimage with his parents on a balance. Would that have been possible if his parents had been of varying weights? Older students can be asked how he balanced their different weights (use of counter weights to correct the imbalance).
Numeracy
Balancing numbers can be taught to students through a lesson on creating a budget. This works for all levels of students.
Ask them what a budget is and why is it important? Draw their attention to the fact that a budget has to balance between income and expenditure. Ask them what they think will happen if they spend more than they have.
Organize a bazaar for the primary students. Allocate a certain amount of money for them to spend. Impress on them that they have to differentiate between their needs and wants. As money is limited, they have to make careful choices.
Senior students can learn to distinguish between income (inflow) and expenditure (outflow) by creating a weekly budget under the guidance of the teacher. Economics students can use their understanding of fixed and variable expenses to prioritize their spending and thus keeping the budget balanced.
Balance of trade is another exercise where students understand that balancing imports and exports of goods is important. A deficit occurs if one imports more than one exports and there is a surplus in the reverse scenario. Analyze why the US trade deficit with China is one of the largest in the world and how US President Trump is trying to reduce this trade imbalance issue.
Senior students can learn to distinguish between income (inflow) and expenditure (outflow) by creating a weekly budget under the guidance of the teacher. Economics students can use their understanding of fixed and variable expenses to prioritize their spending and thus keeping the budget balanced.
Balance of trade is another exercise where students understand that balancing imports and exports of goods is important. A deficit occurs if one imports more than one exports and there is a surplus in the reverse scenario. Analyze why the US trade deficit with China is one of the largest in the world and how US President Trump is trying to reduce this trade imbalance issue.
Environmental studies
Discuss the term balance of nature. Reiterate that in nature, balance is a process that happens naturally and ensures that living things survive in the environment. If the balance is upset it harms the environment, sometimes irreparably.
The teacher’s job is to help students make sound and responsible choices so as to not disturb nature’s balance. At the kindergarten level children learn to identify animals, birds and certain plant life in the environment. As they grow older, it is time to introduce to them the symbiotic relationship that animals and plant life have with humans. Food chains are pathways that link different species and help to sustain one another.
Organize a classroom activity by getting a few children to play the roles of the sun, owl, insect, plant, rat and gardener. Enact how the plant grows when the sun comes out. The insect comes to nibble the plant, the mouse comes and eats the insect and the owl swoops down on the mouse. Now enact a different scenario. What would happen to the plant if the sun didn’t come out and how would that disrupt the food chain? Or if the gardener puts fertilizer, the plant blooms but the insect dies and once again the whole chain is disrupted. Help the students understand that the world will only be safe for all creatures if there is a balance in nature.
Older students already have knowledge of the fundamental principles of life sciences. Work backwards for interesting lessons. Fossils often indicate plants or other organisms that lived long ago and have become extinct. They can become extinct due to human and natural causes. Brainstorm what could have caused the extinction of a certain species. How did their disappearance disrupt the balance of nature? Draw attention to factors like predators, climate change, human activities, etc.
Healthy food habits
What do humans need to grow and stay healthy (oxygen, water, food, sleep and exercise)? Observe and discuss the diagram of the food pyramid. Have pictures of grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy and beans or meats displayed. Teachers can ask students to pick one food item from each group to create a balanced meal.
Explain that to stay healthy we need to eat a balanced diet. Introduce the terms carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals to older students. Encourage them to think about what a balanced meal should include. Group, classify and compare the nutritional value of various foods.
Ask them to list the food they ate the previous night. Explain that different types of food help our bodies in different ways. Nutrients can be balanced over the course of different meals during the day. Track real life eating habits and plan healthy meal choices.
Activity: Divide the class into groups. Give each group an empty box of cereal or biscuits. They will read the nutritional information on the packaging and then compare to see which has more fat, sugar, salt, etc. Decide as a group which is the relatively healthy or unhealthy snack.
Art class
Balancing objects is always fun for kids. Get them to stack glasses in a pyramid or make a house of cards. It’s difficult, but not impossible. More importantly it is all about balance and can lead to high level thinking and problem solving. Create an old fashioned balance using two empty plastic bowls. Punch three holes in them and get the students to attach a thick thread or yarn and hang them on the two sides of a hanger.
