HHMI has been making high quality free teaching resources for science educators for years. i talked to one of the representatives from HHMI about the resources and how teachers can get a hold of them. Every conference that I have ever attended seem to have some types of trends , whether intentional or not. I remember one TCEA conference was all about the Chromebooks. One was all about Smartboards. One went iPad crazy. It is not that there was a coordinated effort, it just seemed like a large chunk of vendors, and presenters have picked up on something that tickles their fancy. It just that certain years have certain trends.
<p>If anyone at CAST 2014 had any doubt about how all of the components of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) can come together in one place, all they had to do was look up that the enormous undulating sculpture "Nebula" hanging above them in the lobby of the Hilton Anatole. The massive art piece is a giant tribute to the convergence of all of the STEAM areas: </p> <p>How many educators walked by this description of the sculpture? </p> <em><p>Nebula Sculpture</p></em> <em><p>2010 By Reuben Margolin</p></em> <em><p>Artist Reuben Margolin was raised in Berkeley, California. A love of math and physics propelled him to Harvard, where he changed paths and earned a degree in English. He went on to study traditional painting in Italy and Russia. In 1999 he became obsessed with the movement of a tiny green caterpillar, and set out to make wave-like sculptures. In 2004 Margolin moved to his current studio in Emeryville and began making a series of large-scale undulating installations inspired by the ripples of water and the swirling wind.</p></em> <em><p>Despite its fluidity, the movement of the Nebula is not digital in origin, but rather the result of a single electric motor, and one mechanism fanning out to 10 miles of aircraft cable, 1780 pulleys, and over 45,000 parts.</p></em> <em><p>Including the upper steel truss-work, the Nebula is 90 feet long, 50 feet wide and weighs 12,000 pounds. The lower artwork is made of 14,064 bicycle reflectors formed into 4,688 amber crystals. The crystals are themselves organized in a multi-tiered, hexagonal pattern. Inspired by the sensuousness of nature, as well as the logic of mathematics, this array of amber sparkles slowly rises and falls in a complex choreography: dynamic and yet meditative, swimming in the center of the Anatole's magnificent atrium.</p></em> <p>Seriously, this amazing piece of science and art is a great example to anyone that is looking to show students how these seemingly discrepant areas of study can combine to make something that is amazing. </p> <p>Here are some videos that explain how the entire sculpture was created. As you watch, see if you can begin to see how all of the STEAM fields come into play to make a single work of art:</p> This post originally appeared in Holtthink.tumblr.com Here are the slides from my CAST 2014 "How to Plan a miniCAST." This can be used as a template for any small scale conference.
This entry originally appeared on the my Holtthink blog on Feb 19, 2014. I really do not like the paper version of interactive notebooks (IN), sometimes called Interactive Journals (IJ) , sometimes called interactive student notebooks (ISN). I know, they have become sort of the cause de jour ever since they took off in science classrooms across the country, but every time I see one, I can’t help thinking that there has to be a better digital way of doing these things. I also can’t quite figure out what makes them interactive…but thats another blog post. For those of you unfamiliar with Interactive Journals (IJ) here is the Reader’s Digest version of what they are: Students are given a notebook at the beginning of a semester (or year) in which to keep notes, information,and reflections on a particular subject, say Science. Teachers ask students to write each day in the journal. On an open page, the right side of the journal is usually for some kind of work that the students did in class, such as worksheets. The left side of the journal is used for personal reflection about the assignment: The idea of course, is that student will improve their writing skills if they write in every subject area. The journals of course, become some sort of de-facto portfolio of work for the students that they can refer back to over the years..assuming of course that they keep their journals. (Note to readers: Most are NOT used over the years but thrown away at the end of the year, thus destroying a major component of their usefulness.) or like this:Of course, ISNs can be used for any grade, any subject, so they are currently the darlings of teachers desperate to bring up writing and reading scores. Entire sub-industries have arisen such as Dinah Zike’s Foldables® which is essentially a way of creating 3-D graphic organizers so that the ISNs aren’t as boring as any other writing assignment. The Foldable® is then glued to the journal page, thus making it more interesting I suppose… (Note to teachers: If you have the kids doing Foldables® all the time, then they are just as boring as any other writing assignment.) At the end of the day however, you still have a paper pencil product. Or paper crayon pencil pen construction paper worksheet product, that is pretty much no different than any other product produced throughout the year by students other than everything is in one place. Teachers that like the idea of interactive student notebooks will tell you that students love to use them because they can take notes and color, and draw, and do all kinds of visual thinking. Entire websites are devoted to how these things work, and some educators breathlessly exclaim how wonderful the whole process of writing in a notebook is: With inClass, simply create a course (Science for instance) and start taking notes. The notes can be typed in by the student just as they would have been written in in the paper notebook. So far, you only have substituted the old for the new. But students can also record their notes. They can make audio notes WHILE in the middle of a lesson. They can record the teacher explaining the lesson. In other words, now the notebook becomes more than simply a pen paper experience. It becomes truly interactive. Students can record audio and insert it into note, they can record still images, they can even record video INTO the notes. Each note is annotated for time and date. The point is, now we have, with just a few apps, completely replaced and have exceeded the functionality of a simple pen-paper IJ.
