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Maker Certificate Program - School of Extended & International Education, Sonoma State University

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Working with maker educators from throughout the Bay Area and with support from Maker Media, Inc., Sonoma State University, School of Extended and International Education and the Sonoma County Office of Education have collaborated to create the Maker Certificate Program, the first such program of its kind.

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Best Practices for Establishing a Makerspace for Your School

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Global Design Challenge – Biomimicry Institute

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The Biomimicry Institute invites students and professionals worldwide to participate in the 2020 Biomimicry Global Design Challenge to create viable solutions inspired by nature that address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Challenge aims to mobilize thousands to look to…

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Share your engineering ideas and drawings with the community. Join special design challenges. See what other kids are creating and add to their inventions.

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Design Challenge Padlet for Kindergarten and Lower Elementary Grades

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Design Challenge Padlet for Kindergarten and Lower Elementary Grades

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You can never have too many boredom busters, especially when they are full of learning! I set up this simple STEM challenge for my kids as a why to have fun and unwind after school and could not believe how much fun it turned out to be.

Get your kids thinking critically and developing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills with just some simple items from around the house!

We've partnered with Sylvan Learning again this month to share how kids can create their own pom pom drop. We took some of the principles taught in the Sylvan EDGE classes and used them to create STEM challenges with pom poms and paper towel rolls.

Head over to their blog to see how to encourage problem solving skills in kids with 3 simple items from your kitchen-the extension challenges are so much fun!
Thanks to Sylvan Learning for sponsoring this post and encouraging hands-on STEM fun for kids!
Don't let the fun and discovery stop there!
We have TONS of science experiments your kids will love on our Super Cool Science Experiments for Kids page!
Take me to the experiments -> Super Cool Science Experiments for Kids

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You can never have too many boredom busters, especially when they are full of learning! I set up this simple STEM challenge for my kids as a why to have fun and unwind after school and could not believe how much fun it turned out to be.

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https://www.intentionalhomeschooling.com/eight-picture-books-little-engineers-builders/

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five straws, a piece of cardboard, some air-dry clay and a plastic zoo animal.  Their goal was to create a cage for their animal that could hold the most weight.  These pictures show our animal cages AFTER we tested them.

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Reading trade books is an important component of an interdisciplinary approach to developing literacy skills and learning STEM content. This week's column includes recently published books that are good choices for introducing STEM topics and initiating discussions and activities as well as for encouraging independent reading in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Ages 4-8
A spare lyrical text and beautiful impressionistic illustrations, created using a combination of watercolor and digital techniques, invite readers to listen attentively to the sounds and look closely at the sights of the forest from twilight to dark of night. With a mix of rhyming phrases, questions, and onomatopoeia, the gentle text reads aloud well. "What surprises? / What sings? / Crick-crick-crickets / chirring / in the thick-thick-thickets / Whoo-whoo." Young readers will enjoy spotting creatures hidden in the illustrations with each rereading.

William Playfair (1759-1823), a Scott who dreamed big, invented graphs-line graphs, bar graphs, and pie charts-as ways of making data easier to understand. The scientists of his day, however, scoffed at his graphs. "Numbers showed serious works, colorful illustrations did not," they declared. Playfair was also an entrepreneur who came up with numerous schemes for fulfilling his dreams of riches, fame, and glory, all of which failed. It was not until almost 100 years later that his graphs came into wide use. Digitally-created cartoon artwork adds humor to this picture book biography and provides a lesson in interpreting graphs.

Young readers can join a small group of children in hardhats as a supervisor gives a tour of a construction site. Major steps in building a skyscraper are presented in double-page spreads with simple rhyming verses and brief paragraphs superimposed on digitally created illustrations. For example, an illustration showing a concrete mixer pouring out wet concrete is paired with "Pour, pour, pour! / Wet concrete / A line of mixers / Along the street" and an explanation (in smaller type) that it takes a lot of concrete to fill the trench in which the rebar cages have been placed. The final page folds out to reveal the completed skyscraper. Young children can learn more about skyscrapers by reading Libby Romero's Skyscrapers (2017), a National Geographic Kids Reader.

Rhyming couplets followed by the question "What will grow?" and gouache-on-wood illustrations offering visual clues to the answers introduce twelve seeds and the trees, flowers, fruits, or vegetables they grow into. Four gatefolds that open either up or down add to the fun of discovering whether readers' answers are correct. For example, for "STRIPY BLACK. / CRUNCHY SNACK," the right-hand page reveals a tall sunflower. Back matter includes information on planting each of the seeds and a "From Seed to Plant" section showing the life cycle of a sunflower.

With an engaging, accessible text and expressive mixed-media illustrations, Godkin tells the environmental success story of the reintroduction of the grey wolf to Yellowstone National Park. In 1995-1996, 23 grey wolves from Canada were released in the park, after more than 70-year absence. Godkin chronicles the subsequent recovery of the landscape and the positive effects of the reintroduction of this top predator over the years, as plants and animals native to the area thrived in the ecosystem. An endnote, "The Wolf in North America," provides history of the wolf and a map of the pre-European and current North American wolf range.
Ages 9-11
As a child growing up in Sweden, nature-loving Karl Linné (1707-1778) wanted to know the name of everything, but that could be confusing because a plant might have numerous common names. He set out to give everything a clear and simple name and to develop a classification system for all living things that is the basis for nomenclature and classification used by scientists today. In his lifetime, Karl classified and named more than 12,000 species of plants and animals, giving each a unique two-part name in Latin. He even gave himself a Latin-based version of his name: Carolus Linnaeus. Back matter includes additional information on scientific classification, a time line, source notes for quotations, resources for young readers, and a bibliography.

After an identification of the parts of a skateboard (deck, trucks, and wheels) and a history of the skateboard, readers are introduced to Jake Eshelman, who designs custom skateboards for his company, Side Project Skateboards. The step-by-step process-everything from choosing the material for the deck to crafting shock absorbers-is explained and illustrated with color photographs. Back matter includes a skateboard time line, glossary, and resources.

This beautifully designed book, with its small trim size, heavy paper, accessible narrative, and colorful, realistic illustrations, invites curious readers to explore the processes of development and growth of things in our diverse and ever changing world. The three sections-"Plants and Trees," "The Animal Kingdom," and "The Universe"-contain double-page spreads that introduce key concepts of the development of plants, animals, and features of our planet along with examples, such as the growth and survival of plants in extreme conditions; the unusual life cycle of the axolotl (the Mexican walking fish), a neotenic aquatic salamander; and the creation of islands.
Ages 12-14
Following an introduction to the human brain in comparison to the those of other animals and a history of theories on animal intelligence, Castaldo delves into recent research exploring animal cognition. In a conversational tone, she presents information on numerous studies on problem solving, communication, tool use, and emotions in various animals. Castaldo ends with a "From Thinking Animals to Protected Animals" section about how the recognition of the intelligence of animals is changing how we see animals and affecting our treatment of them. Back matter includes activities for young people, lists of organizations and resources, a glossary, source notes, a bibliography, and an index.

A "Welcome to Botanicum" extends an invitation to visit a botanical museum to "discover the strange and wonderful kingdom of plants, in all its colorful, surprising majesty." A tour through the seven galleries-"The First Plants," "Trees," "Palms and Cycads," "Herbaceous Plants," "Grasses, Cattails, Sedges, and Rushes," "Orchids and Bromeliads," and "Adapting to Environments"-introduces readers to the extraordinary diversity of the plant world. Each double-page spread of this beautifully crafted, oversize volume consists of a plate of pen-and-ink, digitally colored drawings of plants (or plant parts) accompanied by an introduction and key to the plate, with common and scientific names and brief descriptive and environmental notes on each plant. Back matter includes an index and internet resources.
Ages 15+
In this exploration of the human-dog relationship, Frydenborg considers how a shared history has influenced the development of both humans and canines. Recent paleontological discoveries show that humans have been living with dogs for thousands of years longer than was previously thought, and there is evidence that this close relationship has shaped the evolution of both species as they coevolved. Frydenborg also considers present-day scientific research on dogs that supports this concept. An abundance of color photographs with extensive captions and inserts on related topics add interest. Back matter includes a glossary, source notes, a selected bibliography, internet resources, and an index.

Rob Dunn, a professor of applied ecology, offers an accessible, well-researched history of the world's food system in which relying on just a few crops to sustain populations throughout the world and our desire for consistency, uniformity, and abundance in our food -"having the food we want when we want it"-threatens agricultural sustainability. Dunn provides details of examples of how the dependence on genetically identical crops and cloning have led to greater susceptibility to pathogens, crop failure, and even famine, as in the case of the Irish potato famine in the 1840s. World-wide monoculture remains the norm: corn in North America, rice in Asia, cassava in Africa, and wheat in Europe. In highlighting the efforts of scientists to preserve biodiversity, Dunn provides a compelling argument for changes in agricultural practices to save our food supply and our future. Back matter includes extensive chapter notes and an index.
Carolyn Angus is former Director of the George G. Stone Center for Children's Books, Claremont Graduate University, CA.
These reviews are submitted by members of the International Literacy Association's Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) and are published weekly on Literacy Daily.

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Reading trade books is an important component of an interdisciplinary approach to developing literacy skills and learning STEM content. This week's column includes recently published books that are good choices for introducing STEM topics and initiating discussions and activities as well as for encouraging independent reading in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

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I am so excited about our first school-wide monthly STEM challenge! This one requires very few materials! All you need is a pack of assorted balloons from the Dollar Tree and a roll of masking tape (also from the Dollar Tree). Each month, I also add a book or two and I love these two!

Here are some of our finished balloon towers!

Our tallest free-standing balloon tower was 64 inches tall. We used a pack of 25 assorted balloons per group!

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I am so excited about our first school-wide monthly STEM challenge! This one requires very few materials! All you need is a pack of assorted balloons from the Dollar Tree and a roll of masking tape (also from the Dollar Tree). Each month, I also add a book or two and I love these two!

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Can you build a paper chair that can hold the weight of a stuffed animal? This STEM challenge is always one of my students' favorites! There is a lot of opportunity for variety in this challenge depending on whether you restrict the supplies and/or the size(s) of the stuffed animals.

For our version of the challenge, students were restricted to only 12 inches of masking tape and 2 sheets of copy paper. This restriction in supplies provided an added challenge for my students. In past years, I had students bring in their own stuffed animals and then use tape and paper to build a chair to hold their stuffed animal. Either way works great!

Here are some of our solutions:

These little stuffed animals were from Amazon. They were really inexpensive. Students who were successful in the challenge got to keep an animal as an added bonus. This challenge was a lot of fun!

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Can you build a paper chair that can hold the weight of a stuffed animal? This STEM challenge is always one of my students' favorites! There is a lot of opportunity for variety in this challenge depending on whether you restrict the supplies and/or the size(s) of the stuffed animals.

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So, here's the scoop! A STEM teacher friend of mine (Renee of Science School Yard) gave me some advice about working with first and second graders and tackling STEM Challenges.

It's simple: READ THEM A BOOK! ( What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? is a great one, by the way!)

I tried it and, boy, are we hooked on this now!

So, I have some treats for you today! Five books, five challenges, and great fun for your kids!

Th roughout the post, for your convenience, you'll find Amazon Affiliate links, which means Amazon compensates me if you purchase something through that link, at no extra cost to you. This helps keep this little blog running!

This precious book is about a bear that doesn't bathe and another bear finally convinces him to do so. He does and they become great friends. The first graders LOVED this book!

STEM Challenge: Bear Cages

The challenge was to build a cage for the bear. The kids had counting bears, craft sticks, construction paper, pipe cleaners, tape, and scissors. The only rule to the task was to build a cage that would keep the smelly bear inside it and not out making a big stink!

