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Week #652

Shared Explanatory Knowledge

Approx. Age: ~12 years, 6 mo old • Born: Aug 12 - 18, 2013

Curriculum Level

Level 9

Level Progress

142/ 512

Current Age

~12 years, 6 mo old

Cohort

Aug 12 - 18, 2013

🚧 Content Planning

Initial research phase. Tools and protocols are being defined.

Status: Planning

Planning

Selected

Ordered

Received

Active

Current Stage: Planning

Rationale & Protocol

For a 12-year-old navigating 'Shared Explanatory Knowledge,' the focus shifts from simply understanding facts to constructing, articulating, and collaboratively refining explanations of complex systems. At this age (approx. 652 weeks), adolescents are transitioning into formal operational thought, enabling abstract reasoning, hypothesis testing, and a deeper grasp of causality. They are also highly social, benefiting immensely from peer interaction and collaborative learning.

The LEGO Education SPIKE Prime Set is the best-in-class tool for this developmental stage and topic. It inherently requires the user to engage with all facets of explanatory knowledge:

System Deconstruction & Construction: Students build robots and mechanisms, understanding how parts interact to form a functional whole. This provides concrete experience with 'how things work.'
Causal Reasoning (Programming): Programming the robot involves understanding 'why' specific code leads to particular actions, establishing clear cause-effect relationships, and debugging to refine their explanatory models.
Collaborative Knowledge Building: SPIKE Prime projects are often done in teams, necessitating shared problem-solving, joint hypothesis generation, and the verbal articulation and negotiation of explanations ('What went wrong?', 'How can we make it do X?'). This directly fosters 'shared explanatory knowledge' as they co-create understanding.
Metacognitive Articulation: Presenting their projects and demonstrating how their robots work compels them to explain the underlying principles and design choices, solidifying their own and their peers' understanding of 'how' and 'why.'

Implementation Protocol for a 12-year-old:

Challenge-Based Learning: Introduce open-ended challenges (e.g., 'Design a robot that can sort objects by color,' 'Create an automated delivery system') rather than step-by-step instructions. This encourages independent problem definition and solution design.
Team Formation: Organize students into small teams (2-3 per set) to foster collaboration, division of labor, and rich discussion during the design, build, code, and test phases.
Documentation & Explanation: Provide structured logbooks and regular checkpoints where teams must articulate their design choices, explain their code, describe unexpected outcomes, and detail how they troubleshot problems. Encourage visual explanations (diagrams, flowcharts).
Peer Review & Presentation: Dedicate time for teams to present their projects to peers, demonstrate functionality, and explain the underlying scientific/engineering principles. Facilitate a Q&A session where audience members ask 'how' and 'why' questions, prompting deeper explanation and defense of design.
Reflective Debrief: Conclude each project with a guided reflection on what was learned about the robot, the process, and how their shared understanding evolved. Emphasize the iterative nature of explanation building.

Primary Tool Tier 1 Selection

LEGO Education SPIKE Prime Set

LEGO Education SPIKE Prime Set main image

LEGO Education SPIKE Prime Set components

The SPIKE Prime Set provides an unparalleled platform for a 12-year-old to engage with 'Shared Explanatory Knowledge.' It integrates hands-on building with block-based and Python coding, allowing students to design, build, and program functional robots. This process naturally demands understanding mechanical principles, computational logic, and cause-and-effect relationships. Crucially, its design facilitates collaborative project work, where teams must collectively articulate, test, and refine their understanding of how their creations work and why specific design/code decisions lead to desired (or undesired) outcomes. This active construction and sharing of explanations are central to developing shared explanatory knowledge at this critical age.

Key Skills: Causal reasoning, Systems thinking, Computational thinking, Problem-solving, Collaborative communication, Engineering design, Scientific inquiry, Logical deduction, Explanation construction, PrototypingTarget Age: 10-14+ yearsSanitization: Wipe plastic bricks and electronic components with a damp cloth and mild soap solution. Allow to air dry completely. Do not submerge electronic parts in water.

