With the pandemic, we have lost human contact and being together. STEMin STEMout is a path that has as its main purpose learning in an outdoor group context, socialization and collaboration.
Involved 90 students and teachers of mathematics, science, biology and physics, of the two-year specialization in graphics of the ISIS “Europa” in Pomigliano D’Arco.
Focus Create a mathematical path with the activities carried in groups out inside and outside the classroom.
“Parco delle Acque” and its measurements
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The study contest is “Parco delle Acque” a park close to school, it is a public park in the municipality of Pomigliano d’Arco. It is a pleasant meeting and leisure place, with lawns, tree-lined areas, gymnastic routes, games for children. It is located near schools district and is mainly suitable for outdoor STEM activities.
Work process
The students divided into groups of 3 members each have a specific role:
Leader coordinates the activities out class; creates folders and subfolders to gather all the materials produced. He or she collaborates with the group to prepare the final activity report.
Organizer takes notes by writing down the materials and tools used, calculations and procedures. At the end of the activity, upload the group documentation in the folder.
Photographer, through representative shots, tells the important moments of the activities, and at the end classifies them in an orderly way into folders and subfolders.
Tools used
The students use simple material : a meter, a tape, a smartphone, a wire;
The students use free apps : Arduino science journal, MathCitymap and globe observed.
They carry out real study activities for themselves and their peers.
The goal
The goal is to create a mathematical trail to be disseminated in the community of the school, and to make it accessible and available to other students and to all those who want to solve scientific / mathematical problems.
Mathematical / scientific contents:
- numbers, percentage calculation, proportions, mcm, algebra, equations,
- geometry, calculation of areas and perimeters, equisomposable figures, Pythagorean Theorem, similitude between triangles, measurement of angles,
- combined calculation
Phisics contents:
- calculation of speed,
- slope,
- composition of forces and vectors,
- oscillatory motion.
Learning by doing
Through the methodology of problem solving and learning by doing, the students had an active role as protagonists in the management of the project itself, without giving up the laboratory form and group learning.
They used the knowledge, mathematical and scientific skills acquired at school in the surrounding reality.
Stages of the activity
Students work in 3 teams to create trail activities and resolve the activities to create of the other groups.
Below pictures of out-of-class measurements
Citizens of the Globe
The pupils walk in the park near the school, observe the surrounding environment through the use of the Globe Observed App of the Globe program.
Outdoor activities involved observing the surrounding environment.
The Globe program https://www.globe.gov/ and the use of the Globe Observer app
The students followed online webinars with the expert of the Globe Italia https://www.globeitalia.it/
Scientific concepts
Earth Science
- The four Seasons
- The formation of clouds
- The climate
- The atmosphere
Physical science
- The different states of matter
Geography
- The systems physical and geographical.
- The geographic coordinates
App
CLOUDS
Starting from their own geolocation, each member of the group observes clouds ☁️ using the protocol provided by the teacher or using the Globe observed app.
With their gaze and smartphone facing the sky, the students provide data to NASA to understand the climate by observing the clouds.
Each type of cloud affects the Earth’s energy balance by heating or cooling it.
NASA GLOBE Cloud Challenge 2022: Clouds in a Changing Climate
TREES
Measuring Tree Height (Hint: Trees are greater than 5.0 m tall.)
Through the app lens https://lens.google/intl/it/ , the pupils identify the species of the tree.
The students use the app Globe Observed to calculate the height and circumference of the tree and collect the data sheet
| Tree Circumference Measurements | |
| Tree Species 1 Name Dominant Co-Dominant | Tree Circumference (cm) |
| Specimen 1 | |
| Specimen 2 | |
| Specimen 3 | |
| Specimen 4 |
The angles measured and the length of the number of steps contribute to the calculation taking into account the presence of the inevitable measurement errors.
The height of the tree it is calculate using the basic geometry of the triangles.
The students build the clinometer to calculate the height of the trees
formula:
Height of Tree = TAN (angle of clinometer) x (distance to tree) + eye height
and record the measurements on Data Sheet.
TREES Carbon Activity
Each member of the group chooses a tree and calculates the stored carbon taking into account that:
1. 35% of the green mass of a tree is water; 65% is solid dry mass;
2. 50% of the dry mass of a tree is of carbon;
3. 20% of the biomass of the trees is in the roots. It used a multiplication factor of 120%;
4. the calculated carbon value is multiplied by a factor of 3.67 to determine the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide,
The formula for the amount of CO2 sequestered per tree (in kg) is :
amount of CO2 seized per tree (in kg) = tree mass (kg of fresh biomass) x 65% (dry mass) x 50% (% of carbon) x 3.67 x 120%
Immage of the trail
MCM
On the MCM portal https://mathcitymap.eu/ the path is published for all students of the school, and for all those who wanted to have fun outdoors with scientific disciplines
Earth Day, the students made videos which they presented to the community
Teachers: Sabrina Nappi, Mario Di Fonza, Rosanna Busiello, Josephine Iannone