Author: Gülsüm Atile

I, Antalya Hakki Tatoglu Primary School teacher, organised several projects. I’m the founder of this eTwinning project. I have been doing STEM-related projects for 2 years.

This project is aimed to support 21st-century competencies, improve students ‘ scientific thinking and problem-solving skills, and adopt STEM disciplines as innovative and entrepreneurial individuals. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) related activities are studied. (With this project, the project partners- teachers learnt how to make an interdisciplinary STEM plan in accordance with the curriculum integrated (acquisition-oriented ) 5e model.

Project teachers learnt to make STEM teaching plans appropriate for their lessons. Students will have the skills of collaboration, teamwork, inquiry, research, critical thinking, solving daily life problems and analyzing.

We have worked with 67 teachers and 13 other European countries on our project called STEM club to STEM school. We aimed to help preschool students find solutions to their daily life problems related to STEM by using their creativity.

Goals

The achievements targeted to reach students are as follows:

• to be a researcher and innovator
• gain problem-solving skills
• to gain critical thinking competence
• conduct independent investigations
• to gain the ability of questioning, curious and creative thinking
• to gain the ability to establish cooperation, information sharing, secure communication

In our project, we worked on a problem situation each month with colour groups by collaborating and planning between complex team groups among teachers.

Each month, these groups applied their plans in their classrooms according to the stages of drawing attention, explaining, discovering, deepening and evaluating in accordance with the 5e study plan on a subject that was appropriate to the attention, interest and age levels of the students.

We also contributed to our project by collaborating with the families of the students. Parents have done a very successful study. This work will serve as an example of the effectiveness of challenge of distance education.

• Activity: making the fastest and most robust zipline with cups between groups
• Duration: 40 min
• Date: 25 April 2020
• Problem situation: solving the transportation problem by taking into account the geographical features of the region.
• Abstract: students formed groups with their parents and made the fastest and most robust airship between the two distances determined by the help of foam cups, straws and rope.
• Overview: Students were asked to design an airship to solve the problem of transportation that will provide safe, sound and fast travel between the two points determined by their families and their groups.

Goals

Students were able to do the following:

• Develop ideas about solving the transportation problem
• Recognize the zipline, one of the oldest means of transportation in human history
• To be able to design a means of transportation that does not need a specific energy source
• To be able to measure the functionality of the design

Ingredients: rope, pipette plastic or foam cups.

Entry

What is Zipline? Have you ever heard of what it is used for? These were the questions to enter the subject.
Zipline visuals were shown to students so that students could generate more comfortable ideas.

Then the students were explained what Zipline is: a high point, a low point attached to a steel rope by wearing a seat belt with your own weight and gravity is called sliding activity.

Zipline was used centuries ago, especially, in mountainous hilly regions, to provide transportation and to send materials in addition to this.
Students’ ideas on how to make the most robust and fast zipline were taken. Videos related to zipline project construction were shown.

The visual was shared with students, they could chat about the picture, they were asked to design the zipline, where there is a chasm between the start and finish line, and to get people home safely and quickly.

Design and construction:
Groups were asked to design the zipline that can make a round trip between the two points determined by using a pipette, 150 cm long rope, foam and glass. 15 minutes of time was given. Holes were opened in the coat and tied to the pipette with the help of rope then the pipette was passed to a 150 cm long rope. One end of the rope was high one end was connected to the low distance the airship is pulled to the high distance and ready to challenge.

Evaluation of design:
The Zipline must be strong, capable of carrying small weights. It must be able to move. During the evaluation of the design, students were asked to keep a total of 20 iron coins with them, each time only 1 iron coin was designed to remind them of the rule they can add to the zipline. In 2 minutes time, the group that got the most iron coins to the finish line was selected. Then groups discussed the subject, asked questions and talked about how the zipline moved.

Ready

Students’ ideas on how to make the most robust and fast zipline were taken. Also the videos related to zipline project construction.

The visual was shared with students so they could chat about the picture, they were asked to design the zipline, where there is a chasm between the start and finish line, and to get people home safely and quickly.
Offer
Chat with groups about the subject, questions are asked
How the zipline moved
Fast what is the reason?