This is the story of Rosie, a young lady that takes absolute junk and makes things. She loves to use canned puffy cheese in her inventions. Everyone laughs at her work- even her uncle, who just happens to be a zookeeper. The rest of the book ties her story all neatly together, but we went back to the zoo keeper part. Rosie designed a hat for her uncle that suited his job. So......

STEM Challenge: Zoo Keeper Hats

The story for these second graders was this: You work for a zoo and you make hats for each zoo keeper. The hat must be functional and not just a pretty thing on their heads. Design a hat that has a purpose for a particular zoo keeper.

For example: an elephant keeper might need a hat with a long water hose as a part of it in order to wash down the elephants.

The kids had newspaper, construction paper, tape, cardboard tubes, a piece of foil, and round pieces of cardboard. I did not cut a hole in the round cardboard, but you could. (The round cardboard came from the cake decorating part of Hobby Lobby, but is not essential. A square piece of cardboard will work fine. I just happened to already have those round pieces.)

In the second photo above the team made a hat for the monkey keeper. It comes with banana trees so the keeper can feed the monkeys! In the bottom photo, the team made a hat for the flamingo keeper. It came with an attached bag to hold flamingo food.

In this fabulous little book, you meet a little girl that gathers a huge amount of junk and begins to make things. Yet she is never satisfied with the things that she makes. She is very unhappy and then begins to take a closer look at all her things and she thinks,

"What if I took a part off that one and another part off this one",

and she takes the best parts of all her inventions and makes something brand new. This turns out to be the most magnificent thing! It's a sidecar to attach to her scooter so her little dog can ride with her.

I let the first graders make suggestions about what we could build after reading this book and they unanimously said: ROBOT DOGS!

STEM Challenge: Robot Dogs

The materials they had were small cups, craft sticks, straws, construction paper, foil, and tape.

And they set to work building dog models!

Aren't their little dogs just the best! So cute. So easy!

This book was so fun for the first graders! The first page shows several animal noses and then the next page reveals which animals were pictured and what they can do with their noses. The next page does the same for ears and subsequent pages tell about tails, eyes, mouths, and feet. The first graders loved trying to guess the animals, plus we learned a lot!

So, of course, we had to build animals that had a special body part that does something that the animal needs!

STEM Challenge: Animal Adaptations

The materials for this challenge were: construction paper, straws, and tape! That's all!

In the photo above you have a Turtle whose special long toe-nails help him climb up muddy banks of rivers. Next is a money with very large eyes so he can see his food more clearly! Then you have a turkey and this one had a special home it could hide in to get through Thanksgiving. Finally, the last photo is a rooster with very long tail feathers- for balance! This challenge was so fun and the kids especially loved sharing their amazing animals!

This is the story of Jeremy who is at the beach with his family. The family is not paying attention and they don't see the pirate ship approaching and pirates rowing to shore. Jeremy decides to join the pirates and is soon learning some pirate vocabulary, like "Down the hatch!" After a storm, the pirates decide to get Jeremy to bury their treasure box for them and he does--- in his own backyard!

These second graders loved the book and set about making a small treasure box!

STEM Challenge: Pirate Treasure Boxes

The materials for this one included: beads and buttons (the treasure), construction paper, and tape. If you don't have beads you can use any small item you do have! These second graders built their treasure boxes and then when we had our sharing time they dumped the treasure into the boxes to show us the box would work. The only rule to this task was: The box had to hold the treasure- no leaking!

See how easy this was!

Read your little ones a picture book. Tell them what they will build using an idea from the book.

Give them some simple materials that you most definitely probably already have. Give them about 20 minutes to build it and then take about 5 minutes for every team to share its structure!

By the way, two of the books listed above were purchased by me from Amazon as a Kindle book, but I don't have a Kindle. Did you know you do not have to have a Kindle reader to buy a Kindle book? You can use a Kindle Cloud Reader and read the book from your desktop computer, a laptop, your phone, or an iPad! When I used them with the students I projected the book on my smart board! And the kids LOVED having the giant book on the screen!

So, what do you do with a tail like this? You try a STEM Challenge!

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So, here's the scoop! A STEM teacher friend of mine (Renee of Science School Yard) gave me some advice about working with first and second graders and tackling STEM Challenges. It's simple: READ THEM A BOOK! ( What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? is a great one, by the way!)

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Connecting picture books and STEM seems so natural in an elementary classroom, but I know it can also be successfully done in even middle and high school classrooms. Each quarter, we send home a STEM Challenge Project and this is one of the students' favorites! Here are some of their projects!

These look great displayed in the hallway or classroom! Our students were so proud of their creations and they loved giving a short presentation to their classmates about their box project!

What can you do with a cardboard box?

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What to do With a Box? Challenge - Connecting Literature and STEM

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Connecting picture books and STEM seems so natural in an elementary classroom, but I know it can also be successfully done in even middle and high school classrooms. Each quarter, we send home a STEM Challenge Project and this is one of the students' favorites! Here are some of their projects!

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Literacy Daily-the blog of the International Literacy Association (ILA)-features education stories, teaching tips, book reviews, and more.

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So, here's the scoop! A STEM teacher friend of mine (Renee of Science School Yard) gave me some advice about working with first and second graders and tackling STEM Challenges.

It's simple: READ THEM A BOOK! ( What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? is a great one, by the way!)

I tried it and, boy, are we hooked on this now!

So, I have some treats for you today! Five books, five challenges, and great fun for your kids!

Th roughout the post, for your convenience, you'll find Amazon Affiliate links, which means Amazon compensates me if you purchase something through that link, at no extra cost to you. This helps keep this little blog running!

This precious book is about a bear that doesn't bathe and another bear finally convinces him to do so. He does and they become great friends. The first graders LOVED this book!

STEM Challenge: Bear Cages

The challenge was to build a cage for the bear. The kids had counting bears, craft sticks, construction paper, pipe cleaners, tape, and scissors. The only rule to the task was to build a cage that would keep the smelly bear inside it and not out making a big stink!

This is the story of Rosie, a young lady that takes absolute junk and makes things. She loves to use canned puffy cheese in her inventions. Everyone laughs at her work- even her uncle, who just happens to be a zookeeper. The rest of the book ties her story all neatly together, but we went back to the zoo keeper part. Rosie designed a hat for her uncle that suited his job. So......

STEM Challenge: Zoo Keeper Hats

The story for these second graders was this: You work for a zoo and you make hats for each zoo keeper. The hat must be functional and not just a pretty thing on their heads. Design a hat that has a purpose for a particular zoo keeper.

For example: an elephant keeper might need a hat with a long water hose as a part of it in order to wash down the elephants.

The kids had newspaper, construction paper, tape, cardboard tubes, a piece of foil, and round pieces of cardboard. I did not cut a hole in the round cardboard, but you could. (The round cardboard came from the cake decorating part of Hobby Lobby, but is not essential. A square piece of cardboard will work fine. I just happened to already have those round pieces.)

In the second photo above the team made a hat for the monkey keeper. It comes with banana trees so the keeper can feed the monkeys! In the bottom photo, the team made a hat for the flamingo keeper. It came with an attached bag to hold flamingo food.

In this fabulous little book, you meet a little girl that gathers a huge amount of junk and begins to make things. Yet she is never satisfied with the things that she makes. She is very unhappy and then begins to take a closer look at all her things and she thinks,

"What if I took a part off that one and another part off this one",

and she takes the best parts of all her inventions and makes something brand new. This turns out to be the most magnificent thing! It's a sidecar to attach to her scooter so her little dog can ride with her.

I let the first graders make suggestions about what we could build after reading this book and they unanimously said: ROBOT DOGS!

STEM Challenge: Robot Dogs

The materials they had were small cups, craft sticks, straws, construction paper, foil, and tape.

And they set to work building dog models!

Aren't their little dogs just the best! So cute. So easy!

This book was so fun for the first graders! The first page shows several animal noses and then the next page reveals which animals were pictured and what they can do with their noses. The next page does the same for ears and subsequent pages tell about tails, eyes, mouths, and feet. The first graders loved trying to guess the animals, plus we learned a lot!

So, of course, we had to build animals that had a special body part that does something that the animal needs!

STEM Challenge: Animal Adaptations

The materials for this challenge were: construction paper, straws, and tape! That's all!

In the photo above you have a Turtle whose special long toe-nails help him climb up muddy banks of rivers. Next is a money with very large eyes so he can see his food more clearly! Then you have a turkey and this one had a special home it could hide in to get through Thanksgiving. Finally, the last photo is a rooster with very long tail feathers- for balance! This challenge was so fun and the kids especially loved sharing their amazing animals!

This is the story of Jeremy who is at the beach with his family. The family is not paying attention and they don't see the pirate ship approaching and pirates rowing to shore. Jeremy decides to join the pirates and is soon learning some pirate vocabulary, like "Down the hatch!" After a storm, the pirates decide to get Jeremy to bury their treasure box for them and he does--- in his own backyard!

These second graders loved the book and set about making a small treasure box!

STEM Challenge: Pirate Treasure Boxes

The materials for this one included: beads and buttons (the treasure), construction paper, and tape. If you don't have beads you can use any small item you do have! These second graders built their treasure boxes and then when we had our sharing time they dumped the treasure into the boxes to show us the box would work. The only rule to this task was: The box had to hold the treasure- no leaking!

See how easy this was!

Read your little ones a picture book. Tell them what they will build using an idea from the book.

Give them some simple materials that you most definitely probably already have. Give them about 20 minutes to build it and then take about 5 minutes for every team to share its structure!

By the way, two of the books listed above were purchased by me from Amazon as a Kindle book, but I don't have a Kindle. Did you know you do not have to have a Kindle reader to buy a Kindle book? You can use a Kindle Cloud Reader and read the book from your desktop computer, a laptop, your phone, or an iPad! When I used them with the students I projected the book on my smart board! And the kids LOVED having the giant book on the screen!

So, what do you do with a tail like this? You try a STEM Challenge!

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So, here's the scoop! A STEM teacher friend of mine (Renee of Science School Yard) gave me some advice about working with first and second graders and tackling STEM Challenges. It's simple: READ THEM A BOOK! ( What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? is a great one, by the way!)

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Project ideas, articles, best practices, and assessment strategies from educators at the forefront of making and experiential education.

Meaningful Making is available for free as a downloadable PDF.

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Meaningful Making: Projects and Inspirations for FabLabs and Makerspaces | FabLearn Fellows

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A learning revolution is in the making around the world. Enthusiastic educators are using the new tools and technology of the maker movement to give children authentic learning experiences beyond textbooks and tests. The Stanford University FabLearn Fellows are a group of K-12 educators working at the forefront of this movement in all corners of the globe.

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What you need:

discarded machines

pliers

screwdrivers

small bins or containers

1. Old alarm clocks, telephones, calculators, or radios provide the perfect opportunity for some up-close learning for your child. Taking things apart is an activity that most children love.

2. Talk about how machines cannot work by themselves - they need people or some kind of power, like electricity, air, wind, gears, or water, to make them work.

3. Set the item on a table with pliers and screwdrivers. Encourage your child to take apart the appliance. Before she begins the process, make sure to safety-proof the item and model how to use the tools safely. You may have to help her figure out where to start.

4. Use the small bins (or an egg carton or muffin tin) to sort the parts he finds inside the machine.

5. Remember that children at this age are ready to learn scientific vocabulary (energy, cogs, gears) and will retain it when it is related to something in their own lives. The greatest cognitive growth happens through discussions, so be sure to talk about what your child is doing and what parts interest her.

