Tag Archives: #STEMDiscoveryWeek

CONSTELLATIONS GAME: ETWINNING PROJECT

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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.

Image game box
image game box

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).

constellation in plasticine Constellations game etwinning
constellation in plasticine Constellations game etwinning

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.

Constellations game cards heartstone application game etwinning

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).

Constellations game etwinning TINKERCAD
Constellations game etwinning TINKERCAD
Constellations game etwinning TINKERCAD

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.

Constellations game etwinning design
design
image

5. Finally, we designed the constellations box. In it we put the pieces of the game and share on etwinning platform too.

image
Constellations Game: Etwinning Project
Constellations Game: Etwinning Project

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!

Constellations game
Constellations
Constellations game
videoconference constellations etwinning

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.

constelllation game etwinning

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:

  1. Promotes collaboration and communication skills.
  2. Students learn by creating.
  3. Stem activities carry out experiential learning.
  4. Rises problem-solving skills.
  5. It promotes logical reasoning.
  6. 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.

MORE TRADITIONAL RECIPES ETWINNING PROJECT

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INTRODUCTION

Food is a highlighting element of the cultural background of a country. Traditional foods are adapted to the elements that nature brings to people. Thus traditional food is an adaptation to the environment and plays an important role in the cultural heritage.

OUR PROJECT AIM

This is an eTwinning project in which Dr. Işıl Gülmez was co-founder with Guillem Amer (English teacher) who first had the idea of the project. We had partners from Turkey, Spain (Mallorca), France and Italy.

Our aim was to encourage students to promote their cultures through traditional recipes. We also aimed to practice the countable and uncountable nouns, the use of adverbs. In addition we aimed to promote the language exchange.

USING TECHNOLOGY

We used various technologies in our project. Tools such as Canva, Jamboard, Padlet, Flipbook, Google Documents were used in the project.

In order to evaluate the results of the project we used not only post survey but also Kahoot quiz. Within the scope of survey we also got opinions of students about the project. The opinions were shared in Wordcloud.

PEDAGOGICAL INNOVATION

Our project included step-by-step recipes. It overlaps with the algorithm subject in ICT courses. Our project also used multidisciplinary approach that included various subjects.

INTEGRATION OF STEM CONCEPT

Our project promoted key competences as well as STEM concepts. Thus our project promoted competences such as language literacy, Math, science, digital and entrepreneurship.

math competence

In our project students used quantitative data such as weight and time. In addition they used figures, numbers.

scıence competence

Students made experiments and observations of physical and chemical changes in their kitchen while cooking. They also could to do

dıgıtal competence

Students used algorithm when they were working with step by steps the recipes step by step. They also used web 2.0 tools in the project hence promoted digital competence.

Learning to learn competence

Students shared their works and got feedbacks from others. These feedback allowed them to reflect on their own works which helped them to improve themselves.

Entrepreneurship competence:

Each group had a word on how to do the tasks. Students took responsibilities of their own work in creating new contents.

Social and civic competence

Colloborative works in project promoted students’ communication, empathetic thinking and their respect others’ values and opinions. 

Cultural awareness and expression competence

On the whole of the project in which we teamed up with different countries, we learned about different cultures. We found out similarities and differences. We also learned to respect other cultures. 

RESULTS OF THE PROJECT

In conclusion, project improved students’ collaboration, motivation, digital, social skills and cultural awareness. Results of surveys revealed that partners liked the project. To sum up our project reached its goals.

Link of the project: https://twinspace.etwinning.net/209731/home

A Human Network That Shares Its Knowledge To Better Understand the Internet

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“A Human Network That Shares Its Knowledge to Better Understand the Internet” is an eTwinning project which was conducted with partnership of Turkey and France. In this project two teachers worked as co-founder; Dr. Işıl GÜLMEZ from Turkey and technology teacher Jean Philippe VIALA from France.

A Human Network That Shares Its Knowledge to Better Understand the Internet eTwinning project

The aim of the project was to enable students to comprehend computer networks. The project also proposed to teach students web 2.0 technologies through games and animations they created using Scratch. Partners generated images to illustrate the Internet network as part of the project’s scope. They created animations related to Internet networks as well. This project had several stages for making tasks clear for partners. Stages are as follows:

Stage 1

Firstly we tried to create a design to compare a human network and a computer network in a symmetrical way. Our students were divided into teams. We started by introducing the teams with the design of a team-building slogan. To do this, each team designed a word cloud with the slogan of each other team.

Secondly partners chose a network topology for building networks. Next they designed a different word cloud in which they wrote the first names of team members. They used a background image that matches network topology they chose. Afterwards each student in teams made a presentation of themselves using Scratch tool.

In addition, teams attempted to build an animation that included a conversation in order to learn phrases related to a network device or network language. They did this by using Scratch to design characters. One of the characters asked questions about the network the other responded.

