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Summer is slowly drawing to an end, so it time to start planning and focusing on the 2016-2017 school year. I am SO excited to start the year and share with my students some of the amazing things I have been planning over the summer. Last Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I attended the NSTA STEM Forum here in Denver. Presenters from all over the world came to share their ideas of what STEM education can look like. Here are a few of the highlights! 5. Learning STEM is a Social Endeavor The keynote speaker was Derek Muller of the youtube channel Veritasium. A physics educator from Australia, Derek has spent his professional career studying how educational technology can be used to teach students. His findings were fascinated. He has found that having people share their ideas (and misconceptions) and then showing the answer is very effective. This is because it allows us to engage with our learning rather than being passive. We want to know if our idea is right or if others are. This is definitely a strategy I have used in my own classroom and will focus on using more in the future.
4. Bigfoot Might Just be Real A few years ago, my team and I taught students about Pseudoscience with a lesson on Cryptozoology. We thought it was a fun way to engage kids in the difference between fact and fiction. I was surprised when I saw a session on the evolution of Bigfoot, so I decided to check it out. The presentation focus on whether a creature like big foot could have evolved. As students learned about 10 essential question about evolution (based on this book), kids learned about the latest scientific theory of Bigfoot. I was super impressed with the presenter who had great instructional strategies. By the end, I was more open to the idea that Bigfoot just might have evolved. 3. Twitter makes for Great Learning I have been on twitter for quite a while now, but never saw the big appeal. Until this conference, I thought it was just a lot of random noise. However, at the conference, using the hashtag #STEMForum gave me an opportunity to learn what others were seeing and doing. I started following many teachers who were at the conference and now each day as I scroll through my treats I am finding new and exciting ideas about science, stem, and nature! I may be coming late to the game, but I'm glad I finally showed up! 2. Maker Ed is gaining traction The Maker Movement has received a lot of notice lately across social media and educational circles. I had heard about it, seen a few examples, but was still not sure what it was all about. (Honestly reminded me of STEM education about 5 years ago). Then, during the Forum, I went to a couple of great sessions on what Maker Ed is, why it matters, and how to execute it! I was pleasantly surprised to find out that we do a lot of maker ed in our "hammer room" each year. The most interesting notion that I gained from learning about Maker Ed movement is that it is about creating anything--music, poetry, prototypes, programs, etc. A lot of my own engineering philosophy matches exactly! It is becoming a force in education--MIT even allows Maker Portfolios now as part of their application process! Want to learn more? Visit Makered.org! 1. Giving is better than receiving My favorite part of the STEM Forum was presenting to other teachers. This year I gave two presentations which were both very well attended. The first presentation "PBL Start to Finish" filled a huge meeting room at the convention center and the energy in the room was amazing. It was fun to see people light up at the possibility of doing this kind of learning with their students in their own classroom. The second presentation "Engineering Deeper Scientific Understanding" was fun as people got excited about different projects I had done with my students. It was very fulfilling to give back to teachers and see them get excited!
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STEM is everywhere. Whenever I travel somewhere new or visit an attraction, I try to see where I can spy science, technology, engineering, and math. It is amazing what you can find when you are looking. Last week I traveled with my husband, sons, parents, and in-laws to the nations capitol to see the sights. I found some really great examples of STEM in action in a city that is more famous for it's history and culture. ScienceOne example of amazing science that I saw on our trip was the use of Forensics to create lifelike models of George Washington during our visit to Mt. Vernon. Scientists undertook a study from 2003 to 2005 to create scientifically and historically accurate models of what Washington would have looked like throughout his lifetime. The first model represents Washington at age 19 when he was a surveyor working on creating maps of Virginia. The second represents General Washington during the revolution (age 45) when he lead the citizen army to victory against the British. The final model represents the day he became our first president at age 57. Historians at Mt. Vernon thought this project was important because most people had a vision of the president as "old" and "boring rather than as a young, adventurer or a brave leader. Want to learn more? Visit the Mt. Vernon website here. TechnologyTechnology is ever changing and boy does it change quickly. There is no better evidence of this than a day spent at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. We spent the day exploring the early origins of flight with the Wright brothers and stood in awe of early pioneers such as Amelia Earhart. Then we learned about the space program and how it progressed from crude capsules like this one from the Mercury program to the amazing new Orion Capsule that will take astronauts to Mars and beyond. Want to learn more? Me too! Just kidding, visit the website here. Next time we visit we will have to go to the larger one outside the city to continue our adventure! EngineeringThe National Mall provided a unique look at engineering in action during our visit. Known as our nations front yard, the mall is used for events year round by a huge number of visitors. While we were there we saw the Smithsonian's Folk Life Festival (Link), Preparations for the Huge 4th of July Festival (Link) and a variety of tourists taking advantage of the grass to play sports, have picnics, or relax in the sun. With all of this use, the grass on the mall takes quite a beating. In order for the park service to preserve the Turf on the National Mall, it has undergone a multiphase renovation to improve it's durability. It uses civil engineering principles to collect water (link) as well as ecosystem engineering in choosing the best grass varieties. They have even hired a Turf manager to ensure the changes are managed (link). MathWashington, D.C. is a beautiful example of math in action. The 100 square mile area for the capital city was surveyed by Andrew Ellicot andBenjamin Banneker who used celestial calculations to lay boundary students. The city was planned by Pierre L'Enfant in 1791 using a grid system built to radiate from the capital and the white house. While we were visiting, we saw the marker about near the Washington Monument. We learned that it was the vertex of the 90 degree angle between the two buildings. Read more here.
Over the past few months, I have been spending a lot of my learning time figuring out what growth mindset is and how it can be useful to students in my classroom. Here is a short TED Talk to catch you up! All of my learning on this topic was fresh on my mind when I took my children to see "Finding Dory." During this movie (which is awesome by the way), I had ahas about what Growth Mindset can mean to us as learners. So, here is what I learned about Growth Mindset from "Finding Dory".
JUST KEEP SWIMMING Even when things get hard, it is important for us to just keep on going. Eventually things will work out even when it isn't going as we planned. When we get frustrated, we can just keep going. When we get mad, we can just keep going. THERE IS ALWAYS ANOTHER WAY For those of us that are planners, it is difficult for us to see that there is always another way when plan A doesn't work out. But Dory reminds us that there is always another way. Plan B, C, D, or even Z may be way better than our original plan. WHAT WOULD DORY DO? We all bring unique gifts and perspectives to problems. In the movie, Marlin had this aha and approached his challenges in a different way when he thought about what Dory would do. Who inspires you to think differently? How can you use this to get unstuck? MOMMY LIKES PURPLE SHELLS Making connections helps us learn. How do we build on these and our strengths to find unique solutions to our challenges? |
AuthorMrs. Noffsinger is the 8th Grade Science and Engineering educator. Archives
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Photos used under Creative Commons from Howdy, I'm H. Michael Karshis, r.nial.bradshaw