These are a set of awesome simulations where your students can conduct an experiment prior to doing the hands on. Compare and contrast the actual hands on to the virtual!
Science and engineering have the power to change the world around us and the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge is inviting 5-8th grade students to make a difference through innovative ideas. From helmets that detect concussions to using solar energy for water purification, past contenders have dreamed up answers and ideas that change the way we live. Science and engineering have the power to change the world around us and the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge is inviting 5-8th grade students to make a difference through innovative ideas. From helmets that detect concussions to using solar energy for water purification, past contenders have dreamed up answers and ideas that change the way we live. So what sets the Young Scientist Challenge apart from other science competitions? It has the power to change lives. Ten national finalists earn exclusive summer mentorships with a 3M scientist, where they can work together on special assignments and explore a career in science. They also get the chance to turn their ideas into real inventions. One lucky student will even win $25,000 and the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist”. Ready to enter? Students can start by checking out the video topics for this year’s Young Scientist Challenge. Then, look around at all aspects of everyday life, take notes and put your mind to the test on fixing a related real-world problem. Anyone in grades 5-8 can send an idea straight to the Young Scientist Challenge. We’re accepting video entries through April 22, 2014. Don’t miss the deadline or the chance to become America’s Top Young Scientist! Steps to enter:
Don’t forget to check out all of the educational resources onwww.YoungScientistChallenge.com for use at home and in the classroom. You’ll find judges’ bios, student experiences, science activities, science games and other resources that’ll spark the mind and help time fly. Link to: Young Scientist Challenge It is true ! Turn your iPad into a digital microscope using a little glue, an O ring, and a cheap jewelers scope. Here is how it is done:Books You Should be Reading:Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our Future7/22/2014
Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our Future by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum From a Scientist and a Writer: A Plea to Change Our Science-Anemic Culture In his famous 1959 Rede lecture at Cambridge University, the scientifically-trained novelist C.P. Snow described science and the humanities as “two cultures,” separated by a “gulf of mutual incomprehension.” And the humanists had all the cultural power—the low prestige of science, Snow argued, left Western leaders too little educated in scientific subjects that were increasingly central to world problems: the elementary physics behind nuclear weapons, for instance, or the basics of plant science needed to feed the world’s growing population. Now, Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum, a journalist-scientist team, offer an updated “two cultures” polemic for America in the 21st century. Just as in Snow’s time, some of our gravest challenges—climate change, the energy crisis, national economic competitiveness—and gravest threats—global pandemics, nuclear proliferation—have fundamentally scientific underpinnings. Yet we still live in a culture that rarely takes science seriously or has it on the radar. For every five hours of cable news, less than a minute is devoted to science; 46 percent of Americans reject evolution and think the Earth is less than 10,000 years old; the number of newspapers with weekly science sections has shrunken by two-thirds over the past several decades. The public is polarized over climate change—an issue where political party affiliation determines one’s view of reality—and in dangerous retreat from childhood vaccinations. Meanwhile, only 18 percent of Americans have even met a scientist to begin with; more than half can’t name a living scientist role model. For this dismaying situation, Mooney and Kirshenbaum don’t let anyone off the hook. They highlight the anti-intellectual tendencies of the American public (and particularly the politicians and journalists who are supposed to serve it), but also challenge the scientists themselves, who despite the best of intentions have often failed to communicate about their work effectively to a broad public—and so have ceded their critical place in the public sphere to religious and commercial propagandists. A plea for enhanced scientific literacy, Unscientific America urges those who care about the place of science in our society to take unprecedented action. We must begin to train a small army of ambassadors who can translate science’s message and make it relevant to the media, to politicians, and to the public in the broadest sense. An impassioned call to arms worthy of Snow’s original manifesto, this book lays the groundwork for reintegrating science into the public discourse—before it’s too late.
|
About Tim HoltTim Holt is a 32 year educator that has been the President of the Science Teachers Association of Texas as well as a nationally published blogger n education technology. Check out his blog at http://holtthink.tumblr.com Archives
March 2017
Categories
All
|