Some educators have had remarkable success with an unusual approach to science education  For example, a physics lesson on the properties of waves might begin by plucking guitar strings  After observing the strings vibrate, students would begin to apply names to the phenomena they had witnessed, such as frequency and amplitude
Only after fully understanding these real-life concepts would they begin to apply abstract terms and equations to the phenomena
Familiarity with phenomena facilitates the learning of more formal treatments of these phenomena.