Concrete Examples in the Classroom

See the examples below of how concrete examples can be used in the classroom in
different subjects.

Subject Concrete Examples

Maths  Balancing scales to introduce balancing in equations (only works for

positive numbers!)
 Ratio - sharing into boxes (e.g. sharing in the ratio 2:3 means sharing
equally into 5 boxes, with the first person getting 2 and the second
person getting 3).
 Vertical number line to show the movement taking place when adding or
subtracting with directed numbers.

English  Using the inference iceberg. The iceberg model is to show the concept of
inference. The visible part of the iceberg is what you can see in the text -
the submerged part of the iceberg has the inferences that you are
making.
 Using camera shots to illustrate structural changes of focus - zooms,
shifts, pans etc.

Business  The use of different kinds of drinks bottles to explain added value.
 Showing a bath filling up and emptying for cash flow.

History  Feudalism - an abstract concept - can be understood in a role play by

asking the 'King' to distribute chunks of 'land' (paper) to their barons, who
in turn pass on smaller pieces of land to the knights and lastly, peasants,
in return for military service.
 Shop game/fake money to show hyperinflation and changes of prices for
Germany.

Geography  Using modelling clay to show coastal erosion.

 Distributing biscuits to difference sections of the class to show the global
distribution of wealth i.e. North/South/Continents

Science  Rates of reaction. To demonstrate the effect of concentration, we ask

half the class to walk around the room and every time they see someone,
they high five (this is them reacting). Add the rest of the class into the

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 area and the chance you will high five someone (react) increases.
 Energy transfer in a food chain: Start off with a big cake, the first person
loves the cake and tries to keep as much for themselves as possible but
cuts out enough so there is a little to pass on to the next person. This
goes on down the chain to represent that 90% of energy is kept and 10%
passed on.

MFL  Using flower and stem for verbs.

Music  To illustrate rhythmic value, you can use a pizza cut into slices. 8 slices
of pizza would be 8 quavers, 4 slices of pizza would equal to 4 crotchet
notes, 2 slices of pizza would equal to a minim and a whole pizza would
be a semibreve.

RE  Using a school system to explain the proportions of the caste system.

 Create physical inequality in the classroom and discuss the effects of this
before looking at how simple acts like all people sitting on the floor in the
Gurdwara creates respect and equality in their wider community.

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