Unit : 4 Creative Thinking

Activity 1 : The Creative Solution Finders

Theme: All of us face problems in our life. There is a solution to every problem. We should
think creatively to arrive at the solutions.

Time Required: 1 period

Materials Needed: Two sheets of blank paper and a pencil for each student, an empty box
such as a shoe box and handout

Mode: Whole class

Life Skills to be enhanced: Creative Thinking and Critical Thinking

Objectives: Students will be able to:

luse higher order thinking skills and inference skills;

ldevelop diversity of thought.

Getting Started: Discuss with students about why and what type of problems they
generally face in their life and what is the best way to resolve them. How does creativity
support problem solving?

Process:

Explain
l to the students that they have to solve the problems that they consider
important.

Give each student a pencil and two sheets of paper.

l

Instruct
l each student to write a problem question on one of his/her sheets of
paper. The question may be personal, such as "What can be done about my family's
irritability in the morning?" or it may be more political or social, such as "How can
India solve its problem of poverty?"

Collect
l the sheets of paper with questions written on them from the students.
Read them one at a time and solicit solutions from the students. There should be at
least two solutions for every problem.

Continue
l the activity until all students have shared their problem questions and
found new solutions.

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 Key Messages
1. For every problem there is a solution and more creatively we think
better are the solutions that we get.

2. Thinking creatively while looking for solution helps us in a better way.

3. It is not always that a solution will work. We must keep in mind hit and
trial method while looking for solutions.

Handout
The problems that can be discussed are:

How to solve the issue of illiteracy in India?

l

What can be done to stop parents from comparing their children with others?
l

How can parents be convinced that junk food is fine to eat once in a while?
l

How to avoid peer pressure?

l

How to save students from the bad influence of television?

l

How to save students from the bad influence of social networking sites?
l

How to convince parents that music is good while studying?

l

What can be done to avoid road rage?

l

What can be done to save Earth from global warming?

l

How to help a friend who has started smoking and is moving in a bad company?
l

Suggested Further Activity:

Instruct students to place their problem questions in a box. Then pick a question out of the
box, read it aloud, and call on a student to share his/her solution. Several solutions can be
solicited.

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 Activity 2 : Ms. Nature - the Scientist
Theme: The major inventions and discoveries in the world are the product of creative
minds. Many living things in nature have inspired the birth of many discoveries in the
world.

Time Required: 1 period

Material Needed: Worksheet

Mode: Individual

Life Skills to be enhanced: Creative Thinking and Critical Thinking

Objectives : Students will be able to:

use higher order thinking skills and inference skills;

l

find connections between the discoveries and the living things.

l

Getting Started:

Biology and Zoology are considered by many to be rich sources of analogies from which
significant inventions can be derived. One of the most celebrated cases is the invention of
the telephone. As Alexander Graham Bell wrote: "It struck me that the bones of the human
ear were very massive as compared with the delicate thin membrane that operated
them; and the thought occurred to me that if a membrane so delicate could move bones
so relatively massive, why should not a thicker and stouter piece of membrane move a
piece of steel." Thus the telephone was conceived.

Process

lShare with students other similar examples (as mentioned in getting started).

lEncourage students to share their views on the thought that nature is a great
scientist and has served as an inspiration to the present day scientists.

lGive each student the worksheet without the answer.

lInstruct them to go through and fill up the worksheet.

lLet them discuss the answers and reason out.

lAsk them to make a list of natural wonders that can result in new inventions.

Key Messages
1. We should try to find creative and constructive solutions to problems
and issues.

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 Worksheet
Here is a list of animals and the inventions they exemplify. Match the animal with
the invention.