Also Includes:

Large Dry Erase Whiteboard (40.00 EUR)
Assorted Dry Erase Markers (pack of 12) (15.00 EUR) (Consumable) (Lifespan: 4 wks)
Robot Design & Experimentation Logbook (A4, 100 pages) (12.00 EUR) (Consumable) (Lifespan: 4 wks)

DIY / No-Tool Project (Tier 0)

A "No-Tool" project for this week is currently being designed.

Estimated Shelf Value

511.99EUR

LEGO Education SPIKE Prime Set434.99 EUR
↳ Shipping10.00 EUR
↳ Large Dry Erase Whiteboard40.00 EUR
↳ Assorted Dry Erase Markers (pack of 12)15.00 EUR
↳ Robot Design & Experimentation Logbook (A4, 100 pages)12.00 EUR

Prices are estimates. Shipping & VAT calculated at source.

Origin Path

1
From: "Human Potential & Development."
Split Justification: Development fundamentally involves both our inner landscape (**Internal World**) and our interaction with everything outside us (**External World**). (Ref: Subject-Object Distinction)..
"Internal World (The Self)" (W1)
➔ "External World (Interaction)" (W2)
2
From: "External World (Interaction)"
Split Justification: All external interactions fundamentally involve either other human beings (social, cultural, relational, political) or the non-human aspects of existence (physical environment, objects, technology, natural world). This dichotomy is mutually exclusive and comprehensively exhaustive.
➔ "Interaction with Humans" (W4)
"Interaction with the Non-Human World" (W6)
3
From: "Interaction with Humans"
Split Justification: All human interaction can be fundamentally categorized by its primary focus: either on the direct connection and relationship between specific individuals (from intimate bonds to fleeting encounters), or on the individual's engagement within and navigation of larger organized human collectives, their rules, roles, and systems. This dichotomy provides a comprehensive and distinct division between person-to-person dynamics and person-to-society dynamics.
"Personal Relationships" (W8)
➔ "Social Systems and Structures" (W12)
4
From: "Social Systems and Structures"
Split Justification: All social systems and structures can be fundamentally categorized by whether their rules, roles, and organization are explicitly codified, institutionalized, and formally enforced (formal systems), or are unwritten, emergent, culturally embedded, and maintained through custom, tradition, and implicit social pressure (informal systems). This dichotomy is mutually exclusive, as a system's primary mode of operation is either formal or informal, and comprehensively exhaustive, covering all aspects of collective human organization.
"Formal Social Systems" (W20)
➔ "Informal Social Systems" (W28)
5
From: "Informal Social Systems"
Split Justification: All informal social systems can be fundamentally divided into two mutually exclusive and comprehensively exhaustive categories: those focused on the collective, unwritten understandings, values, beliefs, traditions, and customs that guide behavior (Shared Meaning and Norms), and those focused on the spontaneous, interactional processes and structures of influence, status, reputation, and cohesion that arise within groups (Emergent Social Dynamics). One describes the content and collective interpretation of the informal system, while the other describes the interactive mechanisms and relational outcomes.
➔ "Shared Meaning and Norms" (W44)
"Emergent Social Dynamics" (W60)
6
From: "Shared Meaning and Norms"
Split Justification: The node "Shared Meaning and Norms" encompasses both the collective cognitive frameworks by which a group understands and interprets the world (its 'meaning' and 'beliefs') and the collective evaluative and prescriptive frameworks that guide appropriate action and interaction (its 'values' and 'norms'). This split fundamentally divides these two aspects into a category focused on the descriptive understanding of reality and a category focused on the prescriptive principles and patterns of behavior within that reality.
➔ "Shared Worldviews and Belief Systems" (W76)
"Shared Values and Behavioral Norms" (W108)
7
From: "Shared Worldviews and Belief Systems"
Split Justification: Shared Worldviews and Belief Systems fundamentally divide into two core components: those collective cognitive frameworks that describe the observable, verifiable, and causally understood aspects of reality (e.g., scientific principles, historical facts, common knowledge) and those frameworks that interpret the deeper meaning, purpose, and ultimate nature of existence, often extending beyond direct empirical observation (e.g., philosophical tenets, religious doctrines, theories of ultimate reality). This dichotomy is mutually exclusive, as a belief's primary focus is either on the empirically ascertainable or the transcendent/interpretive, and comprehensively exhaustive, covering all facets of how a group cognitively structures its understanding of the world.
➔ "Shared Empirical and Factual Beliefs" (W140)
"Shared Metaphysical and Existential Beliefs" (W204)
8
From: "Shared Empirical and Factual Beliefs"
Split Justification: All shared empirical and factual beliefs fundamentally describe either the specific states, properties, and occurrences of phenomena (declarative knowledge of 'what is'), or the underlying causal mechanisms, operational principles, and practical procedures that govern how phenomena interact, function, or can be manipulated (explanatory and functional knowledge of 'how things work' and 'why things happen'). This dichotomy is mutually exclusive, as a belief is primarily focused on either description or explanation/function, and comprehensively exhaustive, covering the full scope of empirically verifiable collective understanding.
"Shared Declarative Factual Knowledge" (W268)
➔ "Shared Explanatory and Functional Knowledge" (W396)
9
From: "Shared Explanatory and Functional Knowledge"
Split Justification: All shared explanatory and functional knowledge fundamentally comprises two distinct types of collective understanding: that which focuses on explaining *why* phenomena occur and *how* they inherently operate through principles and causal mechanisms, and that which focuses on understanding *how* to achieve specific outcomes, perform tasks, or apply knowledge through practical procedures and operational methods. This dichotomy is mutually exclusive, as a piece of shared knowledge primarily serves either to explain an underlying reality or to guide practical application, and comprehensively exhaustive, covering all aspects of a group's collective understanding of 'how things work', 'why things happen', and 'how to do things'.
➔ "Shared Explanatory Knowledge" (W652)
"Shared Functional Knowledge" (W908)
✓
Topic: "Shared Explanatory Knowledge" (W652)

