Tag Archives: STEM teaching

Go green or go home!

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Written by Danijela Maurac

Offering the nine years old student the opportunity to draw conclusions based on experience, learning in immediate reality by researching and studying natural phenomena around him is the most effective way to become aware of the connection between learning, his existing knowledge and experience. If we add to this the innate curiosity of every child, we can do a lot to develop the student's awareness of the role of the individual in the world and to make him a responsible citizen of the future.

  With our project, we have connected water conservation and forests as two important ecosystems and it was very easily fit into the curriculum. Sustainable development, living conditions and natural balance are topics that can be implemented at all levels and through all subjects. Reading, writing, arithmetic research, experimentation, drawing ... these are all methods used in the activities.The students first got acquainted with the basic living conditions and recognized water as one of them. They explored the importance of water for the life of all living beings and its role as a renewable energy source. They realized the importance of conserving water as a basic ecosystem.They made experiments about natural phenomena and water circulation in nature. Students conducted research on household water consumption and found ways to reduce consumption.
Water experiment

Students were given research assignments at home (flipped clasroom)). Next day, students presented their results to the other students and then used the MetaChart app to create water consumption diagrams.

What is pollution? How people pollute the water? What is the importance of forests and why people destroy them? What impacts have pollution on human being on the Earth?… was the questionst in storm ideas. Students played a Coral bleaching game of marine pollution at Nasa for Kids web page. After that, they made posters with messages on how to reduce water consumption for other students and placed them in school toilets.

https://climatekids.nasa.gov/coral-bleaching/

Since we live on the Adriatic coast, we werw interested in how to maintain the marine ecosystem and its purity, and we visited the Maritime Museum in Split where we had an interesting workshop of biologists dealing eith marine ecology, ecosystem and agreed that at the end of the school year we will have an action to clean one of the beautiful beach.

The next activity was carried out on the occasion of World Forest Day. The students performed several activities of unplagged coding, but also using AI in class. They studied and got to know the trees that grow in the environment of our school, they have plogging activity wich helped to collect even more plastic plugs that we collect as part of humanitarian activity Plug for people with disabilities.

The first activity was to go out into the school yard, using the Plant@Net app, photograph the selected tree. After that the students studied the tree and madea personal identity card of trees by finding various sources on internet. With Pl@ntNet app theymade short videos and revived their tree. The next activity was unplagged coding. Students had to help the B-bot to find the way trough the field but watch out for the discarded plastic.

We registered the activity as an event on the e Twinning platform, but also the EU code week, and through social networks we invited other teachers and students to join us.
https://padlet.com/nela9m/Bookmarks
Afther this activity we had activity called plogging. Plogging is a term invented by Erik Ahlström referring to the act of picking up trash and litter while jogging.

The students went out to the school yard and had a certain amount of time in which they had to run to collect as much garbage from the school environment as possible. They were divided into groups, and the group that collected the most received the award. It was fun and instructive. We sorted the collected garbage and separated the plastic plugs that we put in our cork collection box. In this way, we have contributed to the Plug for Persons with Disabilities campaign, in which we participate throughout the year. In this way we help both nature and people in need.

We were happy to see the works of the other students on our Padlet. We realized that EU code week , eTwinning and Scientix can connect us with students around the world with a variety of topics and activities. We continued with the “green” activities and signed up for the STEM Discovery Campaign, thus connecting several educational communities and platforms in order to encourage others to think about nature conservation.

http://Book Crator – Go green or go home

We’ve changed the way it rains

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Learners involved: 1 class high school

Age from 14 to 15

Rising temperatures make the planet hotter and also knocked longstanding precipitation patterns off balance by altering how much water cycles between earth and the sky.

Learning Objectives:

Students will be able to:

  • Know the difference between wheather and clime
  • Analysis and comparing data visualizing
  • Elaborate a solution Nature Based (NBS)

Activities

The students start to work together observing whether of our country, Pomigliano D’Arco, a small town located 37m above sea level with a  warm and temperate climate.  Rains were particularly abundant and frequent in November and December by analyzing data collected by our meteorological station.  They observed that in the last 15 days of December 101.1mm of rain fell which is the same amount measured in the last year determining  (flooding) due to the inadequacy of collection systems. The excess flow rates discharged to the surface by the pressurized sewer can fill any depressions present on the ground, or flow-through preferential routes, creating a flow network that in urban areas affects roads, sidewalks, natural depressions and small streams. When rainfall is particularly intense, conditions of increased hydraulic risk are generated which impact people and infrastructures. The students understood that the reduction of permeable areas – reduction of vegetated areas – reduction of surface reservoirs is the problem.

Main results and conclusions

Highlights how the transition from agricultural land (natural cover) to a completely waterproofed surface (square, asphalted and/or cemented road, etc.) leads to a progressive reduction of the infiltration coefficient c. the. (represented by the amount of water that infiltrates in conjunction with meteoric precipitation) and an increase in the surface runoff d.s. (part of precipitation flowing to the surface).