1. bat ( ) parachute
2. armadillo ( ) snowshoes
3. chameleon ( ) anesthetic
4. fish ( ) helicopter
5. flying squirrel ( ) suction cup
6. squid ( ) hypodermic
7. hummingbird ( ) radar
8. scorpion ( ) camouflage
9. snake ( ) electricity
10. abalone ( ) tank
11. caribou ( ) jet propulsion

Answers
1. bat (5) parachute
2. armadillo (11) snowshoes
3. chameleon (9) anesthetic
4. fish (7) helicopter
5. flying squirrel (10) suction cup
6. squid (8) hypodermic
7. hummingbird (1) radar
8. scorpion (3) camouflage
9. snake (4) electricity
10. abalone (2) tank
11. caribou (6) jet propulsion

Suggested Further Activity:

Encourage students to answer the following:
1. Has anything around you ever given you an idea to invent/design/create something? If
yes, explain.
2. Name one animal or bird that inspires you to invent something of human utility.
3. How has nature helped Newton in his discovery?
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 Activity 3 : Tell Me
Theme: Creative thinking is a novel way of seeing or doing things. It helps to find solutions
to our problems. We need to use our higher order thinking skills to be creative.

Time Required: 1 period

Material Needed: Worksheet

Mode: Groups of four to five students

Life Skills to be enhanced: Creative Thinking and Interpersonal Relationships

Objectives: Students will be able to:

luse higher order thinking skills and inference skills;

luse things in a novel and different way.

Getting Started: A creative warm-up activity.

Process:

Instruct students to read the statements provided in the worksheet.

l

Direct
l them to find out the word that fills up all the blanks in a sentence. Instruct
them that one word which is pronounced and spelt the same fits in all the blanks.
Provide them a sample sentence to get the idea.

Encourage
l them to use their experience and knowledge to determine an
appropriate word that completes the sentence in a coherent manner.

The
l team that completes the statements first and correctly wins the honour of
being the "best team for the day".

Key Messages
1. Higher order thinking skills are required to be creative.

2. Try to think out of the box to be creative.

3. Creative thinking helps to find a solution to a problem.

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 Worksheet
Example

The bandage was wound around the wound.

1 The farm was used to (a)_______________(b)_____________.

2 The snake (a)_______________ its skin while in the (b)_____________.

3 The dump was so full that it had to (a)_______________ more (b)_____________.

4 We must (a)_______________ the (b)_____________ furniture.

5 We could (a)_______________ if he got the (b)_____________out.

6 The soldier decided to (a)_______________ his dessert in the (b)_____________.

7 Since there is no time like the (a)_______________, he thought it was time to

(b)_____________ the (c)_____________.

8 A (a)_______________ was painted on the head of the (b)_____________drum.

9 When shot at, the (a)_______________ (b)_____________ into the bushes.

10 I did not (a)_______________ to the (b)_____________.

11 The insurance was (a)_______________ for the (b)_____________.

12 There was a (a)____________ among the oarsmen about how to (b)___________.

13 They were too (a)_______________to the door to (b)_____________it.

14 The buck (a)_______________strange things when the (b)_____________are

present.

15 A seamstress and a (a)_______________fell down into a (b)_____________line.

16 To help with planting, the farmer taught his (a)____________to (b)___________.

17 The (a)______________was too strong for us to (b)_____________ the sail.

18 After a (a)_______________of injections my jaw got (b)_____________.

19 Upon seeing the (a)______________in the painting I shed a (b)_____________.

20 I had to (a)_______________the (b)_____________ to a series of tests.

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 Answers
1 The farm was used to produce produce.

2 The snake shed its skin while in the shed.

3 The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4 We must polish the polish furniture.

5 We could lead if he got the lead out.

6 The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.

7 Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the
present.

8 A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

9 When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

10 I did not object to the object.

11 The insurance was invalid for the invalid.

12 There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.

13 They were too close to the door to close it.

14 The buck does strange things when the does are present.

15 A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.

16 To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.

17 The wind was too strong for us to wind the sail.

18 After a number of injections my jaw got number.

19 Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.

20 I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.

Suggested Further Activity:

Organise a discussion on “How does thinking creatively help us in life?”

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 Activity 4 : Quote the Quotes
Theme: Great men have said it all! All of us must have heard the saying that there is no
need to “reinvent the wheel”. There can be some interesting and creative ideas that we
can derive from the quotations that we read. Several are available in the form of
compilations (as books) as well as online.