Ask them if they have shopped at the neighbourhood vegetable vendor. Have they noticed the balance that they use to carefully weigh out the vegetables? Would they buy if both the weighing pans were not at the same level? Balance becomes important in getting a fair deal from vegetable vendors.
Encourage students to have fun trying to find different items that weigh the same. They can even combine more than one item to equal a heavier object.
Physical exercise
Lemon and spoon race, hopscotch and walking while balancing a book on one’s head are all examples of balancing well. Incorporate yogic exercises like mountain pose and warrior pose to practise focus and stability.
Plan PE classes to include a variety of jumps and hops. Children love jumping. Try and make it challenging. Create a fun obstacle course by making them jump first on both feet and later on alternate foot. Or hop back and forth over the skipping rope 5 times without stopping.
Get the students to play a tug of war. One team wins and the other loses. Discuss why this happens. What happens when the forces are balanced (there is a standstill)? What happens when the forces are unbalanced (one team wins)? An imbalance occurred because the winning team applied more force.
Science
Remind students of what happens when a child suddenly gets off from one side of the see-saw. Does the other person drop to the ground? Reiterate that for balance, the weight of objects on the see-saw has to be balanced.
Get students to try and balance a ruler on their finger. It will stay only when the finger is at the half way point or when both sides are equal. For older students, explain that the centre of gravity is at the middle of the ruler.
Get them to walk on a tape on the floor. Observe that their arms move out like a tight rope walker. Arms provide balance, counter weight and stability.
Place a ball on the floor. What forces are acting on it (balanced force)? Push the ball gently with one finger. Which force is now acting upon it (unbalanced force)? This is Newton’s 1st Law of Motion – an object at rest will remain at rest and a moving object will continue to move at constant velocity unless acted upon by an opposing force.
Language
Expressing oneself in a balanced manner is a skill worth cultivating. Often students may have one-sided views and are not able to hold an intelligent argument. When writing essays, debating or discussing, a well-rounded point of view is important. Discuss how a biased opinion cannot bring forth a balanced point of view. Help the students draft their arguments and counter arguments appropriately, keeping the pros and cons in mind.
It is the job of the language teacher to promote skills that lead to a balanced outcome. Assign essays on topics which make them express an opinion and justify it. Hold regular debates. Teach them to not only listen and accept the other opinions with an open mind, but put forward valid and logical arguments to counteract them.
Also balance out the student learning with a good mix of prose and poetry, so that they are well-versed in all aspects of literature.
The English language is replete with idioms that discuss balance. We often point out that we may be “thrown off balance,” or may be attempting “a balancing act.” “The balance of power,” may tip in one’s favour or their future may, “hang in balance.”
Suffice to say that finding a balance in different components of a language lesson is vital.
Social studies/civics/political science
In India our government is divided into three branches – executive, legislature and judiciary. A system of checks and balances prevents any one branch from becoming too powerful. Divide the class into three groups. For older students the legislature should be further divided into the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. There should be a President in the executive council and the Judiciary should have an odd number of students to secure a majority decision.
Get the legislature to write a proposal and discuss and vote on it. The executive will then decide if the bill has to be passed or vetoed. Have a discussion, resubmit the bill if vetoed and get executive approval. Those who disagree can take it up in the court. Both the majority and minority opinion must be taken into view.
Teach students the importance of balancing fundamental rights with fundamental responsibilities. Ask them what they think is their right (a clean classroom every morning). Question how they are responsible for the same (leaving it clean when they go home). Empower students to be active citizens by balancing their rights and responsibilities.
Conclusion
The challenge is to balance what we must do with what we enjoy and choose to do. This is not always easy. If, however, we are unable to reduce stress and manage a well-balanced life there can be physical, emotional or health consequences.
As educationists we have to prepare students for their future. It is necessary for educationists to create learning experiences that demonstrate how different subjects are interconnected to highlight their relevance in our daily life.
Not knowing what you want and trying to do everything at once can be a recipe for disaster. As the saying goes, “do not bite off more than you can chew”.
The author has been a teacher and school administrator in India and Singapore for over 20 years. She has a keen interest in interdisciplinary learning. She is currently a free-lance writer and a volunteer transcriber of historical texts at the National Archives of Singapore. She can be reached at vandanaaggarwal@hotmail.com.
