Our seventh ToK day was centred around the natural sciences. Natural sciences encompass Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Scientists use the empirical method of observation through the human senses. Sense perception is a fundamental Way of Knowing, shaping our understanding of the world through the workings of our senses. The brain interprets sensations based on past associations and expectations. The day started with Ms Nickel explaining to us this method and how experimental results may vary due to a difference in perception. We also learned what a paradigm shift is and looked at how the science surrounding pathology has changed during the last 2000 years.
Next up was gaining an understanding for the method used by scientists. This method includes making an observation and asking a question, coming up with a hypothesis, experimenting, analysing the data and drawing a conclusion from that. Interestingly when we had to put these steps in order in groups of four, we weren’t in agreement where to place the process of observation, since it is something a scientist we’ll be doing throughout their experiment.
We briefly talked about the ethical implications of scientific research before moving on to the main part of our morning, a game which was designed to test our sense of hearing mainly. We worked in groups to figure out the content of cardboard boxes that Ms Nickel had given us. At first, we were only allowed to observe the box then we had to decide how to proceed. Then we were allowed to use a ruler, a scale and a sheet of paper with some possible objects and their shapes and sizes listed. After a while we were given a stethoscope and later on a needle, we could use to poke five holes in the box. In the end we had to come to a conclusion as to what we thought was in the box and present our results to the other groups. Surprisingly there was a wide variety of methods used and even the applications of the instruments varied from team to team.
At noon we ate lunch at the “Blinde Kuh” in order to understand how important our sense of sight is to us grasping the surrounding world properly. It was a unique experience and fit very well into the overall structure of the day. We were there with the IB fifth graders from the RG and got to know some of them. When we returned from the restaurant, we opened our boxes and found out who had guessed how many objects right. The group whose s guesses were the closest to the actual content of their box was invited by the teacher and didn’t have to pay for lunch.
In the last hour or so we tried out different experiments to do with sense perception, such as the rubber hand experiment where the test subject is made to think that a rubber hand is really their own. The results were interesting and further showed how much we rely on our senses. Overall, this day was never boring and at times very entertaining.
Nour Rüttimann, 5i