Research & Datasheets

Alternative Candidates (Tiers 2-4)

VEX IQ Robotics Competition Kit (Generation 2)

A comprehensive robotics platform offering advanced mechanical and programming challenges, often used in competitive robotics.

Analysis:

While VEX IQ is an excellent system for engineering and complex problem-solving, its higher complexity and focus on competitive scenarios might present a steeper initial learning curve for introducing 'Shared Explanatory Knowledge' broadly. SPIKE Prime offers a slightly more accessible entry point with strong educational support, allowing 12-year-olds to quickly engage in building and explaining, before potentially moving to more specialized competitive platforms.

Kano Computer Kit Touch

A build-your-own computer kit designed to teach coding and computational thinking through guided projects.

Analysis:

The Kano Computer Kit is great for understanding computational systems and 'how computers work' at a foundational level. However, its focus is primarily on building a computer and learning to code within that environment, rather than building physical systems and explaining their multi-faceted functional and causal mechanisms (mechanical, electrical, programmatic) which the LEGO SPIKE Prime offers. It's more about understanding one complex system (the computer itself) rather than enabling the design and explanation of diverse physical interactive systems.

What's Next? (Child Topics)

"Shared Explanatory Knowledge" evolves into:

Week 1164

Shared Explanations of Natural World Phenomena

Explore Topic →Week 1676

Shared Explanations of Human and Social Phenomena

Explore Topic →

Logic behind this split:

All shared explanatory knowledge fundamentally focuses on understanding the underlying causes and mechanisms of either the non-human, natural environment and its processes, or the actions, interactions, and structures created by human beings. This dichotomy is mutually exclusive, as the primary subject matter of the explanation is distinct, and comprehensively exhaustive, covering all domains requiring collective causal understanding within the empirical and factual realm.