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What you need: discarded machines pliers screwdrivers small bins or containers Old alarm clocks, telephones, calculators, or radios provide the perfect opportunity for some up-close learning for your child. Taking things apart is an activity that most children love.

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Book Grade Plot Problems identified by students Solutions designed by students

The Snowy Day -Ezra Jack Keats

1st

Peter plays in the first snowfall of the year and makes a snowball to keep. It melts in his pocket and he is sad and worried the snow will be gone.

Keeping Peter's snowball longer.

Insulated snowball savers-Portable insulated snowball savers

Clementine -Sarah Pennypacker

2nd

Clementine is a 2nd grader living in NY. She and her family live in a high rise where her father is the custodian. He is trying to keep the building clean and safe and get rid of the pigeons.

Clementine helps her father the custodian keep pigeons off the building.

Owl: with movable wings and attached megaphone that projects predator sounds.-Fan with large blades that will deter pigeons from landing on ledge.

The Three Little Javelinas -Susan Lowell

1st/2nd

Three little javelineas try to keep the coyote from eating them.

How to help the coyote get his meal or how to protect the javelinas.

House with trick chimney's that will discourage the coyote.-House with a roof that has spikes on it so the coyote can't get to chimney.

Colonial Times -Ann McGovern

3rd

Expository book describing the lives of people in the English colonies before the Revolutionary War

Transporting water and watering gardens-Dirty water-Picking vegetables

Garden watering system using central place to dump buckets of water and tubes for distribution-Filtration system for removing dirt from water-Hinged vegetable picker with a long handle

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler -E.L. Konigsburg

4th

Claudia and Jaime run away from home and stay at the MET in NYC. They face challenges such as a shortage of funds, avoiding detection, and the desire to learn about a mysterious sculpture that may have been created by Michelangelo.

Carrying around $24 in loose change-Getting around the city without paying too much-Seeing the statue when it is always surrounded by crowds

A backpack with a padded false bottom to hide money and muffle the sound-A scooter made from found materials with a wheel system created from rows of ping pong balls-A telescoping periscope with adjustable mirror flaps

James and the Giant Peach Roald Dahl

4th

James lives with two aunts who treat him badly. James drops magic crystals by a peach tree and creates a giant peach and some large talking insect friends. The peach floats during a sea voyage and takes to the air with the help of a flock of seagulls.

James is trapped by a tall fence at his aunts' house-Cloud people throw ice balls at the peach as it floats by-The peach gets stuck on the spire of a skyscraper.

Prototype of a trampoline and figuring out how to position it so James does not hit the wall-Ice tube deflection system - a tube with a build in slingshot to send the ice ball back at the cloud people-Small-scale LEGO Crane to lift the peach off the spire and place it on a truck

City of Ember -Jeanne DuPrau

5th

Ember was built centuries ago and far underground to protect a group of people from nuclear war. The city's people do not know that they are underground or that they need to return to the surface. Lina and Doon learn that Ember is doomed and figure out how to escape.

Carrying Lina' toddler sister during the long trip out of Ember-No communication system between houses at night when lights are off-It will be difficult to transport everyone in Ember to the surface

A carrier designed to carry a toddler safely and comfortably-A system to carry messages between houses using string, pulleys and bells-A Ferris wheel-like system for carrying people up and out of Ember

The Most Dangerous Game -Richard Connell

5th

A professional hunter is marooned on a deserted island and becomes the prey of a fellow hunter that lives on the island.

Escaping the Tower. Walking on quicksand

Zipline. Pipe to divert smoke

Island of the Blue Dolphins -Scott O'Dell

6th-8th

Based on true events; a young woman is stranded on an island after her tribe abandons their home. She has to survive, find shelter and food, and protect herself from the elements and a pack of wild dogs.

Getting food without using a weapon. Women are not allowed to touch or use them

-A sturdy shelter that can withstand the elements and protect her from the wild dogs-Ways to protect and store her food in order to keep it from other animals-Protection from the wild dogs-Woven fish catchers with long handles and bait inside to lure fish inside the catcher-Pulley system so the main character can suspend food in baskets away from animals

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Book Grade Plot Problems identified by students Solutions designed by students The Snowy Day -Ezra Jack Keats 1st Peter plays in the first snowfall of the year and makes a snowball to keep. It melts in his pocket and he is sad and worried the snow will be gone.

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There is a huge fine motor growth that happens from the start of second to the end. I have found some design challenges that say 3rd Grade really depend on the developmental ability of that group. So here is the end of 2nd and early 3rd grade connections

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The more professional the safer they are and longer they will last.
Start with a simple too kit and see what gets used most in your learning space.

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Ensure teachers and students know how to use this great tool!

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One of the activities I have used time and time again is building a LEGO duck to showcase the power of hands on learning, thinking with parameters, and to revisit the power of being a kid again. This simple activity is a quick and yet powerful way to engage the brain into thinking and learning. I have used it to serve several purposes that I would like to share with you in hopes that it inspires you to give it a try.

Teaching Moment #1: Makerspace Workshop

When I run a makerspace workshop I always start with a making challenge right away. Before I even introduce myself or anything else I toss out whatever the materials are needed for the day and we build. The goal is to model the way and not just talk about making. I want to break the traditional PD/session routine. So we build. We build quick. Here is how it works.

Materials

I used to have hundreds of these small duck kits of six pieces. If you can find these kits go for it. However, they are not required at all. I also know that is not practical so just give everyone the same pieces from the LEGO pieces you own. Pull random ones. Take the image above and try to find these type of pieces. Less is more to challenge the brain. If not, then grab some of the same pieces and don't worry about the color.

If you don't have LEGO pieces sitting around, then you have a few options

1. Send out an email blast to parents. It is amazing how many middle school and high school parents will donate LEGO bins as they just sit and collect dust in their homes.

2. Buy some. I recommend

1. LEGO Classic Creative Supplement 10693 by LEGO http://amzn.to/2dK2Nbv

2. 500 Random Lego Pieces Washed Sanitized and... by LEGO http://amzn.to/2eLujbe

3. Check Ebay, Craigslist, or Facebook Community Swaps

How It Works

We are jumping in right away. You will be thinking with your hands. Are you ready because here we go. No time to ease into things. We are getting after it right now. Put on your thinking caps boys and girls because this maker train is about to take off.

Here is your challenge:

You will be given 60 seconds to make the best duck you can. Are you ready to do some thinking with your hands?

Get the timer ready. Put on your thinking hat and.......

GO!

It is amazing what they will come up with. Here are some examples of ducks created by students and my own kids when I was piloting and testing out the idea to make sure it was successful.

Post Duck Reflection

It is always good to reflect so I pose these questions for conversation with the whole group.

What did you make? Go ahead and snap a picture and email it to aarmau@gmail.com so I can add it to our collection page.

1. What skills are used to make a LEGO duck? https://answergarden.ch/view

2. Are any ducks the same?

3. What lessons did you learn?

4. What would you try next time?

5. How else could we document this process?

Wrap Up

I go on to show them how my daughter who was 4 at the time did the same challenge. My son even jumps in towards the end. I show this video because it is a good reminder how quickly the adult brain puts in parameters and sometimes limits creativity. She is not timed as she was only 4, but watching the process is pretty cool and a magical moment of being a kid. I apologize for her crazy hair.

LEGO Duck Challenge Part 2: Group Collaboration

Once we do this quick 3 minute activity you will witness the audience(adults, students, whoever) continue to build. Their eyes are down. They are tinkering with the pieces. What if I do this..... Or what if I change this piece.......What if I start all over.......

It is awesome. Instead of moving into the ho hum lecture style teaching and presenting we move quickly into another challenge. They have a bit of confidence. They have smiles. They are laughing.

So we go again

I remind them of the following essential elements to making

Just start building. Trust your hands.

Let them pick the bricks they want.

If you are not sure where to start, then just let your hands do the work. The brain will catch up.

The Challenge

They will now be working as a team. No longer can they just think alone. They have to communicate, collaborate, and process how to make it work. Pay close attention to how the groups work. There are so many methods it is amazing and a great conversational piece.

Post Team Duck Reflection

Next Steps

By now they are good. They are content and ready to move on into substance. They have their fix. Theirs brains have been primed and juiced, but now they are ready for more. They want content. Connections. Proof of application.

You have them hooked. I quickly jump into a short discussion about play with the following ideas.

Play Allows Us To.....

Unleash creative thinking for accelerated innovation

Work out a solution to a shared problem

Create a shared mindset about something

Constructive discussions where everybody is heard

Build a shared vision

Leadership development

One-on-one coaching and team coaching

Use with your children, family, school, ...

Conclusion

At this point you can move into your next activity. If you are in the classroom, then where would you go? If you are teaching teachers, then where would you go? I am interested in your next steps.

What do you think? I will be sharing part 2 next week with some other school wide building challenges, but for now I would love to know how you can incorporate this idea into your classroom and school?

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The Powerful Learning in Making a LEGO Duck

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One of the activities I have used time and time again is building a LEGO duck to showcase the power of hands on learning, thinking with parameters, and to revisit the power of being a kid again. This simple activity is a quick and yet powerful way to engage the brain into thinking and learning.

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DuckTape Makers: Creative Inspiration with Duck Brand Tape

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Welcome to your source for everyday inspiration, imagination and creativity with Duck Brand products. So go ahead, put your mind to work.

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If you're interested in designing your own makerspace, check out the Makerspace Master Course. It's a self-paced, week-long course that you can do from anywhere at any time.

Making Can Happen in Every Subject

Recently a friend of mine said, "When I think of makerspaces, I don't think of history classes. I picture areas where kids are playing with toys and stuff."

This comment resonated with my own experience. The first time I heard about makerspaces, I thought, "That's awesome and I'd love to have something like that, but I teach social studies." I had a mental block that kept me from seeing the bigger picture around makerspaces.

So, I started with the most natural tie-in. We did an economics unit where students used design thinking to build a product. After redesigning the space, I realized something:

A makerspace isn't just about engineering.

In a previous blog post, I mentioned that every classroom should be a makerspace. Creativity isn't limited to STEM or STEAM or even the arts. Every time a student is designing, building, tinkering, and problem-solving, it becomes a chance to develop a maker mindset. And any time a teacher creates a space that cultivates this maker mindset, he or she is designing a makerspace.

Every makerspace has the following components:

Hands-on activities. Even if there are digital processes going on, students should be engaged in some kind of hands-on fabrication.

Student ownership over the creative process

Differentiated space, so that students can sit, stand, and move around

This can be lower-tech or higher-tech. Kids might make things with duct tape and cardboard or create greenscreen videos or play around with circuitry. It might look more math-related or more history-related. But the common idea is that students are engaged in meaningful projects where they are designing, building, tinkering, and problem-solving.

The Power of Student-Centered Learning

Maker projects can be short-term or long-term and they vary between being more structured or more open. The following visual can be helpful in thinking about the potential learning activities:

Loosely Structured and Short-Term

Sometimes this involves rapid prototyping, where students have the freedom to select their own materials and create whatever they want. This is often what we imagine when we think of a makerspace. Students walk in simply play around with the items at the table. In some cases, they might know what they want to make. In other cases, the design emerges from constant iterations.

Other times, though, students will engage in rapid prototyping with a twist. Here, the teacher selects the materials and the students must create something new on the spot. This is the idea behind divergent thinking challenges. The constraint pushes students to make connections between seemingly unrelated ideas and ultimately think differently about the supplies.

