Abstracting

Abstraction requires the ability to sort through stored cognitive information to select an aspect of prior experience or knowledge to elegantly and to narrowly focus on the chosen aspect.

Students of Physics will note that the graphic representations of motion are abstractions. They will recognize that the lines on differing graphs represent motion uniquely. These abstractions serve a very useful tool for describing all motion from a macroscopic to a microscopic level. Using the examples above, students may choose their own poem and create an abstraction of their own design. The abstracting process supports the students in creating focused models for complex phenomena. Multiple creative venues, including drawings or photos may be employed to represent a chosen abstraction. Students should be encouraged to be innovative and creative in their design.

Two examples of abstracting are included below, based on the poem "Fog" by the Chicago Poet, Carl Sandburg.

Fog by Carl Sandburg

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

This poem, by Carl Sandburg can be employed as an abstraction for motion. The acceleration of a cat is represented in a drawing, a spiral that is defined by the words of the poem communicated in Morse code. The code follows the line of the spiral from a distance. Like an approaching wavefront in the Doppler Effect, the concept of blue shift is initially employed to color the code. As the spiral passes, the color of the code turns to red as the distance between the spirals increases and the energy spreads. I think of the cat as grey, as the fog might be, so the line that represents the spiral is depicted in grey. From the poem I sense the potential energy of the cat ready to move forward. The abstraction that I chose to draw represents the velocity of the cat.

. The abstraction affords the opportunity to consider the Doppler Effect and motion of a wave in the setting of a poem. The poem suggests energy and movement in a direction. Energy is transferred in waves, Although the motion of the fog may not be actually in the form of a light or sound wave the use of the suggested shift in color does suggest moving towards and away from the city. The use of Morse code provides a second set of symbols to express the letters that form the words of the poem. The Morse code represents the letters only. Like the braille used by Helen Keller, they also serve as an abstraction.

An additional abstraction is also represented in the photo below. The dots represent the spreading fog. The concentric circles suggest that the fog spreads and the density thins over time. This photo also captures the movement of the particles. I chose to represent the particles as grey, as I see fog as grey, Perhaps the cat was grey as well. The photo supports the basic concept of diffusion. The grey dots represent particles that move from greater to lesser concentration. I sense in the poem that the fog lifts and moves onward. In the photo, the dense fog is represented by the close particles arranged in concentric circles. As the fog lifts, (and the cat moves away), the circles become larger and larger. The density of particle distribution decreases. The particles of condensed water become further apart.