Example of calculation

Asphalted surface – schoolyard c.i. = 15% d.s. = 55% (with peaks of up to 80%).

Agricultural land – adjacent cycle path c.i. = 50% r.a. = 10%

The increase in the size of surface runoffs is evident where the soil replaced by impermeable areas. It should be borne in mind that during particularly intense hourly rainfall (in the order of 70-80 mm / h) the urban drainage system can go into crisis, causing localized flooding that seriously impacts anthropogenic structures. The forecast implies that the amount of water that will fall in the coming years will be less and less, despite the damage from flooding, floods … have been growing in recent times.We can give an explanation to all this, saying that on days when it rains, the rain is very intense, which cannot be disposed of by the current sewage works.

The students use the NBS  methodology  elaborate a project on infrastructures, correlating nature and the urban environment. The idea is to create urban drainage channels able to drain excess rainwater along the edges of the roads (Figure ).

Learning math with robots

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Activity

In the last 2 years, students of IC21 lower secondary school in Bologna (age 13) attended their classes with several restrictions due to pandemic; cooperative learning helped to engage them after a longtime isolation experience.

In order to help students learning math curriculum contents, collaborative activities were designed with Lego WeDo2.0 © educational robots.

The contents selected from the math curriculum of the lower secondary school are:

  • measuring circumference
  • value of π (PI) with appropriate rounding
  • measuring the circle area
  • measuring speed in linear and circular motion

The activities were designed and implemented in collaboration with Drs Lorenza Prencipe, who has presented her dissertation in Mathematics Education at Bologna University on March 25, 2022. IC 21 school is accredited as a training venue for Bologna University students.

Resources

Resources used for the activities are: 

  • educational robots Lego WeDo2.0 ©
  • chromebooks with the Lego Education © app to program the robots
  • worksheets with driving questions to report observations, data and conclusions 
  • millimeter paper and other measurement tools (ruler, chronometer, goniometer)
  • instruction slides shared in Google Classroom
  • assessment rubrics regarding the learning outcomes and the collaboration skills

Students worked in groups of 3, distributing roles as building the robot, programming the robot motion and measuring data.

Students used two different models of robots for the linear motion (rover) and for the circular motion (satellite). The instruction provided in the Lego website was used to help students in building and programming the robot; the lesson plan was replaced by our own contents.

Students’ work

For the circumference measurement, students prepared the rover model with a pen and a reference mark on a wheel, and programmed its motion to draw a line as long as a wheel circumference. They measured both the line length C and the wheel diameter d in order to compare the rounded value of π with the ratio C : d.

diameter measurement
line drawing

For the circle area measurement, students prepared the satellite model with a pen and programmed it in order to draw a circle on the millimeter paper. They counted the cm2 included in the circle and compared this approximation to the area calculated by measuring the radius (distance from the center to the pen).

circle drawing
area calculation
circle area

For the linear motion activity, students prepared a unit line on paper sheets and programmed the rover model to run on the line with a chosen engine power (according to the programming app).  They measured time and distance in order to calculate the speed and made a distance-time plot.

reference line
time measurement

For the circular motion activity, students prepared an angle plot on a paper sheet and programmed the robot to move around its center. They measured the time needed to make a 360° angle and found different angular speeds depending on the programmed engine power.

For each activity, students used intructions and worksheets shared in Google Classroom. Here are some examples (in italian):

Assessment

For each student, we prepared rubrics for formative assessment, written and oral tests and peer assessment tools.

In the students worksheets the answers were analyzed, dividing items into comprehension, mathematical skills, and critical thinking about mistakes and approximations.

As a peer assessment tool, a rubric with 3 levels of performance was provided to groups: students of each group had to report their observations on the third one based on the role taken in the group (building, programming or measuring).

In further problem solving tests, students had to apply math contents connected to the activities, in order to evaluate their comprehension of the properties involved.

In oral tests, students had to explain the activities using their own description of the working phases, measured data and conclusions, in order to assess communication and reflection skills. Presentations prepared in this phase were also a useful trial for the finale exam.

This activity has given students the opportunity to explore math in active and collaborative situations, and to develop further skills besides mathematical reasoning: problem solving in a real-world context, critical thinking, and cooperation in team working.

students questionnaire 1
students questionnaire 2

STEM FOR RACE (STAND WITH UKRAINE)

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https://stemaddie.blogspot.com/

STEM refers to a process where we produce solutions to daily life problems beyond interdisciplinary work in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Therefore, it is our most important responsibility to be with our students when they face the problems of daily life.

Our most important problem today is that our colleagues and children in Ukraine are being persecuted before the eyes of the world.

As the STEM Applications With ADDIE Project team, we asked our students a daily life problem. They told us about the invasion of Ukraine. When we asked what kind of a solution we could come up with, they said that we could build a bridge that would save them and support them.

Based on this great idea, we built bridges of love, peace, and friendship from our countries to Ukraine with the participation of many European countries.

