As humans, we can perceive less than a ten-trillionth of all light waves. “Our experience of reality,” says neuroscientist David Eagleman, “is constrained by our biology.” He wants to change that. His research into our brain processes has led him to create new interfaces — such as a sensory vest — to take in previously unseen information about the world around us.
STEM content activity ideas for those interested in gardening and plant investigations:
For those interested in game-based learning, here is the link:
Here is the information for the Design Make Play PD courses at NYSCI during the Spring break week. The courses are for teachers grades 3-8. Teachers can register here http://nysci.org/design-make-play-stem-institute/
Course 1: It’s Electric!
April 6, 9 am – 3 pm
Explore different types of electricity, investigate how to use everyday materials as an avenue into understanding conductivity, and engage
in hair-raising, design-based activities that demonstrate and engage students in learning about electricity. Special emphasis on connections to Common Core ELA, NYS 4th Grade Performance Exam and the NYC Science Scope and Sequence.
Course 2: Seeing the Light
April 7, 9 am – 3 pm
Explore various design challenges that can be replicated in the classroom to learn about the properties of light (including reflection, absorption, refraction and diffraction) and how light interacts with different types of matter. Connections to Common Core ELA and the NYC Science Scope and Sequence will be made.
Course 3: Biologically Inspired Design
April 8, 9 am – 3 pm
Discover how biology and nature can inspire inventions by exploring form, function and adaptations of plants and animals through a series of hands-on, design-based challenges. Conduct various activities
that illuminate how animals adapt to their environment and how these adaptations can be used in a series of engineering challenges. Connections to Common Core ELA and the NYC Science Scope and Sequence will be made.
Course 4: Strong Structures
April 9, 9 am – 3 pm
Using an assortment of simple materials, participate in a series of challenges to build and design strong stable structures. The structures built will range from large freestanding structures to small tabletop structures that test weight, durability and ability to withstand extreme environmental conditions. Special emphasis on connections to Common Core ELA and the engineering design process will be made.
Course 5: Force & Motion
April 10, 9 am – 3 pm
Learn how to apply concepts of forces and motion to meet a variety
of engaging design challenges including marshmallow catapults, “ski jump” rollercoasters, and straw rockets. Explore how these activities help students better understand Newton’s Law of Motion and how they can be modified for various grade units. Connections to Common Core ELA, NYS 8th Grade Performance Exam and the NYC Science Scope and Sequence will be made.
These courses are being held in memory of Diane Pillersdorf, a lifelong science educator, teacher, administrator, principal and curriculum developer.
Design-Make-Play STEM Institute is made possible through the generous support of Gary Pillersdorf, the Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation, and J.P. Morgan Chase.
This Human Anatomy and Physiology site covers the following topics:
- Relate the structures of the male and female reproductive systems to their functions.
- Describe the role of hormones in controlling the secondary sex characteristics.
- Compare and contrast the processes and products of oogenesis and spermatogenesis.
- Trace the pathway that sperm travel from the testes to the exterior of the body.
- Summarize the events of the menstrual cycle.
- Describe the hormonal control mechanisms that regulate the menstrual cycle.
- Sequence the stages of human development from fertilization to birth.
- Describe the functions of the placenta.
- Research and describe methods of controlling human fertility, and describe their relative effectiveness.
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With Groovy Lab in a Box, you will receive boxes full of everything you need to learn about and do hands on #science, #technology, #engineering, and #mathematics (#STEM) experiments for ages 8+.
Because children are natural engineers, Groovy Lab in a Box blends Scientific Inquiry and the Engineering Design Process, which allows children to create ingenious inventions, enhance critical problem solving skills and have FUN!
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Here is a list of some alternatives to GoldieBlox to get kids of any gender thinking while they play:
1) Snap Circuits: These award-winning toys are the real deal, allowing kids to build simple electronics like radios and doorbells. Safe yet exciting, they make electronics seem fun. http://www.snapcircuits.net/
2) Weird and Wacky Contraption Lab: With 60 mix-and-match pieces, this is a Rube Goldberg-esque Smart Lab set. https://www.fatbraintoys.com/toy_companies/smartlab/weird_wacky_contraption_lab.cfm
3) Toobeez: This enormous construction building system is a great way to introduce little kids to the joys of engineering. Kids can build huge structures: With enough tubes, they can make anything from a fort to a submarine. http://www.toobeez.com/how-toobeez-work.html
The concept of game-based education is one that’s easily dismissed as being frivolous or time-wasting. These go-to resources will help teachers who would like to learn more about the effectiveness of using game-driven approaches in the classroom:
The Institute of Play explains how games nurture the higher-order thinking skills kids will need in their futures, including the ability to analyze and solve problems using media resources. The Why Games & Learning page on its site makes a particularly succinct and compelling argument on behalf of game-based learning. It describes games as “complex eco-systems extending beyond the game space to involve networks of people in a variety of roles and rich interactions.”
Educational technology company Knewton presents an easy-to-digest infographic about the prevalence of gaming in today’s society, the benefits of gaming in school, and how teachers can harness the powers of gaming for the good of public education.
In Gamification in the Classroom: The Right or Wrong Way to Motivate Students?, Tim Walker of the National Education Association (NEA) takes a look at today’s gamification trend, with a call-to-action for teachers to choose their methodology wisely. Although the article is rather critical of gamification in learning, it nonetheless offers valuable perspective to prevent educators from going too far with this method.