Here's an example of a divergent thinking prompt:

Loosely Structured and Long-Term

Imagine you have a longer amount of time in a makerspace - perhaps weeks or even a month. Or maybe your students will be visiting the library makerspace on a weekly basis. Here you might decide to go with a Genius Hour approach. With a Genius Hour, students will experience some structure (often with project requirements, deadlines, or frameworks) but the goal is as much ownership as possible. Students decide the topics, the approach, the research sources, and the learning goals, and ultimately the creative work.

This is how it works:

Tightly Structured and Short-Term:

Imagine you have only a day in the maker space. You're not sure when you'll get a chance to be there again and you want students to start making stuff quickly. At this point, you want to engage in quick hands-on making, where they develop iterative thinking skills. You can keep it loosely structured and say, "make whatever you want" (the rapid prototyping process) or you can say, "I want you to work within this creative constraint." Here, students have the freedom to iterate and make mistakes as they move closer and closer to solving a problem.

With a maker challenge, the teacher typically provides a prompt and students have to work within those confines to create something new. They jump straight into the hands-on making as they work within the confines of creative constraint. Here's an example of a maker challenge:

Tightly Structured and Long-Term:

We often think of creativity as something loose and free-flowing. Structure can seem, at first, to stifle creativity. However, structure isn't a bad thing if the students get to own the creative process from the original idea to the final launch.

This is why I love design thinking. I've been using design thinking for over a decade. As a teacher, I used it for everything from coding projects to service projects to documentaries to engineering challenges.

Design thinking is a flexible process for getting the most out of the creative process. It is used in the arts, in engineering, in the corporate world, at universities, and in social and civic spaces. You can use it in every subject with every age group. It works when creating digital content or when building things with duct tape and cardboard. It can even be used in planning events or in designing services.

Here's a snapshot of the LAUNCH Cycle, the design thinking framework A.J. Juliani and I developed together and shared in the book Launch: Using Creativity to Boost Creativity and Bring Out the Maker in Every Student.

What Does This Look Like in Each Subject?

So, let's dig a little deeper. Let's take a look at how people might use a makerspace in each subject area:

Language Arts: For specific projects, you can do documentaries (with the green screen area), podcasts (you could do inquiry-based Curiositycasts or thematic podcasts), blogging, immersive world building (such as Minecraft in storytelling). But you can also align the Common Core ELA standards to design thinking projects. Every time they are doing research, going through ideation, and launching to the world, they are hitting specific standards. You can also integrate informational reading within maker projects by using multimedia informational text to learn how to do a beginner's level challenge with Raspberry Pi, Arduino, or circuitry.

Social Studies: Documentaries, whiteboard videos (similar to RSA Animate or Common Craft), thematic blogs, thematic podcasts, history-themed theater production (using the makerspace to do everything from set design to costume creation to multimedia elements). In economics, you can use the makersapce to do Shark Tank style projects, going through the LAUNCH Cycle to design a full project.

Math: Create a board game or arcade game (probability standards), the tiny house project (proportional reasoning, volume, surface area), creating a Scratch game (reinforcing x-y access, learning logic)

Science: There are tons of STEM-related ideas, like solar energy designs, engineering projects, building lunar colonies, etc.

PE: Design a sport, invent a way to get people to naturally want to exercise (there's a whole field of design-based methods for inspiring movement) - in other words, develop a partnership between P.E. classes and the design-based activity in a makerspace

Art: There's such a natural connection between what students do in art class and what they do in makerspaces that I can't even begin to add the ideas. One maker-related thing that our former art teacher did was a steam-punk sculpture project. That could easily have an engineering and robotics element integrated into it

Music: Music video projects, multimedia projects, designing an ideal studio

Foreign Language: Design-oriented tutorial partnerships (where students work with refugees to create video tutorials for aspects of American life and then learn and practice the language as a result)

FACS (Family and Consumer Sciences): I'd argue that FACS classes have been makerspaces before we developed makerspaces. The goal here, though, is to allow students to have more creative control in what they are making.

Wood Shop: My friend A.J. helped his school redefine their woodshop to be a makerspace. They kept some of the best elements of the subject but they added additional levels of fabrication and had students use design thinking as an entrepreneurial framework.

Computers: Scratch project (designing a video game), multimedia composition projects, circuitry projects, robotics

This is by no means an exhaustive list because making is everywhere. You can't tie it down to a specific subject. In every profession and in every discipline, you will find people engaging in creative work. The beauty of a makerspace is that it is inherently both/and. It is both vintage and futuristic. It requires both STEM and Humanities. It is both deeply mechanical and deeply human. That's the bold, beautiful thing that makes it so magical. You don't have to choose one or the other.

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What do maker projects look like in each subject area?

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If you're interested in designing your own makerspace, check out the Makerspace Master Course. It's a self-paced, week-long course that you can do from anywhere at any time. Recently a friend of mine said, "When I think of makerspaces, I don't think of history classes.

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Growth mindset, engineering and fairy tales

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Growth mindset, engineering and fairy tales

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PK-2 project connecting growth mindset through fairy tales and building.

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Here's some real talk about my experience using STEM in the classroom.

When I am coordinating S.T.E.M. curriculum for grades 1-5, I observe many students exploring the STEM process who are truly engaged with hands-on learning.

For the most part, students LOVE it!

However...

Sometimes I also see students who are not yet comfortable with taking risks.

Some students are not emotionally equipped for dealing with the disappointment that arises when their great idea doesn't quite work out the way they wanted.

Other students feel threatened by other students who have "better" ideas, and feel defeated rather than inspired.

For some students, there's an emotional side of being expected to take risks, make mistakes and collaborate with others. You can probably think of students you know who think their first idea HAS to be perfect. When it's not, they might give up, or worse - act out negatively.

For these students, S.T.E.M. challenges can also be an emotional challenge.

So should we avoid doing S.T.E.M. with those students?

Absolutely not! On the contrary, it's the perfect learning opportunity.

These students need some tools to help them cope with challenges, and I've found Growth Mindset concepts in particular to be a highly effective strategy to teach these coping tools.

I feel that I owe it to my students to give them coping strategies; I am presenting situations that I know will be particularly difficult for some of them. I want to give them the tools they will need to handle it. Hopefully these tools will help them in many other life situations as well!

My solution to this situation has been to combine Growth Mindset concepts with my STEM projects.

S.T.E.M. and Growth Mindset concepts complement and reinforce each other perfectly, so teaching them together is a perfect match!

Growth mindset encourages exactly the kind of positive thinking that will help with STEM challenges.

For example, growth mindset thinking teach us that:
-mistakes help us learn -we can persevere through unexpected problems and disappointments -sometimes it takes several tries to solve a problem
Growth mindset concepts also foster an inner dialogue that is essential for STEM exploration.

For example:
-I can always improve. -I'm on the right track. -I can keep trying even when it's hard. -This may take some time and effort. -I can build on previous ideas. -I haven't solved the problem - YET!
Watch the preview video for my S.T.E.M. bundle below!

We use fairy tales to explore both Growth Mindset and STEM!

Students love fairy tales because they are fun and familiar, so we begin by reading short partner plays together. You can easily write your own plays with student input, or pre-write simple partner plays like I have.

In our partner plays, the characters have either a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. After several readings and discussion, students become experts at recognizing which is which. I little humor goes a long way, too!

For example, in the passage below from Little Red Riding Hood, Granny has a fixed mindset, and Little Red Riding Hood has a Growth Mindset!

Students quickly learn how to tell the two apart:

We also do some writing and sorting to solidify the concept.

We use simple workbooks or flip books as shown below.

This is a bundle of 5 Seasonal STEM sets (30 challenges altogether) that will make it SIMPLE to explore STEM in your classroom, while incorporating literacy through fun PARTNER PLAYS to set up each challenge!

What is STEM? And why are Partner Plays Helpful?

STEM involves:

★ presenting students with an authentic problem
★ challenging students to collaborate for possible solutions
★ making specific plans for the solution
★ testing the model to see if it solves the problem
★ reflecting, revising, and re-testing
★ reflecting on success and recognizing mistakes as part of the process

In our classroom, each STEM challenge is introduced through a simple seasonal partner play so that the engineering challenge will be purposeful and authentic.
The STEM challenge is meant to be completed after reading each partner play, and involves solving a problem for the characters in the play.

For example, at the end of each fairy tale play, students are presented with a STEM challenge that directly relates to the story.

Here is an example of how the partner play ends with a specific STEM challenge:

In the above example, students are given the task of helping Rapunzel out of her tower.

Students now have a relevant purpose for their challenge!

Each table is given a bin of supplies, such as tape, cardboard, stir sticks, paper cups, elastics, pipe cleaners, and anything else I have handy.

Students plan, collaborate and build! Here are some pictures of our creations for various fairy tale STEM challenges:

Here is a video of students designing and testing the catapult they made in order to get the cookies over the forest to land at Granny's house!

I always like to have a written component to document our learning. This way we can also look back to past challenges and see if they might help with our current challenge. We use either WORKBOOKS or FLIP BOOKS to write about our STEM exploration.

Do you use STEM challenges in your classroom?

Are there students who would benefit from pairing Growth Mindset lessons with STEM? You can create your own partner plays, journals or flip books to go along with any fairy tale.

If you'd prefer to try some of the examples I've shown above, they are available two different bundles :

LOOKING FOR SEASONAL STEM?

These partner plays set up seasonal STEM challenges for each season of the school year, plus a bonus pack just for Christmas! They are simple, engaging, and very little prep. Click HERE to see it!

FREE RESOURCES

I have some free downloads to get you started with STEM and Growth Mindset in your classroom.

First, you can try a Growth Mindset flip book which can be used with any version of the Little Red Riding Hood. It is part of the preview for Bundle 2, so click the preview button to grab it HERE.

Pin this free flip book for later!

MORE STEM RESOURCES

Are your students clear on the steps involved with STEM process?

I have posters outlining the steps on my wall so I can refer to them often during lessons and discussions.

If you'd like to download my posters to use in your classroom, you can download them for free.

Pin this free flip book for later!

Pin this post for later!

There are lots of other ways to create a GROWTH MINDSET classroom!

You can write different ideas each day in Growth Mindset journals, fill your room with encouraging Growth Mindset posters and coloring activities, use Growth Mindset task cards and writing prompts, and even positive notes for students!
Click HERE to take a look at all the options for your classroom.
You can also grab two FREE posters and activities for writing, math and coloring (as pictured above) by clicking below!

Pin these free posters for later!

Or, pin this whole post for later!

Thanks for taking a look!

Continue exploring with any of the links below:

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S.T.E.M. and Growth Mindset - Whimsy Workshop Teaching

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When I am coordinating S.T.E.M. curriculum for grades 1-5, I observe many students exploring the STEM process who are truly engaged with hands-on learning. Sometimes I also see students who are not yet comfortable with taking risks. Some students are not emotionally equipped for dealing with the disappointment that arises when their great idea doesn't quite work out the way they wanted.

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Kobi Yamada writes pictures books with a great focus on embracing ideas, creativity, failure, and creativity.

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Kobi Yamada has 83 books on Goodreads with 42787 ratings. Kobi Yamada's most popular book is What Do You Do with an Idea?.

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Get Caught Engineering - STEM Resources for Teachers & Parents

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TESTIMONIALS

Impressive! You make teaching STEM a breeze. For a newbie, like me, your lessons are simply amazing. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, I just get excited because the steps are all laid out.
Thank you! Like I've said before, your lessons make the teacher look good because students love them!

My kids love all of your activities! I love them because they're so easy to prep for and the kids are so excited when we do them!! Thank you!!

The variety of premises and lessons will appeal to many students. Really like the detailed teachers notes. I also find the ideas for substitutes helpful. Can't wait to use these lessons.

Themed engineering projects students are sure to love. I like the flexibility these lessons offer by giving ideas to vary criteria. Giving the students the opportunity to decorate and personalize their structure is great. Thank you for wonderful STEM lessons.