Design and construction:
Groups were asked to design the zipline that can make a round trip between the two points determined by using a pipette, 150 cm long rope, foam glass. 15 minutes of time was given. Holes were opened in the coat and tied to the pipette with the help of rope then the pipette was passed to a 150 cm long rope. One end of the rope was high and another end was connected to the low distance the airship is pulled to the high distance and ready to challenge.

Evaluation of design:
The Zipline must be strong, capable of carrying small weights. It must be able to move. During the evaluation of the design, students were asked to keep a total of 20 iron coins with them, each time only 1 iron coin was designed to remind them of the rule they can add to the zipline. In 2 minutes time, the group that got the most iron coins to the finish line was selected. Then groups discussed the subject, asked questions and talked about how the zipline moved.

Preparation

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Video: CHALLENGE BY DISTANCE EDUCATION

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Evaluation:
The rubric of teamwork was applied. First, each teacher applied our project plan with a virtual interview in his / her class and then the other student groups in the project applied with virtual interview and challenge again.

TEACHERS INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT TEAM’S CHALLENGE:

• Project founder: Gülsüm Atile Hakkı Tatoğlu Primary School Antalya
• Project founder: anı Kırcalili Kublai Primary School Izmir
• Şerife Uysal Shekibe Aksoy Primary School / Konya
• Gizem Moran Atatürk Elementary School Canakkale
• Zeynep Velioğlu Zeki Sabah Primary School Akdeniz / Mersin
• Merve Çetinkaya Vilayetler Hizmetler Birliği Kindergarten / Kırşehir
• Fethi Omar Şehit Öğretmen Elif Livan kindergarten / MALATYA
• Tuğba Aker Tuğba Aker Elif Diamonds Nursery Mersin
• Gamze Akar Musa Karabaş kindergarten KONYA
• Birsen Konat İstiklal Secondary School kindergarten / Kırklareli
• Sabriye Kurt Adnan Menderes Primary School Parish / Burdur
• Nesrin Akgül Portakal Çiçeği kindergarten Mardin / MIDYAT
• Ayşe Nur Mercan Hediye Güral kindergarten / KÜTAHYA
• Asuman Aklıfazla Mehmetçik Elementary School / Kocaeli-Izmit
• Havva Düzenli Ibrahim Doğaner Primary School / ANTALYA
• Cengiz Baysal Gülüç Vesile Dikmen Elementary School Ereğli / ZONGULDAK
• Şengül Dalgıç Sincan Lale Kindergarten / Ankara
• Elif Sönmez Merkez Anokulu Zonguldak
• Demet Sert Yunus Emre MTAL Application class Ereğli-Konya
• Dilek Ekici Alanya kindergarten / Alanya
• Deniz Ece Ovali Küçükbalıklı Kindergarten
• Esra Gültekin Ismihan Çerçi kindergarten Anamur / MERSIN
• Nimet Kaya Özen Piri Mehmet Paşa Elementary School Silivri
• Nesrin Çelik Cesur Maltepe kindergarten / BURSA
• Seval Sarıca Yenişehir Municipality Kindergarten / Mersin / Yenisar
• Ezel Tuna Mustafa Kemalpaşa 14 Eylül Primary School BURSA
• Nesrin Ç. Cesur Bursa Maltepe Kindergarten
• Dilek Pehlivan Yarma Primary School Karatay / KONYA
• Arife Tuncer Piri Reis Primary School / Muratpaşa-ANTALYA
• Hilal Bilgiç Toki Akkent kindergarten/ISPARTA
• Nimet Oyman Gevher Nesibe kindergarten / KAYSERI
• Şeyma Kaynar Yıldırım İMKB MTAL. Bursa
• Merve Yağcı Düzağaç Kindergarten Gölcük / Kocaeli
• Eylem Gürpınar Yeşilpınar Elementary School Hatay / Defne
• Şerife Motor Toki Primary School Burdur / Bucak
• Nimet Dalda Yenice Kindergarten Yenice / Karabük
• Ayşen Sarmisakçı Mersin Silifke Zübeyde Hanım Kindergarten
• Leyla Külcü İkbalevler Anaokulu / ÇORUM