Time Required : 1 period

Materials Needed: Quote Solutions Handout, books of quotations, internet access and
worksheet

Mode: Groups of four to five students

Life Skills to be enhanced: Creative Thinking and Problem Solving

Objectives: Students will be able to:

generate creative ideas as possible;

l

use quotes to generate ideas.

l

Getting Started: A creative warm-up activity.

Process :

Give students a handout of Quotes.

l

Instruct students to write down a situation for which they want to find a solution.
l

Ask them to find some quotes addressing the key words related to that situation.
l

Encourage them to generate creative ideas to resolve the issue.

l

Key Messages
1. A creative idea can be used to resolve an issue.

2. We derive creative ideas from quotations also.

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 Quotes Solutions Handout
Situation: How to convince your parents that it is alright to listen to music while
studying.

Key Words: 'Music' and 'Studying'

Quotes:

lWithout music, life is a journey through a desert. Pat Conroy

lMusic is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the
imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. Plato

lMusic is the arithmetic of sounds as optics is the geometry of light. Claude

Debussy

lMusic hath charms to soothe a savage beast, to soften rocks, or to bend a knotted
oak. William Congreve (1670-1729)

lThe schools that produced the highest academic achievement in the United
States today are spending 20% to 30% of the day on the arts, with special
emphasis on music. International Association for the Evaluation of Educational
Achievement (IAEEA) Test, 1988

lStudents who were exposed to music-based lessons scored a full 100% higher on
fractions' tests than those who learned in the conventional manner. Neurological
Research, March 15, 1999

lHigh school music students have been shown to hold higher grade point averages
(GPA) than non-musicians in the same school. National Educational Longitudinal
Study of 1988

lDuring moments of musical euphoria, blood travels through the brain to areas
where other stimuli can produce feelings of contentment and joy-and travels
away from brain cell areas associated with depression and fear. Dr. Frederick
Tims, reported in AMC Music News, June 2, 1999

lStudents of lower socio-economic status who took music lessons in grades 8-12
increased their Mathematics scores significantly as compared to non-music
students. But just as important, reading, history, geography and even social skills
soared by 40%. Gardiner, Fox, Jeffrey and Knowles, Nature, May 23, 1996

lMusic training helps under-achievers. Students lagging behind in scholastic

performance caught up to their fellow students in reading and surpassed their
classmates in Mathematics by 22% when given music instruction over seven
months. Nature, May 23, 1998

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lIf children hear fine music from the day of their birth and learn to play it, they
develop sensitivity, discipline and endurance. They get a beautiful heart.
Shinichi Suzuki

lThere is music wherever there is harmony, order, or proportion. Thomas C.

Haliburton

lIf you look deep enough you will see music; the heart of nature being everywhere
music. Thomas Carlyle

The Best Ones:

Music is the arithmetic of sounds as optics is the geometry of light. Claude Debussy

Music training helps under-achievers. Students lagging behind in scholastic

performance caught up to their fellow students in reading and surpassed their
classmates in Mathematics by 22% when given music instruction over seven months.
Nature, May 23, 1998

Students who were exposed to music-based lessons scored a full 100% higher on
fractions’ tests than those who learned in the conventional manner. Neurological
Research, March 15, 1999

Ideas to put in front of your parents:

lMusic helps in scholastic achievements

lMusic keeps the mind calm while studying

lMusic keeps you awake while studying.

Think Out of
the Box

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 Worksheet
Now write a situation related to you and try to find a way out through Quotes

Situation:

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Key Words:

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Quotes:

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

The Best Ones:

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Ideas:

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Suggested Further Activity:

Instruct students to answer the following:

What is a 'silly' idea? How does it differ from 'normal' idea? Have you tried to solve any
difficult problem using 'silly' idea? If yes, describe the problem and how you arrived at the
solution using the 'silly' idea.

Web Support:
http://www.ndacda.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/musiceducationquotes.pdf
http://www.thinkexist.com/English/Topic/x/Topic_274_6.htm
http://www.auuuu.com/quotes/music.html
http://www.inspirational-quotes-change-lives.com/famousmusicquotes.html

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 Activity 5 : Stick and Cloth
Theme: Creative thinking is a novel way of seeing and doing things. It requires one to think
out of the box. This activity encourages the students to use their higher order thinking
skills to create as many items as possible out of a stick and a piece of cloth.