This is so perfect! You have the best things and this is as great as all the other items I have used of yours. Thanks for all of your time and hard work!!

After using your lessons, I saw great growth in their ability to plan, change ideas, and try again

What fabulous activities! I love how you've got everything set up and it's so easy for the teacher to launch.

My students get very excited when they see we are doing one of your lessons

My student have loved every one of your lessons

Starting a STEM program in your class or school? The first step in implementing an engineering program is teaching your students the engineering design process. Our primer includes a simple explanation, the NGSS standards, and the design process poster. We have also included group role cards and a helpful list of inquiry questions. You can either enlarge and display the poster or make copies for your student's STEM notebooks. The Prince needs your students' help. He is trying to get to Sleeping Beauty's castle and has encountered a river that his horse will not cross. He needs your students to build a platform bridge so that he can proceed to the castle. Time for structural engineering! Students will use what they know about the strength of shapes and materials to design and build a platform bridge that can hold weight. Included are student handouts, teacher notes, and a rubric. With a gummy worm, gummy lifesave, a cup, and a paperclip, students will work in teams of two to solve a STEM challenge. Based on a popular STEM activity, we have added the engineering design process to this free activity. Perfect for an introduction to engineering in grades K-6 or a staff workshop. No time for an in-depth engineering lesson? Have some foil? A small plastic tub of water? Some pennies? You are good to go! Our Foil Boat Engineering Energizer is just the ticket for a quick STEM lesson that provides a challenge, group problem solving, and a "brain push-up" in a short amount of time with just a few materials. An easy way to integrate engineering into your day! Try this freebie with your class or at a teacher workshop to introduce them to STEM.

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Lessons & Ideas - Get Caught Engineering - STEM Resources for Teachers & Parents

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TESTIMONIALS Impressive! You make teaching STEM a breeze. For a newbie, like me, your lessons are simply amazing. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, I just get excited because the steps are all laid out. Thank you! Like I've said before, your lessons make the teacher look good because students love them!

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Great starter projects and templates for classrooms

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Design thinking is a mindset. It is the confidence that everyone can be part of creating a more desirable future, and a process to take action when faced with a difficult challenge. That kind of optimism is well needed in education.

Classrooms and schools across the world are facing design challenges every single day, from teacher feedback systems to daily schedules. Wherever they fall on the spectrum of scale - the challenges educators are confronted with are real, complex, and varied. And as such, they require new perspectives, new tools, and new approaches. Design thinking is one of them.

We have a new resource- The Co-Designing Schools Toolkit, which supports educators to collaboratively create equitable change in schools through a community-led, equity-centered, and design-driven process.

You can still download the classic Design Thinking for Educators toolkits + workbook here.

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Design thinking is a mindset. It is the confidence that everyone can be part of creating a more desirable future, and a process to take action when faced with a difficult challenge. That kind of optimism is well needed in education.

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SparkFun is an online retail store that sells the bits and pieces to make your electronics projects possible.

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"Novel Engineering is an integrated approach to teaching engineering and literacy. As part of Novel Engineering, students develop projects based on texts they read in English Language Arts or other content classes, such as history. The characters become their clients and students pull from the text to scope problems and set constraints as they engage in engineering design. "

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Novel Engineering Overview:
Novel Engineering is an integrated approach to teaching engineering and literacy. As part of Novel Engineering, students develop projects based on texts they read in English Language Arts or other content classes, such as history. The characters become their clients and students pull from the text to scope problems and set constraints as they engage in engineering design. Teachers play a pivotal role in supporting their students' engagement by providing a supportive, responsive environment that will allow students to build on their ideas as they work on complex problems. Instead of prescribing a particular solution or process for students, we believe that teaching engineering involves listening to, understanding, and responding to student thinking. Design is about realizing the ideas of individuals and Novel Engineering gives students the space to explore their ideas through design projects.
Integrating Reading and Engineering
In an integrated unit, reading the text can support the engineering and doing engineering can help students understand the text. Moving between text and engineering helps support learning in both areas. Students begin by reading a book and discussing problems encountered by the characters. At some point, either during reading or upon completion of the book, the students design something that they can build in the classroom that will solve one of the problems in the book.

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Novel Engineering Overview: Novel Engineering is an integrated approach to teaching engineering and literacy. As part of Novel Engineering, students develop projects based on texts they read in English Language Arts or other content classes, such as history. The characters become their clients and students pull from the text to scope problems and set constraints as they engage in engineering design.

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This fan is great to keep the smell of burning glue out and is used for testing designs.

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Plan where consumable and reusable supplies will be stored:
Cardboard and Styrofoam is great but take up a lot of space.
THINK:
- Accessibility to kids
- Safety
- Treasure not trash mentality

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Letters can not only go to parents and grandparents, but stores and associations and agencies, too. Develop a no fear in approaching anyone and everyone for items. (Last year we got hundred of tennis balls from the tennis team) If you ask it will arrive...be ready and store right away! Here's a starter list of consumable and reusable supplies

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What happens when students make their own makerspace

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What happens when students make their own makerspace

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It began as a donated box of K'nex set out on a library table.

Students started tinkering. Librarian Diana Rendina started asking questions.

Bit by bit, the makers who came in helped her decide what to add next: Snap Circuits. Legos. Rotating craft stations. Each time she added something new, she'd say, "Let me know what you think." So they did.

"I really wanted it to be their space," she said.

Before long, about a dozen students had volunteered to form a makerspace planning committee, whose input played a key role in shaping how the space functions today.

It's the opposite of how a lot of schools do it. A blogger and leader within the maker education community, Rendina has seen many educators pour money into adult-designed, adult-driven makerspaces without much (if any) input from students.

"It might be a really great space, but if it's not what the kids need and want, then it's just not going to work as well," says Rendina, winner of ISTE's Outstanding Young Educator Award last year. "You need to remember that the makerspace doesn't belong to you. It belongs to your students."

Here are five ways students at Stewart Middle Magnet School have taken ownership of their makerspace:
1. They shaped its conception.
In its early days, the makerspace consisted of several bins of supplies set out on lib rary tables. Anytime there was an activity going on - book fair, picture day or a class -the materials had to be put away.

"My students wanted to have access to the makerspace all the time," Rendina said.

Their solution: Designate a corner of the library to serve as a permanent maker corner where a few supplies, such as Legos and K'nex, would always be available. When one maker expressed a wish for an always-available art space, the committee opted to cover one wall with whiteboard paint for doodling and drawing on.
2. They designed and built it.
As they started making plans for their maker corner, students walked through the library with Rendina and brainstormed the best way to make use of its space. When she had some ideas for moving the library's social corner, for example, they gave vehement feedback.

"Having that input from them helped a lot," she said. "If I'd put the social corner somewhere else, I don't think it would be used as much."

Student volunteers even did some of the renovation work, such as choosing paint colors and helping to build a Lego wall for their maker corner.
3. They organized supplies and created procedures.
When you're filling your makerspace with tinkering tools, many questions arise: What's the easiest way for students to select the pieces they want to work with? How do you keep smaller pieces from getting lost? When, where and how will students access the supplies? How do you make cleanup as easy as possible?

Rendina's student planning committee put their problem-solving skills to work, settling on a color-coded organizational system and brainstorming procedures for using different items.
4. They keep an eye on things.
If students feel like they have ownership and voice over their makerspace, "they're going to take care of it and they're going to keep a watch over things," Rendina said.

One problem the student committee members discovered early on was that some of their supplies were more intuitive to use than others. Anyone could pick up Legos or K'nex and start building with them, but the Snap Circuits and Makey Makey kits weren't as easy to figure out - even with written instructions available.

"The kids had told me they noticed some kids were just kind of goofing off with the supplies and not really trying to do anything constructive with them," Rendina said.

After several Snap Circuits ended up missing or broken, they had to make some tough calls about which supplies to keep out all the time and which items required closer supervision. They repurposed a storage room to house the more challenging makerspace supplies so students had to intentionally seek them out if they wanted to use them.
5. They challenge each other.
Makers at Rendina's school regularly participate in design challenges to help them focus their tinkering efforts. Sometimes students come up with challenges for each other. One maker proposed a creature challenge in which everyone builds a creature that does something, using any materials they want.

"They loved it," she said.

Now that the makerspace is fully operational, the planning committee has been demobilized. Instead, a student leadership crew comprising volunteers from each grade level keeps an eye on the maker corner and helps plan new initiatives for the library.

"I see a lot of inclusion," Rendina says. "It's a space where they're all working alongside one another. I like how the space gives them all a place to be creative and express themselves."
Nicole Krueger is a freelance writer and journalist with a passion for finding out what makes learners tick.

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What happens when kids make their own makerspace?

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It began as a donated box of K'nex set out on a library table. Students started tinkering. Librarian Diana Rendina started asking questions. Bit by bit, the makers who came in helped her decide what to add next: Snap Circuits. Legos. Rotating craft stations.

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Using Design thinking to teach engineering concepts

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Using Design thinking to teach engineering concepts

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To better teach these complicated concepts, Bryant has her students act out the movements of simple machines. "When elementary-age students understand a concept through the use of their body, they rarely forget it," notes Bryant. "I am able to introduce physics, advanced math, and visual representation skills that are typically beyond elementary level as a result of this hands-on or full-body approach."

Create an Engineering Curriculum Using Backward Design

Bryant's elementary engineering curriculum flows from a backward design approach. She starts with the results that she wants her students to achieve, and then designs the instructional methods to meet those goals.

"There isn't a statewide curriculum for elementary school engineering design," explains Bryant, "but looking at the standards for where they need to be in middle school and in high school, I'm able to backward design for what should be happening at the elementary level."

There are three stages to backward design.

Stage 1: Identify Learning Objectives

This first stage focuses on what big ideas and skills you want your students to learn. "I think about problems our school or community face and what standards I need the students to master," says Bryant. Her specific learning objectives for K-2 students are:

A basic understanding of the design process

Understanding the value of brainstorming and teamwork

Experience thinking through all aspects of a problem when considering a decision

Experiencing the value of success after many failures

With younger students, she also introduces career and college opportunities as part of how they might apply these skills to real-world contexts.

Stage 2: Define Assessment Strategy

When designing a project, Bryant considers what will be evidence of mastery, and what assessment methods she can use. "Rubrics are a big part of the assessment strategy for engineering design," she says. She also considers how the evidence might be authentic and solve a real-life problem.

Stage 3: Identify Teaching Methods, Resources, and Materials

The final stage focuses on the skills and knowledge that students will need to achieve the goals you're setting for them, as well as the teaching methods, lessons, and resources that you'll use to help them reach those goals. "I think about what scaffolding, resources, and materials might be necessary for an elementary student to solve what could potentially be an adult-like problem," elaborates Bryant. "The last step is key when working with younger populations. Often they are able to do amazing things with the right amount of support and proper choices in materials or resources."

Use Design Thinking Process

Design thinking is a process that allows people to come up with ideas and solve problems in a creative and engaging way, honing their collaboration, critical thinking, and communication skills. Empathy -- understanding who you are designing for -- is a key element of design thinking, as well as collaboration -- working with others to build on your ideas, gaining feedback, and learning how to make iterations on your ideas from that feedback.

Charles R. Drew Charter School follows the stages outlined in the James Dyson design thinking process -- brief, research, idea generation/development, 3D prototyping, testing, and evaluation and modification. The staff relies on the Nueva School's design thinking model to make the process more robust. "The idea of empathy is a big part of their structure," says Bryant about that model.