Resources for Getting Started
Even if you’re sold on the idea of game-based learning, you might be at a loss on where to begin. Here, you’ll find helpful introductory resources for teachers who want to learn more about gamification:
According to Smart Data Collective’s October 2014 post, Press Start to Learn: How Gamification is Changing Education, gamification instills a sense of investment and collaboration in students, which in turn improves both behavior and learning. Author Rick Delgado offers several suggestions for gamification practices in your classroom.
Education technology specialist Alice Keeler thinks students should never be bored or disinterested in class. In her video, Getting Started With Games Based Learning, Keeler offers words of wisdom in this webinar for teachers who want to try game-based learning but aren’t sure where to start.
In an Education Week blog titled Eight Principles of Productive Gamification that was posted earlier this year, education advocate Tom Vander Ark discusses productive failure, intrinsic motivation, and other important principles you should be aware of before introducing game-based learning strategies to your classroom.
TeachThought’s Mike Acedo gives 10 easy-to-follow suggestions for those who want a simple start to classroom gamification. The ideas on his list all are practical and simple to implement.
Last July, the Joan Gan Cooney Center published a piece titled How Teachers Can Use Video Games in the Humanities Classroom. In it, Temple University professor Jordan Shapiro provides discourse about how humanities teachers can and should help shape the role of video games in school and society. The story is the 12th installment of Shapiro’s 19-part Guide to Games and Learning for KQED’s MindShift website.
Tools You Can Use
Once you’ve developed an understanding of game-based learning and decided how to get started, it’s time to move forward with deciding on the games you want to use. Visit these sites for access to hands-on games and gaming ideas:
The education PD 2014 Youtube channel posted a video back in July about using ClassDojo at a high school level. It helps teachers encourage participation, manage student behaviors, and communicate effectively with parents.
Austrian think tank GLOBArt shares an informative video about The World Peace Game, a political science simulation that pits four or five student-led “countries” against one another. Students must use imagination and thinking skills to strike a balance of peace between their countries.
Back in May, Edudemic’s Nikolaos Chatzpoulous published a piece titled 3 Edtech Tools You Can Use to Gamify Your Classroom. It details three platforms — Socrative, Kahoot, and FlipQuiz — that can help you make the transition to a gamified classroom.
Mojang’s Minecraft is a massively popular game, but it also has educational applications for the classroom. In September, TechRepulblic published an article, MinecraftEDU: From Game to Classroom, which details reasons and methods for using MinecraftEDU in your curriculum.
Multiplication.com is an interactive site where kids play math games and monitor progress with online quizzes. It has a section that details planning games for use in the classroom, and the games are grouped according to difficulty level, noise level, and number of participants.
For Teachers Who Design Their Own Games
When designing your own games, you must accomplish two things: creating a game and constructing a legitimate learning solution. Review these helpful hints for teachers who prefer to structure their own games:
In Game Element: Rewards, Bloomsburg University Professor Karl Kapp discusses gamification’s greatest motivators: praise, points, prolonged play, feelings of power, feelings of accomplishment, and more. You may also want to look at Game Element: Feedback, where Professor Kapp explores how gamification supplies students with automatic feedback, which in turn provides helpful academic guidance.
On the EdTech subreddit, there’s a great post titled Reddit Gamification Q & A with MIT Professor Eric Klopfer. In this thread, MIT Professor Eric Klopfer engages the public in a fascinating Q & A about gamification’s implications for students in 2014 and beyond. Among other subjects, it discusses creating games that teach students to code, and Professor Klopfer outlines some important considerations for designing these games.
Marzano Research’s Tips From Dr. Marzano: Vocabulary Games for the Classroom will be of particular interest for educators seeking to design language-based games. In this piece, education guru Dr. Robert Marzano offers research-based tips on how to create effective vocabulary games for your classroom.
Game-Based Education in the News
Among news outlets and tech publications, game-based learning is getting a lot of traction. Catch up on the latest developments with this learning modality via these articles:
A July story by the University of Colorado Boulder, NYC Schools to Use Video Games to Teach Computer Coding, reports that New York City students will use sophisticated math and science concepts to create their own video games. The pilot project is called the “Scalable Game Design” curriculum, and it’s funded by the National Science Foundation.
The San Francisco Chronicle’s Computer Science Not Just a Game for S.F. Schools details how a group of high school students in San Francisco are learning computer coding in a college-prep math course. Their assignment: Create your own version of Pong.
Wired’s recent article, How Videogames Like Minecraft Actually Help Kids Learn to Read, details how students’ passion for Minecraft helps them beef up both their reading and writing skills.
Finally, use these miscellaneous resources to further expand your knowledge on game-based learning and gamification:
Code.org is a resource site for educators interested in learning and teaching computer coding. This “Hour of Code” video provides information about how you and your students can join the millions who have already taken this one-hour introductory course on computer coding. The class will be available online in December 2014.
In a peer-reviewed study published last April by the University of St. Andrews, students were motivated to make healthier lunch choices through gamification. Among other outcomes, it found that “Cafeteria-based FV consumption among K-8th grade students increased significantly above baseline levels when a low-cost, behaviorally based gamification intervention was introduced.”
Gamesandlearning.org’s report “Level Up Learning” Captures State of Digital Games in Classroom offers an in-depth report on game-based learning for 2014. It features additional resources and infographics on the subject here as well.
Our friends at Edutopia recently updated their popular 2011 piece, Game-Based Learning: Resource Roundup. Peruse the site’s curated list of helpful game-based learning resources.
In educational settings, game-based learning offers enormous potential for teachers and students. When done well, these interactions can yield meaningful, enriching experiences for everyone involved.
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