Question+5

5. Are there activities that require students to engage in at least one of the triarchic intelligences?

Part A. This lesson plan provided students with an opportunity to take part in the creative intelligence theory of Sternberg’s triarchic intelligences. This took place as they experimented through hands on activity with the life cycle of a plant. In the beginning of the lesson students had the opportunity to observe lima beans that were soaked overnight allowing the seed to be peeled away so that students were able to see for themselves how the seeds became larger with water and how a tiny plant was grown in between the seeds. Students were also able to understand the importance of sunlight by placing seedlings in two different cups and allowing one to have sunlight and the other one to not have sunlight, observing the behavior every day for a week. The creative intelligence theory gives students the ability to effectively deal with new situations by connecting existing knowledge and skills. (Meunier, 2003) As students are reading about the life cycle of plants their mind is imagining how it would look like. However, when students have the opportunity to be part of the life cycle of plants, they are able to experiment with the process and develop skills that will allow students to connect the internal world to external reality. The creative intelligence also states that individuals may give wrong answers because they see things from a different perspective. (Meunier, 2003) I could see this becoming true when students take part in their experiments as they may discover a different way for plants to grow quicker. Part B. This lesson plan could be improved to promote cognitive development more effectively by not giving them much direction for how to plant their seedlings when they have the opportunity to do so. By doing this, students are practicing analytical intelligence as they discover thoughtful solutions on their own. Instead of giving the students two different cups to put their seedlings into and telling them to place one in the sun and one with black paper to cover it, it would be helpful to give them the freedom to take care of the plants the way they understand the right way is. It would promote analytical thinking by allowing students to make their own decision on how they think they should plant their seedlings. Analytical thinking reflects how an individual relates to his internal world. Analytical thinking is also used to evaluate things. A student may use this intelligence when he or she uses critical thinking to decide how to best take care of a seedling inside a cup. Part C. This activity of the lesson plan triggers analytical knowledge based on Sternberg’s Theory of triarchic intelligences because if students notice that their plant is not growing, they will (on their own) be able to recognize the problem, figure out the problem, focus on how to use information they already know, develop new strategies, and track their process as they try something different.(Meunier, 2003) Sternberg defines analytical intelligence as the ability to analyze and evaluate ideas, solve problems and make decisions. (Sternberg, 1998) The activity mentioned would give students the opportunity to put this theory to practice. As students make a hypothesis on how the plants should be planted, observe what works and what does not work, figure out how to make it work, and develop strategies on their own so that the plant grows successfully, they are applying Sternberg’s theory of analytical knowledge.


 * Work Cited **

Meunier, John. "Human Intelligence: Practical Intelligence." Indiana University. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. .

Sternberg, Robert. "Bottom Line/Personal: Increasing intelligence, Robert Sternberg." Department of Psychology | University of Toronto. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. .