The TinkerYard and Dream Car Projects

The students at Charles R. Drew use design thinking to create their projects. For each grade, Bryant comes up with projects that the students work on throughout the quarter. Second-grade students are currently designing and building a TinkerYard, four outdoor stations that make up a playground. Fourth-grade students are designing a Dream Car for a particular customer and a fictional auto company. The final product will be a 3D model of their concept car.

Phase 1: Brief

The goal of a brief is to outline a project and communicate expectations and goals. The students' brief describes the purpose of creating the project and what its use will be, as well as outlining questions for them to consider. In the fourth-grade Dream Car project, for example, students receive a brief (PDF) which identifies what their teacher is looking for and what they will be expected to accomplish by the end of the project.

The brief outlines that students will:

Identify a client and imagine their needs.

Consider what design enhancements might make the trip easier.

Select/create vehicle features that will make the trip nicer for everyone.

Create multiple idea sketches and share ideas with the group.

Select one idea and create a final series of at least two sketches showing the front, side, and three-quarter view of the concept car.

Create a clay prototype of the vehicle.

Present their idea sketches and prototype.

Phase 2: Research

The goal of the research phase is for students to be better informed when designing. They learn research, analysis, and sometimes interviewing skills during this process.

In the second-grade TinkerYard project, Bryant's students research possible simple machines for the energy station using books, Google images, and online videos. They look at architectural magazines (donated by a local architecture firm) for ideas about shapes, patterns, and colors. They also do hands-on research, "manipulating a collection of physical items -- like rope, pulleys, wheels, pieces of wood, and other material -- to create their own simple machines on the fly," adds Bryant.

Fourth-grade students go to the High Museum of Art, which features the Dream Cars exhibit, to take notes about size, shape, form, and materials. They learn about composition, materials, and use (like how many passengers were intended for this car), and how they can apply that knowledge to their target customer's wants. In their research, students also delve deeper into understanding their customers' experiences to design for an unmet need by interviewing a user and analyzing user data. Where does their target customer go when driving? Who comes with them? What do they take with them?

Phase 3: Idea Generation/Development

For the idea generation/development phase, says Bryant, "students should be able to synthesize information and begin to make design decisions that will alter the way their product works, looks, and feels for the user. Teachers also want students to be able to successfully communicate their ideas -- visually, orally, or in written form -- and be able to share them with the world."

Second-grade students draw sketches of their ideas showing what each TinkerYard station could look like. "Students learn how to draw their idea in perspective," explains Bryant. "The students then see that 3D drawings best communicate their idea."

Fourth-grade students also draw 2D and 3D sketches to communicate their ideas, but they may begin by rendering a concept car stemming from someone else's idea so that they'll feel confident when it comes time for drawing and sharing their own ideas. "Students may also add descriptive language to their drawings to capture ideas and thoughts that relate to the concept," suggests Bryant.

Phase 4: 3D Prototyping

According to Bryant, the goal of the 3D prototyping stage is for students "to see how their ideas look and might function in real life."

The TinkerYard is a working prototype. "As a class, we may try an idea out on paper and begin to build it in the TinkerYard, only to realize that objects need to shift, or don't work quite the way we envisioned," says Bryant. "The TinkerYard is an iterative process. It will never be completely finished."

Meanwhile, the fourth-grade class is building 3D clay models. "They follow a process very similar to industry," explains Bryant. "The auto industry still makes clay models despite having many 3D printers and other rapid prototyping materials on hand."

Phase 5: Testing

The goal of the testing phase is to gain feedback on the prototype in order to make improvements.

After putting together the TinkerYard's energy station, the second-grade class has a "soft opening" -- they invite students and teachers to play at the station, which can reveal changes that need to be made once the designers see how users interact with what they created. When issues arise from testing, students go back to the classroom, generate new ideas, and prototype solutions.

Bryant describes how her fourth-grade students "seek the client's approval for the concept car they have created. Similar to the process in the automotive industry, where designers present the concept car to a test market and get consumer feedback, students show their vehicle and promotional materials to the students in the class and other visitors to get their impressions. I like to involve actual users or professionals from the design field as much as possible in student feedback."

Phase 6: Evaluation and Modification

The goal of the evaluation and modification stage is to have students collaborate, see how ideas combine, and understand the importance of feedback and making iterations. "The evaluation/modification phase is not set in stone behind prototyping," explains Bryant. "Evaluation is necessary at many points in the process to ensure you are on the right track. Once evaluation is underway, it may become clear that modification of ideas, drawings, or prototypes is necessary before progressing to the next step."

For both the lower and upper elementary projects, students share out their drawings and gain feedback on their designs for iteration. "It is important for students to learn that in the design process, it is not one and done," says Bryant. "Students want designing something to be fast and are hopeful that their first attempt will be good enough. The students help each other see that iterations are necessary. They provide feedback, and it is helpful when it does not come from the teacher. Often, students are more willing to consider feedback from a critical friend."

Assessment

" Rubrics (PDF) are a big part of the assessment strategy for engineering design," observes Bryant. On the Dream Cars rubric, students rate themselves and their cars on a one-to-three scale reflecting how they met their clients' needs, effective modeling, and visual appeal. Next to each rating, they explain why they gave themselves that score.

The end of the Dream Car project also features a student evaluation form (PDF), on which they write three things they like about their Dream Car model, two things they would change, and one thing they've learned.

Bryant also evaluates her students' work using the rubric, which she uses, along with their self-evaluation, to discuss their work with them, whether or not they're on the same page, and why.

Resources

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Applied Engineering in Elementary School | Edutopia

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To better teach these complicated concepts, Bryant has her students act out the movements of simple machines. "When elementary-age students understand a concept through the use of their body, they rarely forget it," notes Bryant. "I am able to introduce physics, advanced math, and visual representation skills that are typically beyond elementary level as a result of this hands-on or full-body approach."

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Apps to be used with the Inquiry Cycle

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Our school just unrolled the first phase of our 1:1 iPad program tonight. In preparation of this big event, I spent some time this summer looking into how I could support and guide students through the research process using apps.

It was tougher than I expected to build a list like this....

Apps come and go.
Opinions vary.
And upgrades can leave a favorite app on the bottom of the heap.

But it was also a lot of fun to read through suggestions, try new apps, and build a chart that includes all phases of the research process. You are welcome to take it, use it, and share it:

At my school, we follow Kath Murdoch's Inquiry Cycle so I have grouped the apps according to the steps of that model. But I think they can easily be adapted to other models.

My simple hope in sharing this is that I get you thinking about which apps you use with students during the research process.
And let's keep the conversation going...

Because apps come and go Technology evolves.
But the need to be able to locate, evaluate, and use information will continue.

What would you add to the list?

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Our school just unrolled the first phase of our 1:1 iPad program tonight. In preparation of this big event, I spent some time this summer looking into how I could support and guide students through the research process using apps. It was tougher than I expected to build a list like this....

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https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2015/08/14/team-building-activities-that-support-maker-education-stem-and-steam/

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K-12 - explanation of how it works

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3rd grade and up

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How do you build community in your classroom? Have you tackled STEM Challenges yet? How do you prepare your students for the fabulous collaboration that can occur when they work in groups to solve a STEM problem? Stay tuned and I will give you a great idea!

As many of you know I am a STEM Lab teacher and I will have to tell you that the number one thing I hear from other teachers is this: I could never get my kids to work in groups to design and build something! Never!

I will let you in on a little secret. We complete STEM events every single day. The team work and talk between kids and how they help each other is just amazing. But, this didn't happen accidentally! I set them up to be successful with team building events at the beginning of the school year. We spend the first class sessions with team challenges and this sets the tone for the rest of the year. I asked some students recently which team challenge was their favorite and the answer was, "The Winnie the Pooh one!"

So, that's the one I am sharing with you today! It's a great team challenge for August, but it is also one I will repeat in January when the kids come back from Christmas break.

First, you need to build this contraption:

It's a binder ring with about 18 strings attached. Each length of string is doubled and tied to the middle ring so it makes 36 strings dangling.

Next, you have students form a circle around the strings that are laying on the floor. Each student picks up one or two of the strings and holds them without lifting. (Some kids will hold two strings and some might only hold one. Just be sure all of the strings are being held!) Place an object on the ring and the kids must keep the object in place! In the photos it's a tennis ball! This is what I usually begin with.

On your signal the entire group begins to lift the strings so that the center ring remains stable. They will slowly rise from the floor trying to get completely in a standing position and then slowly lower back down to lay the strings gently back on the floor.

Well, honestly, the tennis ball is actually pretty easy! It sits on the center ring and rarely falls off.

So, of course, I make the task harder after the kids are able to lift the tennis ball and set it back down. I add something that is a little more precarious.

Can you see what is sitting on the ring in the picture above? It's a cup turned upside down with a plastic ball sitting on top of it! Believe it or not, groups will work together to get this up and back down.

Here's the part I cannot show you in photos. The intense concentration and expressions on their faces is priceless. My favorite part, however, is the talk. The kids encourage one another so much. There is a constant stream of voices telling teammates to lift or stay steady or increase the tension. They will cheer when they finally set that object back on the floor!

And, of course, you know what happens next....

I add something wonky to the center and make it even harder. And that is where the team challenge got the nickname of Winnie the Pooh! The last object placed in the center is a Winnie the Pooh stuffed toy. He wobbles more than all the other items because his little bottom is round and soft.

Guess what? The kids still get him lifted off the ground. The cheers when Pooh finally is set gently down on the floor are the loudest of all!

Team work at its finest!

This is just one of the team challenges we complete every year (and in January)! Try this one! I promise you will love it. After your kids do it, try it with your faculty!

If you are looking for more about teamwork try these:
Teamwork is the Best Work! There is no "I" in Team

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Team Building for STEM Challenges - STEM Activities for Kids

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How do you build community in your classroom? Have you tackled STEM Challenges yet? How do you prepare your students for the fabulous collaboration that can occur when they work in groups to solve a STEM problem? Stay tuned and I will give you a great idea!

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A collection of design challenges from ES teachers around the world.

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https://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2015/08/14/team-building-activities-that-support-maker-education-stem-and-steam/

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My Robotic Friends (from Thinkersmith) tutorial for Hour of Code activities. Music from Mackelmore and Watsky

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Okay, there is more of a back story to this one!

Last spring I asked if teachers could add some items to our school supply lists. I figured if some of the kids brought things I use often in the lab it would be very helpful. Now, I know I asked for pencils, but apparently, I also asked for straws.

Yep, that's a lot of straws. So, I started trying to invent things we could build using straws. And I thought about towers first- because we love to build towers. That's how the idea for the satellite dish tower was invented.

The Test Class

I use STEM challenges multiple times and after the second class, I usually have all the kinks worked out. My students LOVE it when I tell them they are the Test Class. They know this means that I have NO IDEA what is going to happen and we kind of make it up as we go.... I am serious. The test class will start to work on something and we have to stop frequently and talk about what is happening. We often add rules right in the middle of the task when we run into problems.

Here's the first kink in the Bucket Towers.

TAPE! I knew better, but just didn't think it through and gave each group a roll of tape. Take a look at the photo to the left.

Is this tower made of straws or tape?

Needless to say, we added a rule to the next class and limited the amount of tape being used.

The Bucket

Mind you, that is a spectacular structure and it held 200+ pennies when we tested it. But is it a bucket if it's attached to the structure? We had quite a discussion about this and decided the rule needed to be added that the bucket could not be restrained. (You can't tell in the photo but the straw through the bucket is attached to the structure's frame. It will turn over, but it does not swing freely.)

The String

Was the string provided only to use with the bucket?

What if you don't need all the string? Can it be used to help tie down the structure? Notice in the photo that the team used the string very cleverly to help hold up the tower. This is real-life, too! So, the string could be used in whatever way it was needed.

