8TH – 28TH APRIL 2022_Constellations game_ Lucía Villar Jiménez
Keyphrase: “Constellations Game: Etwinning Project”
INTRODUCTION
CONSTELLATIONS GAME: ETWINNING PROJECT
The constellations board game is based on STEM and Service Learning. It is developed as an awareness campaign activity to underprivileged children. Students are the protagonists of their own process and product elaboration.
Collaboratively, students from Turkey, Greece, Portugal, Germany and Spain have worked in mixed nationality teams. We worked through etwinning platform as teamworks to make ten constellations of the game. These ones are “Hercules, Andromeda, Orion, Draco, The Little and Big Dipper, Cepheus, Perseus, Casiopea and Pegasus”.
MATERIALS AND RESOURCES FOR CONSTELLATIONS ACTIVITY
On the one hand, digital resources: Hearthstone, TinkerCad application.
On the other hand, electronic devices: 3D Printer, image printer, tablet, computer.
Finally, consumables: Paper, plastic, plasticine, stickers, cardboard and flourescent filament.
STARS GAME CONSTRUCTION PROCESS
The creation of the game has been established in phases and groups.
1.The infant and first year primary school, students created the drafts of the constellations. They used different materials: stickers, plasticine or sugar clouds (sweets).
2. In the same way, the second- to fourth-grade students designed informative cards about constellations. They wrote in English and include the sketches made by infant and primary school pupils as princial image indeed.
3. Similarly, sixth students designed starts for the constellations. In fact, they used the TINKERCAD modelling programme. Besides, they used the 3D printer to make the pieces (stars and constellations’ names).
4. Next, the older pupils created a leaflet. It contains the game instructions and photos. Even, it provides information on curiosities related to the constellations.
5. Finally, we designed the constellations box. In it we put the pieces of the game and share on etwinning platform too.
Do you want to play the constellation game? Look at this!
INVOLVING PARTICIPANTS IN STEM ACTIVITY
Therefore, the eTwinning platform is a good place to communicate with other students from Europe. Further, children can interact to create products in teams. We can speak and work with the new technologies as well as meeting together with your colleagues to debate, play and have a good time.
In fact, we had a good time!
For example, this is a video that shows how we work in teams and play together with the constellations game. A meeting with all classmates and teachers of the project.
It is a good activity to practise English and learn new words. There are many advantajes that this game can provide but specially, 21St Century Skills. Besides, the game helps to win trust, learn from others, respect rules and sharing it all.
The composition of the game is also easy to do teamworks and work plan. In other words, a good distribution of the parts of the game can favour a great management of tasks and contents of Science, Maths and Technology.
Do you want to know more?
You can go our site to see the steps of our game as well. If you want to do it in class, here you have the following link.
https://twinspace.etwinning.net/200552/pages/page/1789712
Afterward, visit our blog to observe more details.
https://socialrevolutionproject.weebly.com/
CONCLUSIONS
Pedagogical Value of this stem activity:
- Promotes collaboration and communication skills.
- Students learn by creating.
- Stem activities carry out experiential learning.
- Rises problem-solving skills.
- It promotes logical reasoning.
- Enhances the imagination and creativity.
Why STEM?
STEM education should be worked on in our classrooms. This allows students to raise their skills in everyday life. Moreover, to communicate and collaborate in solving future problems by generating new ideas and proposals for improvement. We need a future society based on critical thinking and innovation.
Author: Lucía Villar Jiménez, eTwinning Ambassador
Project Team :
Lamia Büçra Yesil, Mª José Cayuela Torres, Maria do Rosário da Silva, Mª Dolores Chacón Blanco, Vasiliki Dogani and Seref Nur KOÇ.