Stage 3

Finally, each team designed an evaluation using Scratch application in which each teams suggested one or two questions on the topic. Finally we conducted post-survey to get opinions of partners about the project. The results showed that partners liked the project. Besides the results showed that the project motivated students to learn more about the subject. In conclusion we can summarise that our project reached its purpose.


https://twinspace.etwinning.net/219031/home

STEAM WEEK

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Activity Title: V Environmental STEAM Maker Week

Date: From April 25 to 29, 2022

Author: Jose Maria Beltran Gomez

During the last week of April we celebrate a thematic week related to STEAM disciplines to awaken the scientific and technological vocations of our students and ignite the flame of curiosity and learning.

We believe that science and technology are nowadays indispensable tools for economic and cultural development in any society. To be able to access what we call the “knowledge society”, it will be necessary to develop and increase the number of subjects.

Although we work daily from all disciplines in a transversal way on everything related to STEAM, it is considered essential to create a few days where everything that is done in the centre is focused on science, technology, engineering, mathematics, art, the environment…

On this occasion, the following activities were planned:

– Conference on the Protected Spaces of the Province of Jaén. Knowing what is close to us will make us love and respect it even more. The saying “think globally but act locally” is kept in mind. On this occasion we had the presence of a biologist, director of the Despeñaperros Natural Park.

– A theatrical performance titled “Alunizante”. A play which, through a dialogue and a presentation, shows the history of man’s journeys into space, as well as the future projects that are to be undertaken to visit the moon and even Mars. In a pleasant, approachable way and with touches of humour, the students are infected with the desire to learn a little more and to acquire knowledge of everything related to aerospace disciplines. We have the presence of a theatre group called Teatro La Paca, who thanks to their experience and dedication to the school environment are able to capture the students’ attention and involve them in the story.

– Maker Workshop. During the school year, the pupils have been developing a series of workshops in the classroom related to energy, electricity, mechanisms, programming, 3D printing, etc. Subsequently, the students have developed a script for their presentation to other students about what they have been studying during the previous months. To do this, students from 6th grade Primary School were invited to visit the centre and receive various workshops given by students from our school. The maker workshop consisted of ten corners where work was carried out:

o Construction of a magic can.

o Construction of an electric sweeper.

o Construction of a doodling robot.

o Making greeting cards using electrical circuits made of paper.

o Makey Makey. Fruit piano, interactive book, musical collage…

o Microbit. Programming the board and setting up the maqueen robot.

o Scratch. Programming workshop.

o Stop Motion. Making a short film using the stopmotion technique.

o Scornabot workshop. Programming for a robot to move around a gridded board following a series of routes and encouraging computational thinking.

o 3D printing workshop. Use of TinkerCad and Thingiverse. Downloading of parts in stl format, preparation of the part and printing.

The students have been involved in a very important way, tasting the benefits of teaching and the importance of science and technology for their future.

– Lecture given by professors from the Polytechnic School of the University of Jaén to explain why to study engineering and the projection it offers for the future that is on the horizon.

– Toys with science workshop, where through a series of experiences, practices and the use of various toys they were able to see the involvement of science in their functioning and the importance of this in our environment.

– Waves, sound and music workshop. Each of these aspects has been worked on, discovering through simple practices and experiments how waves, sound and therefore the generation of music are produced. The students were very involved.

– Recycled paper workshop. A session was held in which the pupils, following an established procedure, made paper from used paper. It has been a real discovery for them and they have learnt the importance of taking care of our resources, using them sparingly and putting them into circulation for later use.

– Homemade soap workshop. Soap was made from used oil, which will later be used for washing clothes. The pupils, guided by the science teachers, followed a series of steps to obtain this resource.

– Other workshops: Game on Climate Change, aloe vera, geometric hilarograms, creation of comics of scientists…

– Hiking. Outings to existing environments around the town to get to know the flora and fauna and to promote the enjoyment and care of our immediate environment based on respect, knowledge and fun.

– Poster exhibitions with information related to the environment, climate change and energy, where pupils, with a series of educational guides, have learnt about various aspects related to science, technology and the environment.

All this is necessary to surprise, excite and encourage curiosity in our students, which are the fundamental pillars, according to neuroscience and neuroeducation studies, to awaken the desire to learn in our students. In addition, it is of great importance to create monothematic sessions related to STEAM disciplines in order to bring scientific and technological knowledge closer in a different way.

Zübeyde Hanım Kindergarten Learning with STEM

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In 2021, Denizli Zübeyde Hanım Kindergarten received the STEM School Label. This year, we participated in the 2022 STEM Discovery Campaign with the “Zübeyde Hanım Kindergarten Learning with STEM” event we organized throughout April in order to bring the STEM … Continue reading →