Conclusion

We LOVED Bucket Towers! This is a simple challenge that we repeat every year! Here's why:

It's super easy to put together!

Materials are inexpensive and things you probably already have.

Kids love it because it's just enough outside the box to allow a lot of creativity!

Every tower looks different and the kids love sharing their finished products.

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The Unique Bucket Tower Challenge - Teachers are Terrific

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Okay, there is more of a back story to this one! Last spring I asked if teachers could add some items to our school supply lists. I figured if some of the kids brought things I use often in the lab it would be very helpful.

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Ms. Underwood's class used our high-leverage strategy in a classroom team-building activity to kick off the year!

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Coding a BeeBot to plan out our day.

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Sphero makes remarkably cool, programmable robots and STEAM-based educational tools that transform the way kids learn, create and invent through coding, science, music, and the arts. Using information available, combined with skills acquired, can help make good decisions. That's the basic process of critical thinking. Critical thinkers can solve problems by keeping a clear mind and rational thoughts that will help you analyze a situation and make a sound decision.
STEM teaching is the hands-on exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics concepts, and it's becoming an increasingly important part of modern-day education. STEM skills grant students the 21st-century abilities needed to perform a wide range of both essential and highly-skilled jobs.
Risk-taking, leaping, trying again, and failing are part of our genetic material. Without it, humans would not have inhabited every corner of this planet. Oftentimes we can see failure, particularly in exams, as negative - one of the worst things we can allow students to experience. But what if we allow students to fail in a safe space and make learning a personal endeavor? Go #BeyondCode and enrich your learning experience with engaging STEAM activities that foster creativity and collaboration.
Sphero makes remarkably cool, programmable robots and STEAM-based educational tools that transform the way kids learn, create and invent through coding, science, music, and the arts.
Using information available, combined with skills acquired, can help make good decisions. That's the basic process of critical thinking. Critical thinkers can solve problems by keeping a clear mind and rational thoughts that will help you analyze a situation and make a sound decision.
STEM teaching is the hands-on exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics concepts, and it's becoming an increasingly important part of modern-day education. STEM skills grant students the 21st-century abilities needed to perform a wide range of both essential and highly-skilled jobs.
Risk-taking, leaping, trying again, and failing are part of our genetic material. Without it, humans would not have inhabited every corner of this planet. Oftentimes we can see failure, particularly in exams, as negative - one of the worst things we can allow students to experience. But what if we allow students to fail in a safe space and make learning a personal endeavor?
Go #BeyondCode and enrich your learning experience with engaging STEAM activities that foster creativity and collaboration.
Sphero makes remarkably cool, programmable robots and STEAM-based educational tools that transform the way kids learn, create and invent through coding, science, music, and the arts.
Using information available, combined with skills acquired, can help make good decisions. That's the basic process of critical thinking. Critical thinkers can solve problems by keeping a clear mind and rational thoughts that will help you analyze a situation and make a sound decision.
STEM teaching is the hands-on exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics concepts, and it's becoming an increasingly important part of modern-day education. STEM skills grant students the 21st-century abilities needed to perform a wide range of both essential and highly-skilled jobs.
Risk-taking, leaping, trying again, and failing are part of our genetic material. Without it, humans would not have inhabited every corner of this planet. Oftentimes we can see failure, particularly in exams, as negative - one of the worst things we can allow students to experience. But what if we allow students to fail in a safe space and make learning a personal endeavor?
Go #BeyondCode and enrich your learning experience with engaging STEAM activities that foster creativity and collaboration.

Sphero makes remarkably cool, programmable robots and STEAM-based educational tools that transform the way kids learn, create and invent through coding, science, music, and the arts.

Using information available, combined with skills acquired, can help make good decisions. That's the basic process of critical thinking. Critical thinkers can solve problems by keeping a clear mind and rational thoughts that will help you analyze a situation and make a sound decision. STEM teaching is the hands-on exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics concepts, and it's becoming an increasingly important part of modern-day education. STEM skills grant students the 21st-century abilities needed to perform a wide range of both essential and highly-skilled jobs. Risk-taking, leaping, trying again, and failing are part of our genetic material. Without it, humans would not have inhabited every corner of this planet. Oftentimes we can see failure, particularly in exams, as negative - one of the worst things we can allow students to experience. But what if we allow students to fail in a safe space and make learning a personal endeavor? Go #BeyondCode and enrich your learning experience with engaging STEAM activities that foster creativity and collaboration. Sphero makes remarkably cool, programmable robots and STEAM-based educational tools that transform the way kids learn, create and invent through coding, science, music, and the arts. Using information available, combined with skills acquired, can help make good decisions. That's the basic process of critical thinking. Critical thinkers can solve problems by keeping a clear mind and rational thoughts that will help you analyze a situation and make a sound decision. STEM teaching is the hands-on exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics concepts, and it's becoming an increasingly important part of modern-day education. STEM skills grant students the 21st-century abilities needed to perform a wide range of both essential and highly-skilled jobs. Risk-taking, leaping, trying again, and failing are part of our genetic material. Without it, humans would not have inhabited every corner of this planet. Oftentimes we can see failure, particularly in exams, as negative - one of the worst things we can allow students to experience. But what if we allow students to fail in a safe space and make learning a personal endeavor? Go #BeyondCode and enrich your learning experience with engaging STEAM activities that foster creativity and collaboration. Sphero makes remarkably cool, programmable robots and STEAM-based educational tools that transform the way kids learn, create and invent through coding, science, music, and the arts. Using information available, combined with skills acquired, can help make good decisions. That's the basic process of critical thinking. Critical thinkers can solve problems by keeping a clear mind and rational thoughts that will help you analyze a situation and make a sound decision. STEM teaching is the hands-on exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics concepts, and it's becoming an increasingly important part of modern-day education. STEM skills grant students the 21st-century abilities needed to perform a wide range of both essential and highly-skilled jobs. Risk-taking, leaping, trying again, and failing are part of our genetic material. Without it, humans would not have inhabited every corner of this planet. Oftentimes we can see failure, particularly in exams, as negative - one of the worst things we can allow students to experience. But what if we allow students to fail in a safe space and make learning a personal endeavor? Go #BeyondCode and enrich your learning experience with engaging STEAM activities that foster creativity and collaboration. Sphero makes remarkably cool, programmable robots and STEAM-based educational tools that transform the way kids learn, create and invent through coding, science, music, and the arts. Using information available, combined with skills acquired, can help make good decisions. That's the basic process of critical thinking. Critical thinkers can solve problems by keeping a clear mind and rational thoughts that will help you analyze a situation and make a sound decision. STEM teaching is the hands-on exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics concepts, and it's becoming an increasingly important part of modern-day education. STEM skills grant students the 21st-century abilities needed to perform a wide range of both essential and highly-skilled jobs. Risk-taking, leaping, trying again, and failing are part of our genetic material. Without it, humans would not have inhabited every corner of this planet. Oftentimes we can see failure, particularly in exams, as negative - one of the worst things we can allow students to experience. But what if we allow students to fail in a safe space and make learning a personal endeavor? Go #BeyondCode and enrich your learning experience with engaging STEAM activities that foster creativity and collaboration. Sphero makes remarkably cool, programmable robots and STEAM-based educational tools that transform the way kids learn, create and invent through coding, science, music, and the arts. Using information available, combined with skills acquired, can help make good decisions. That's the basic process of critical thinking. Critical thinkers can solve problems by keeping a clear mind and rational thoughts that will help you analyze a situation and make a sound decision. STEM teaching is the hands-on exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics concepts, and it's becoming an increasingly important part of modern-day education. STEM skills grant students the 21st-century abilities needed to perform a wide range of both essential and highly-skilled jobs. Risk-taking, leaping, trying again, and failing are part of our genetic material. Without it, humans would not have inhabited every corner of this planet. Oftentimes we can see failure, particularly in exams, as negative - one of the worst things we can allow students to experience. But what if we allow students to fail in a safe space and make learning a personal endeavor? Go #BeyondCode and enrich your learning experience with engaging STEAM activities that foster creativity and collaboration. Sphero makes remarkably cool, programmable robots and STEAM-based educational tools that transform the way kids learn, create and invent through coding, science, music, and the arts. Using information available, combined with skills acquired, can help make good decisions. That's the basic process of critical thinking. Critical thinkers can solve problems by keeping a clear mind and rational thoughts that will help you analyze a situation and make a sound decision. STEM teaching is the hands-on exploration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics concepts, and it's becoming an increasingly important part of modern-day education. STEM skills grant students the 21st-century abilities needed to perform a wide range of both essential and highly-skilled jobs.

STEAM Learning Solutions

We offer coding robots and STEAM (STEM + Art) educational tools that transform the way kids and teens learn, create, and invent through coding, science, engineering, and the arts. Looking to inspire your whole class? Shop our education packs.

STEAM Activities & Resources

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2022 is in full swing and all of us at Sphero are looking ahead to an exciting new year in STEM and computer science education.

Sphero News Amanda Vaden

February is Black History Month, an important time to recognize the challenges and injustices Black people have faced throughout history and into today. It's also a time to celebrate and honor the many notable changemakers of color, especially those of which we can thank for pioneering the way through influential discoveries in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

At School Sphero Team

Unplugged coding is teaching coding concepts without using devices. It is learning how to code without writing lines of code. When coding unplugged, students use their knowledge to work on computational challenges that will help them understand the concepts they'll use in coding projects.

Looking to Bring Sphero to your Classroom?

Our team of education experts is here to help. Contact us today and get a demo.

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STEM Kits & Robotics for Kids | Inspire STEM Education with Sphero

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Sphero makes remarkably cool, programmable robots and STEAM-based educational tools that transform the way kids learn, create and invent through coding, science, music, and the arts. Using information available, combined with skills acquired, can help make good decisions. That's the basic process of critical thinking.

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MaKey MaKey - An Invention Kit for Everyone

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Perfect for k-5 students to safely cute and design with cardboard or cardboard like materials.

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Makedo | Cardboard Construction Tools For Kids

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Makedo is a simple to use, open-ended system of tools for creative cardboard construction purposely design for kids. Build imaginative and useful creations from upcycled cardboard.

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COST: $
ACCESS: Easy
WHO: school delivery, people moving, anyone who has ordered from Ikea
Use: Cardboard, styrofoam, string

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The goal is for the makerspace to be meaningful and connected to the curriculum, not something extra or special. “I want students to understand that the makerspace is the real-world application of what they were talking about in class,” says Gina Seymour.

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"What's the difference between a makerspace and a great makerspace?" asks Laura Fleming, library/media specialist at New Milford High School in New Milford (NJ), and author of The Kickstart Guide to Making Great Makerspaces (Corwin Press). "Great makerspaces are unique to your school community, relevant to your world, meaningful, and sustainable."

Just as we've learned with strong 1:1 initiatives that it's not about the device, makerspaces are not about the products. On the contrary, Fleming says successful makerspaces allow students to connect to their curriculum, their community, and the world.

To improve your makerspace, she suggests asking students what they want to learn about. If you want it to appeal to girls, ask the girls what they want. Assess your curriculum, clubs, programs, activities, and offerings, because your makerspace can leverage what's already happening or it can fill in the gaps. You can even get ideas from global trends, particularly business-related ones. "Last year, every time I turned on the news I saw something about drones," says Fleming. "They were everywhere-except in our curriculum-so we chose flight as a theme for our makerspace and integrated drones into it."