Time Required: 1 period

Materials Needed: A stick (one metre) and a piece of cloth (1 X 1 metre)

Mode: Whole class sitting in a circle

Life Skills to be enhanced: Creative Thinking and Problem Solving

Objectives: Students will be able to:

think and express their ideas cohesively;
l

demonstrate creativity;
l

stretch their imagination.

l

Getting Started: A creative warm-up activity.

Process:

lMake all students sit in a big circle.

lWhen everyone is seated, place both the piece of cloth and the piece of stick in the
middle and ask the group what they see.

lAsk them to describe the attributes of the two objects (e.g. the cloth is soft and
smooth, the stick is hard, stiff, rough, etc.).

lEncourage them to imagine that the cloth and the stick are not a cloth and stick
but something else. Ask 'what could they be?'

lEach student then takes a turn to demonstrate what he/she imagines the cloth and
the stick to be e.g. the cloth could be a mirror and the stick a toothbrush.

lGive time to everyone to stretch their imagination.

Key Messages
1. Creative thinking is a novel way of seeing and doing things.

2. To be creative, one needs to use imagination and think out of the box.

Suggested Further Activity:

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Encourage students to think creatively and make a useful object out of waste material.
 Activity 6 : Shhh… Sherlock Holmes is here
Theme: There are six key questions that journalism students are taught to answer in their
news articles to make sure that they have covered the whole story. For creative thinkers,
these questions stimulate thinking about the idea in question and allow one to approach it
from various angles. So let us try to write down our creative ideas.

Time Required: 1 period

Materials Needed: 'Super Six' handout and newspaper clippings

Mode: Groups of four to five students

Life Skills to be enhanced: Creative Thinking and Problem Solving

Objectives: Students will be able to:

lthink and express their ideas cohesively;

luse the six journalistic questions to generate ideas.

Getting Started: A creative warm-up activity.

Process:

lStudents bring some clippings of newspaper articles.

lDivide students into groups.

lInstruct students to analyze the given newspaper articles.

lNow ask them to go through the 'Super Six' handout.

lInstruct them now to reanalyze the given newspaper clippings in the light of 'Super
Six' handout and record their observations in the worksheet.

lEncourage them to rewrite the report putting in the missing elements if any and
share their version with the class.

Key Messages
1. It is important to have all the six elements of "Who, What, When, Where,
Why and How" in the news report.

2. These elements can help in generating creative solutions to different

situations.

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 ‘Super Six' Handout
1. Who? (Actor or Agent) Who is involved? Who did it/will do it? Who uses it, wants it?
Who will benefit, will be injured, will be included, and will be excluded?

2. What? (Act) What should happen? What is it? What was done/ought to be done, and
was not done? What will be done if x happens? What went or could go wrong? What
resulted in success?

3. When? (Time or Timing) When will/did/should this occur or be performed? Can it

be hurried or delayed? Is a sooner or later time be preferable? When should be the
time be if x happens?

4. Where? (Scene or Source) Where did/will/should this occur or be performed?

Where else is a possibility? Where else did the same thing happen/should the same
thing happen? Are other places affected, endangered/protected/aided by this
location? Effect of this location on actors, actions?

5. Why? (Purpose) Why was/is this done, avoided, permitted? Why should it be done,
avoided, permitted? Why did/should actor do? Different for another actor, act,
time, place? Why that particular action, rule, idea, solution, problem, disaster,
and not another? Why that actor, time, location, and not another?

6. How? (Agency or Method) How was it, could it be, should it be done, prevented,
destroyed, made, improved, altered? How can it be described, understood? How
did beginning lead to conclusion?

Worksheet
Who? (Actor or Agent)
l

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

What? (Act)
l

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

When? (Time or Timing)

l

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

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 Where? (Scene or Source)
l

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

Why? (Purpose)
l

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

How? (Agency or Method)

l

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

Your Story

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

Suggested Further Activity:

Encourage students to suggest themes to write a story using the six elements of
Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.

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