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Modeling and Dimensional Thinking 

    Cognitive modeling is a tool employed to describe and display complex observable and unobservable events, used to explain and predict diverse phenomena. The cognitive models build simple abstractions featuring essential features, used to increase understanding of the observed or unobservable phenomena.

     To dimensionally represent the poetry of motion, consider the poem, “ Atom In the Universe.” written by Richard Feynman, one of the most influential physicists and philosophers of my generation. The poem reveals a hierarchy of organization, each contained in the relationship of motion to creation, and all perceived reality. From the universe to atoms and molecules and humans, Feynman utilizes the movement of poetic form to sew the pieces into one interwoven and unified tapestry.

    Physics is often described as the “the Queen of Sciences,” uniting chemical, and biological sciences through the study of energy and force, time and space. In many aspects, Physics is a young and evolving science compared to other disciplines. Theoretical Physics has challenged many of the constructs of traditional Newtonian understanding.

    In pedagogy, much discussion has recently evolved concerning which discipline should be studied first. While most scholars agree that the language of science, mathematics, must be developed prior to experimental observation and description, the order of presentation for the classes to be taken at the high school level is questioned. The artificial barriers embraced by specific disciplines may also be in question. As Newtonian laws determine all interactions for particles composing matter, many scholars suggest that the study of Physics must be first among the sciences to be encountered. Motion is at the heart of Physics. All matter is in motion, and this motion can be measured. The interactions of matter created by the stars and their internal and explosive forces are drawn together by gravitational forces. Swirling masses create the planets as well as their angular momentum. On Earth, the potential ingredients for life meet in complex patterns to forge the first organic molecules, with each molecule containing remnants of the energy borne from the stars formed at the creation of the the dancing universe. Students are relentlessly curious about their origins, and want to understand the nature of their personal existence.

    The study of motion provides an excellent platform to begin their quest. Physics teachers use the universe as the storyteller. Beginning with the Big Bang Theory, motion reveals the history of life. From this marvelous event, the motion began, and continues. Many physicists, peers of Richard Feynman, and earlier physicists have chosen poetry as a vehicle to describe the unknown, the grand and glorious uniting structure of everything. Einstein, observing the dance, attempted to described it in an elegant but illusive unified theory.

    An excellent model for study exists in Richard Feynman’s poem, uniting and ordering the dimensions of motion. From the beginning, the poem posits that a mite of transferred electromagnetic energy fuels the motion of the mighty ocean waves as they roar and foam. All of this splendorous motion existed before it could be observed. The unheard thunderous pounding of the sea, singing the music of the moving wave energy, contains a cradle. In this motion and in the deep currents of the ocean is hidden the genesis of the molecules that would eventually lead to the developed senses of an observer, a human. Here, the atoms contained in the sea water unite and embrace to become the emerging dance of particles that, through ages of time, organize to form the earliest structures of life. Throughout the poem, increasing levels of complex motion are revealed, from universe to subatomic particles, and atoms. In the end, humans,“atoms with consciousness” considered to be the most intricate and developed systems of evolving complexity, observe and  “wonder at the wonder.”

     Many topics in Physics may not be directly observed. The use of poetry to shape meaning can be a very useful to students. In particular, students must see relationships and hierarchies of order. The use of models and dimensional thinking builds student understanding, providing tools to explain complex interactions. Models may be verbal or written, graphic representations, diagrams, or equations. The same observed or unobservable phenomena can be explained using these tools.  Students should take advantage of every opportunity to create multiple representations, models that explain and express understanding of complex concepts.

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