Scratch and Paper Circuits with Primary Sources

The breadth of primary sources available from the Library of Congress present an excellent opportunity for elementary educators to connect and integrate content areas through historical context.  As an Einstein Fellow, I am identifying ways to make STEM connections through primary sources.  A couple of recent projects include using Scratch (scratch.mit.edu) to create programs using primary sources and creating paper circuits with primary sources.

Instructions for the Civil War Bugle Calls Scratch project are still in development https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/268767799/. The instructions include information on original sheet music and how to use the original bugle calls to code the music using Scratch 2.0.  Students could do a variety of project using Scratch and primary sources. This is just one example.

Lighting the first National Christmas tree with paper circuits allows students to understand the importance of early electricity and the history of some of our holiday traditions.  The 1923 National Christmas tree was the first and lit with electric lights.  A card can be created with any primary source and then used to light up with a paper circuit on the inside.  Additional uses could be examining electrical circuits, incandescent lamps, and more.

 

Any feedback you might have on these types of projects would be greatly appreciated.  If you are local in the DC area, I would love the opportunity to visit your classroom and work on some of these projects with you if we can find times in both of our schedules to connect.  

Smithsonian Learning Lab

As Einstein Fellows, not only does each fellow have an opportunity to create a professional development plan, but we also participate in program-developed each month. In October, we visited Smithsonian Learning Labs.

During our day at Smithsonian Learning Labs, we explored activities that are available for educators to download and use in their classrooms.  Have you ever thought about what makes an item innovative? What if you had to rank items based on their level of innovation? Where would you place an arrowhead in the ranking? What about a clock?  It's not as easy as it might seem.

After explorations and discussions, we visited the rooftop for some awesome photos!

We also learned about some simulations that are available.  The fellows had a lot of fun with the Wright Flyer simulation.  Just have to say, I landed it without crashing. 

One of the features I liked best was being able to collect and house online resources under my own free account.  Resources could be 2D images of objects, lesson plans, secondary sources, and more. We were barely able to scratch the surface of the available resources, but I plan to continue to explore and collect resources.

NAVSEA Calculator Robots and More

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit NAVSEA Carderock division.  This division is mainly civilian engineers working on research, development, test and evaluation, fleet support, an in-service engineering for surface and undersea vehicles.  In order to conduct much of this work, the testing systems areas were amazing to see and a fantastic maker lab is available to staff and for training and research purposes. NASA has shared about the challenges with 3D printing in microgravity, but have you ever considered the challenges with printing on a ship with rolling seas?  Apparently, 3D printers can be of use when out in the middle of the ocean, but may not function so well while in that location.  While this could be an interesting challenge for students to ponder, NAVSEA Carderock offers K-16 STEM Outreach.  Another opportunity that was shared was the use of TI-84 calculators for robots.  NASA has an educator guide for using the robots with 6-9 grades but I think it would be amazing to use the calculator robots with elementary students and get them familiar with the graphing calculator and practice with computational thinking.

Sorry, no pictures were allowed at Carderock.

NASA OPSPARC's New Missions

I participated in an ITEEA webinar this week on Optimus Prime for K-12 students.  NASA OPSPARC has three sets of missions beginning with learning about spinoff technology from NASA's extensive work. It is amazing how many things we can find around our homes and communities that began with engineering designs at NASA. Next, students can create their own spinoff technology form existing NASA projects to solve a problem. This mission is where the engineering design process kicks in.  Finally, the third mission has students share their new spinoff technology in a virtual world where they can interact with NASA engineers and other professionals.  This challenge is a great way to work on real-world challenges without leaving the classroom.  I look forward to giving it a try when I return to the classroom.  https://opsparc.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 

NASA offers a variety of educational outreach through their various campuses in a variety of formats.  You can also attend educator conferences at Space Center Houston and the Kennedy Space Center.

@NASAedu NASA for Educators Pinterest Board NASA Students on Facebook NASA STEM Engagement YouTube Channel

Visit NASA STEM Engagement on the Web:  NASA's Office of STEM Engagement: http://www.nasa.gov/education For Educators: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html For Students: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/index.html NASA Kids' Club: http://www.nasa.gov/kidsclub

Geographic information system (GIS) in Elementary Education

Just attended an amazing lecture series at the Library of Congress today about the use of geographic information system (GIS) in K-12 education. Now while we might consider something like this for use with high school or even middle school students, I love the idea of using it with elementary students.

Currently, we have students who are working on identifying problems with natural resources and then developing a solution. This is all part of being a part of FabSLAM, a multi-week, team-based, digital fabrication competition where youth learn and practice design, iteration, and rapid prototyping skills primarily focused on 3D Design and 3D Printing (https://www.digitalharbor.org/whatwedo/projects/fabslam/).  In my experience, students have difficulties doing quality research to identify real problems. As I sat in the K-12 GIS lecture series, I could envision students using natural resource map data to identify areas of concerns. In Idaho, they may find there are increasing issues with access to public lands. Maybe it's the dangers of forest fires and their impact on the loss of natural resources.  I could go on. This is just one way GIS could be useful in the elementary classroom. Imagine if students could make their own data to then analyze.  Students could even create a presentation that includes their data with https://storymaps.arcgis.com/en/.  The integration of GIS can take place in multiple subject areas and create valuable practice in analysis and presenting information.

You can request a free esri software bundle for your school at https://www.esri.com/en-us/industries/education/schools/schools-mapping-software-bundle.

There are even mentors available across the country to help!

Opportunities Abound - Washington, D.C. is My Classroom

One month in to my Einstein Fellowship, I am still in awe of the opportunities that abound within the program and the Washington, D.C. area. Since traveling to the Capitol for my fellowship in August, not only have I seen "the sights" and explored various neighborhoods, I have attended briefings, lectures, symposium, Library of Congress events, and traveled to Idaho for a conference. Our cohort of fellows are placed at the National Science Foundation, NASA, Department of Energy - Office of Science, Congress, and Library of Congress.

As we each learn about new opportunities, we share them out. There are learning opportunities taking place on a daily basis, not to mention time to get together to enjoy social outings. As one fellow put it, "Sometimes this buffet puts everything out at once bu won't let you take two or three things." If you can't find something to do to grow, it's because you're not looking.  Now, a month in, I find that I am able to start making connections between what I may have heard in a symposium or lecture with a briefing on technology integration into K-12 classrooms and what I am collaborating on at the Library of Congress. Creating connections between content and transferring that learning to new situations is what we want our students to do in the classroom.  Looks like Washington, D.C. is my classroom for growing, learning, and transferring that knowledge to new projects to benefit elementary STEM education!