With an international and intercultural perspective, our students experience both the happiness of working with each other and the pride of producing solutions to problems.

Analyzing the problem and producing alternative solutions in problem-solving processes is the most important skill to be taught today.

With this activity, our students did not only do a STEM activity but also a peace movement. It was very important to be able to write peace to their small hearts and big ideas with such a job.

Our project not only developed a training program but also carried out important studies in STEM discovery week activities by producing solutions to problems in cooperation. We just wanted to share the bridge of friendship with you.

Wishing for a world where friendship and peace prevail…

COLOURS SEND MESSAGES

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Perception is an interpretation of the surrounding world in human consciousness, resulting from the processing of signals coming from photosensitive eye cells. Colour perception is a process that allows us to see different colours as a specific object. Colour psychology gives colours a role in evoking emotions in people, and the perception of our lives.

The topic was processed according to my own learning scenario (SDC2022, Scientix Competition 1: STEM Activities – teaching materials). In this learning scenario, students explored and analysed the visual and psychological perception of colours. Students participated in an interactive game to test their visual perception, and by showing feelings and emotions in colour, participated in a small study of the psychological perception of colour. The total duration of all activities was about 90 minutes, and was attended by students of the third and fourth grade of secondary vocational school who are studying for the profession of wood technician designer.

STEAM in activities: increased focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics subjects in the topic

  • Science: Express your feelings in different ways (Psychological science)
  • Technology: Use interactive games and content in teaching, involve various digital tools in the implementation of planned activities
  • Engineering: create a “Colour Wheel” by stacking 24 wooden crayons
  • Arts: Paint the walls
  • Mathematics: analyse and interpret statistics

Age range of students: 17-18 age

Preparation time: 45 min

Online teaching material:

Offline teaching material: 

  • wooden crayons,
  • camera (mobile phone),
  • computer

Aim of the lesson / Learning Objectives

The objective of this lesson is to explore and validate colour theory concepts in a practical way.

After the lesson, students coluld have :

  • explained the concepts of colour theory on a colour wheel model
  • analyzed and interpreted the results of research on visual and psychological colour perception
  • connected colour choice with mood and emotions
  • recognized personal colour experience

Plan and sequence of activities – Figure 1.

Figure 1. Plan and sequence of activities

Creative colour wheel design – Students are divided into groups (5-6 students). Each group was given wooden crayons of different colours and shades (package of 24 crayons). Students created a creative “Colour Wheel” (Figure 2.) by stacking 24 wooden crayons according to their colour and shaded and the rules of colour positioning within the Colour Wheel.

Figure 2. Creative colour wheel design

Colour perception – Using the interactive game “Color method”, the students explored their personal perception of color. According to personal color perception, students chose the color that best matched the suggested color offered by the computer. For each category – basic colors, saturation, triadic, tetradic and analogy, each player has 5 attempts. At the end of the game, the result of the game was visible on the screen. The results of the game were entered into a whole-class data collection form. (Figure 3.)

Figure 3. Colour perception

Colour psychology – The students painted the walls of different rooms using the vizualizercolour application. Students according to instructions, painted the walls of selected rooms, expressed emotions with colours and showed how they experience which colour in the described situation. The results of painting the walls: (Figure 4.-6.)

Figure 4. Colour psychology – warm and cold colours
Figure 5. Colour psychology – message of freshness, harmony with nature and comfort
Figure 6. Colour psychology – personal perferences

Instruction for painting:

  1. Choose the room you want and paint:
    1. paint the walls with warm colours
    2. paint the walls of the same room with cold colours
  2. Choose a picture of the bedroom: paint the walls using colours that associate you with relaxation, rest, serenity, tranquility, comfort, enjoyment
  3. Choose a picture of the living room: for the walls, use colours that will send a message of elegance, prestige, sophistication, expensiveness, exclusivity of the living room
  4. Choose a picture of the kitchen, use colours that will try to send a message of freshness, harmony with nature, comfort
  5. Choose a room of the youth room, upload a photo and paint the walls of the room according to your own preferences

Analysis and results interpretation

Students analysed and interpret answers obtained through questionnaire via discussions (analysed the average value of results, calculated deviations from the average, determined ones position in relation to the average grade result, determined colours that most students experience warm, determined colours that most students experience cold, determined colours and shades that students find personally preferable, determined colours that “send a message” of exclusivity and expensiveness, determined colours and shades that “send a message” of link to the nature)

Feedback

  • Individual feedback based on points scored in the interactive game
  • Interpretation of statistically processed dana
  • Interpretation of emoticons by which students expressed satisfaction with the activities carried out

About the author:

Ernestina Tropša, graduated from the Faculty of Forestry in Zagreb. She works as a teacher in a vocational secondary school and teaches wood technology subjects.

Interpretation of emoticons by which students expressed satisfaction with the activities carried out.

The pictures are the author’s own – (Figure 1-6) – Attribution CC-BY