Describe at least three ways in which youngsters in Piaget's ...

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Describe at least three ways in which youngsters in Piaget's formal operations stage are likely to think differently from those in the concrete operations stage. Illustrate each characteristic with a concrete example of how youngsters in each of the two stages might think or act.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Mr. Davis asks his third graders to conduct experiments to examine the effects of water, sunlight, and type of soil on growing sunflowers. He tells them, I want you to find out which of these three thingswater, sunlight, and soilaffect how well sunflowers grow. Here are lots of sunflower seeds, lots of paper cups to grow them in, and two different types of soil. You can give your growing plants plenty of sunlight by putting them on the shelf by the window, or you can grow them in a shadier place on the bookshelf behind my desk. And here's a measuring cup you can use to measure the amount of water you give them each day.
 
  Mr. Davis is assuming his third graders can do at least two things that, from Piaget's perspective, they probably cannot do. What two crucial abilities necessary for conducting appropriate experiments do his students probably not yet have? Justify your answer in a short paragraph.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

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Answer to Question 1

Differences between youngsters in the concrete operations and formal operations stages include the following (the response should include at least three of these or reasonable facsimiles):
 Inability vs. ability to think about abstract ideas
 Inability vs. ability to think about hypothetical ideas
 Inability vs. ability to think about contrary-to-fact ideas
 Inability vs. ability to separate and control variables
 Inability vs. ability to formulate and test various hypotheses about a scientific phenomenon
 Inability vs. ability to understand and apply proportions (e.g., fractions, ratios, percentages)
 Thinking about what is in everyday reality (concrete operations) vs. about how things might be in an idealistic world (formal operations)
The response should illustrate each of the differences identified with a concrete example of how youngsters in the two stages might think or behave differently.

Answer to Question 2

Mr. Davis is assuming that his students can formulate and test multiple hypotheses and can separate and control variables. According to Piaget, these are abilities that emerge in formal operations. However, Mr. Davis' students, being about eight or nine years old, are probably still in concrete operations.