When done right, your makerspace can extend learning opportunities and take students to incredible places. Here are some stellar examples.
AN OUTDOOR MAKERSPACE
When Curtis Slater became principal of Wyoming Elementary School in Wyoming (MN), he joined a high-poverty school with little tax revenue and an outdated tech lab. He started writing grants, quickly secured funding for three Chromebook carts, and turned the tech lab into a makerspace. He helped to hook teachers by taking over classes in the makerspace and demonstrating what they could do, and now teachers check out plastic bins of materials to bring to their classrooms, the media center, and even the gym.

But something fascinating happened when Slater turned a never-used outdoor volleyball court into a sandbox and bought $10 worth of shovels and pails at a garage sale. "It was magic," he says. "Children who didn't play on the playground or do sports went to the sandbox and began making a village. It started with four kids and grew to 30 or more every recess, collaborating and making roads." Based on that response, Slater wrote more grants for additional equipment and is working with Tonka to get additional tools. Slater discovered that the sandbox helped to decrease physical aggression incidents. This year, he's encouraging students to take pictures and document their progress. He's also planning to buy Lincoln Logs so the children can build forts and role-play.

"How many kids leave recess feeling rejected because they didn't get picked for a team or are always 'it' in tag?" asks Curtis. "With our sandbox makerspace, they feel like they are part of something and are proud. Parents love it, too."
MAKING ISN'T JUST A STEM THING
Baltimore County (MD) Public Schools (BCPS) encourages making throughout the whole district, emphasizing hands-on learning in every classroom and via the BCPS Mobile Innovation Lab, a traveling makerspace in a converted school bus. The district is also developing a Maker Lending Library that will offer training for teachers and let them sign out tools to bring back to their classrooms.

Margaret Koenig, who teaches fourth- and fifth-grade science at Hillcrest Elementary School, has been weaving making into her lessons for years. As chair of the innovation team, she also helps her colleagues integrate making into their classes. "One of my passions is showing others that making doesn't just work best in a STEM situation," she says. "That's what a lot of teachers associate it with." In fact, Koenig often has students do maker projects in English Language Arts. Last year, the fifth graders read The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, a novel about a wealthy 13-year-old girl who encounters a lot of problems while sailing from England to the United States in the mid-1800s. Koenig shared an article about a 14-year-old who invented a vending machine that dispensed first-aid materials and asked the students to design and create items to stock on a vending machine for Charlotte Doyle's ship. Through their research, the students learned that Japanese vending machines sell everything from umbrellas to pizzas. They also studied seasickness remedies from the 1800s. Next, they used makerspace materials to create a toad to kill cockroaches, miniature dresses in case Charlotte ran out of clean clothes, and other vending machine-sized items. "They were so creative and really pushed themselves. I also discovered that a lot of my students can sew!" says Koenig.

Koenig introduced another makerspace project by challenging her students to design something to protect the big red emergency shutoff buttons in her science lab. The buttons, which are at shoulder height, tend to be hit "accidentally"-especially when there's a substitute in the room. She says the students had tons of clever ideas, including lining the surrounding area with bubble wrap.

To help her students better understand ratios, one of Koenig's colleagues asked her students to select one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and use makerspace materials to build a scale model. They also had to have documentation that showed the proper proportions. Koenig's takeaway: "You can never have enough colorful duct tape, especially fluorescent pink."
CALLING ALL FUTURE ARCHITECTS
STEM Launch K-8, which is part of the Adams (CO) 12 Five Star Schools, incorporates making into most of its project-based learning (PBL) curriculum. The school serves a high-risk population, and students work with industry partners to help solve problems. At the beginning of last year, students analyzed back-to-school products and created prototypes of redesigned chairs, headphones, and other items. As they do with all of these projects, they presented their designs to a panel of industry partners. "We don't just do expert panels at the end of our projects, since that provides only minimal feedback," says Kate Klaver, STEM coordinator. "Instead, we bring people in throughout the process so the students can use feedback to improve the next design."

When sixth-graders were struggling with area, perimeter, and geometry standards, their teachers gave them links to articles about Denver's housing crisis and encouraged them to figure out a solution with design. At the time, tiny home shows were all the rage, so the students decided to focus on tiny homes. They studied the industry, went to the Denver Home Show, and a tiny home designer visited the class to discuss his work. At the Denver Home Show, a company called Rainbow Tiny Homes asked to partner with the school; the company gave the students design parameters and told them they would choose one of their designs to build. The students used Fab@School Maker Studio, a Web-based design and fabrication tool, to design their own tiny homes. They made blueprints, used 3D fabricators, 3D printers, screen printers, paint, and other tools, and incorporated statistics and facts about the housing shortage into their projects.

Fourth-graders worked with their engineering and art teacher to figure out how to make their K-8 school look less like a middle school and more like a K-8 school. They decided it needed more student-generated art, so they visited a sculpture garden, spoke to artists who specialize in metal sculptures, and designed outdoor sculptures. In art, they designed; in engineering, they made sure their prototypes were structurally sound. After a panel of district architects and facilities staff reviewed their designs, they began fundraising so they can create the pieces.

The school's philosophy is that everyone can use makerspace materials to bring student and teacher ideas to life. As Klaver says, "We try to get all students involved with the makerspace by giving them the tools and letting them run with them."
A MAKERSPACE WHERE SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING THRIVES
As Islip (NY) High School's library media specialist, Gina Seymour collaborates with classroom teachers all the time. Her goal is for the makerspace to be meaningful and connected to the curriculum, not something extra or special. "I want students to understand that the makerspace is the real-world application of what they were talking about in class," says Seymour.

She tells teachers that one easy way to integrate making in science labs is to hand out wind tubes, marble runs, littleBits, and Snap Circuits. "Let students tinker and experiment," she says. "They reach the same conclusion as they would have with a prescriptive lab assignment, but they understand it better and are more excited."

Seymour's makerspace is always open, so student drop in during lunch or free periods and do what they want. Before midterms, she offered maker activities like coloring and puzzles that develop mindfulness and confidence. (See more ideas on her blog at https://ginaseymour.com/.)

A really cool turning point for Seymour was seeing how much her students enjoy using the makerspace to help others. At the beginning of the 2016-17 school year, a student who had graduated in June was killed in a car accident. Needless to say, the community was heartbroken. "We set up a button-making station in the library so people could make memorial buttons for homecoming and other events to honor him. I saw how makerspaces can address social-emotional learning as well as academic learning."

Students began making items for events and service-learning projects, such as dog and cat toys for the animal shelter and sleep masks for the homeless population. She paired up with the sewing teachers, and students turned pillowcases into dresses for Little Dresses for Africa. Last spring, Seymour worked with the AP environmental science and marine biology teachers on a project in which students repurposed plastic bags into jump ropes for the elementary school field day. "They were studying sustainability and reading One Plastic Bag. The project paired perfectly with the curriculum," she says.

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The Resource for Education Technology Leaders focusing on K-12 educators. Site contains a Software Reviews Database, articles from Technology & Learning Magazine, articles from Educators in Educators' eZine, Event and Contest listings, Reader suggested Web sites, and weekly news updates on education technology leaders."

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Balancing between make and take and reusable supplies

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Balancing between make and take and reusable supplies

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A link to a few make and takes to bring the making home for kids.

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Make & Takes Build Excitement & Engagement

A few weeks ago, I was meeting with a group of girls to plan activities we want to do with our STEMgirls club that we're starting. They had tons of great ideas and suggestions:

"We want to learn how to sew and make beds for an animal shelter"

"We want a workshop on how to solder and make jewelry"

"We should get more arts and crafts supplies for the makerspace"

"It would be cool to have a t-shirt alteration challenge."

As we discussed ideas and I offered up some of my own, I started to notice a theme. Every time a project or activity was suggested where students would get to either take something they made home or give something they made to someone else, they got really excited and enthusiastic. And I realized an important truth: students LOVE making projects that they get to take home with them.

I started thinking back along the history of our makerspace and realized that many of our most popular activities have been make & takes: our Rainbow Loom band fundraiser, the Perler Bead station that we first started with Teen Tech Week, our DIY bookmark center, the arts & crafts parties that first spurred on our makerspace. Then in more recent years, the make & takes at our 2015 MakerFair, our Cardboard Challenge and more.

Balancing Reusable/Non-consumable Activities with Make & Takes

Many of the activities in our makerspace (and likely many makerspaces) tend to be based around reusable and non-consumable supplies. Think K'nex, LEGOs, littleBits, etc. These materials are meant to stay in the makerspace so that ALL students coming to the space will always have something to tinker with. While some projects will go on display, most will remain in the space until they are taken apart and repurposed into something else. Many of my students ask to keep their LEGO and K'nex projects, but it's unrealistic for us to have a budget where every student can take these types of projects home.

To balance things out, I try to find projects and activities that we can add to our makerspace that use affordable materials that our students can take home. I keep the supplies for these types of activities readily available in our Maker Room, which is a space connected to our makerspace that students can access any time they are in the library.

Try to find #makerspace projects that use affordable materials that students can take home. Click To Tweet

Make & Takes Bring the Learning Home

Often, when a student takes a project home, I hear positive responses. When we held our 2015 Cardboard challenge, several students took their projects home (including the student above who wore his robot suit). The next week, I had several parents asking me to post photos of the students' projects on our school Facebook page. This brought the conversation about making and creativity home and also served as an advocacy tool, since the parents were excited about what their students were learning.

Make & Takes can be an advocacy tool as they take the conversation about learning home. Click To Tweet

We had several Make & Take stations set up at our Maker Fair this past year and they were some of the most popular activities. Parents and students worked together to weave potholders. Boys and girls alike made Perler bead creations. The button maker was so popular, that we had to start limiting how many buttons each individual could make.

Examples of Affordable Make & Take Projects

If you're going to be letting students take projects home, you want to have a variety of affordable, consumable materials on hand. Many of these supplies can be sourced through donations and DonorsChoose projects. If people know what you're looking for, they're often more than happy to help out.

Button maker & buttons (often schools have these lying around - I got mine from a local elementary school that no longer used it)

Perler Beads

Loom weaving

General Arts & Crafts supplies

Recycled materials (paper tubes, milk cartons, etc)

Coloring sheets

Paper circuits

Sewn circuits

Art bots

Anything with cardboard!

Related Posts:

What kinds of Make & Take activities have you tried before? What was the student response to them?

Diana Rendina, MLIS, is the media specialist at Tampa Preparatory School, an independent 6-12 in Tampa, FL. Previously, she was the media specialist at Stewart Middle Magnet School for seven years, where she founded their library makerspace. She is the creator of the blog RenovatedLearning.com & is also a monthly contributor to AASL Knowledge Quest. Diana is the winner of the 2016 ISTE Outstanding Young Educator Award, the 2015 ISTE Librarians Network Secondary Award, the 2015 AASL Frances Henne Award & the 2015 SLJ Build Something Bold Award. She is an international speaker on the Maker Movement and has presented at conferences including AASL, FETC & ISTE. Diana co-authored Challenge-Based Learning in the School Library Makerspace with Colleen and Aaron Graves and is also the author Reimagining Library Spaces: Transform Your Space on Any Budget.

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Make & Takes: Let Students Own the Learning

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Make & Takes Build Excitement & Engagement A few weeks ago, I was meeting with a group of girls to plan activities we want to do with our STEMgirls club that we're starting.

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#Makerspaces allow students to create, explore and discover new things.  With hands-on learning, anything is possible.  #Makerspace

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How can you create an un-makerspace in your class? Here are the seven basic steps

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Making vs. Un-Making

Before we start taking apart the un-makerspace, we need to look at the maker movement. I love all the recent focus on makerspaces in schools. If you're not familiar with what a makerspace is, Vicki Davis created an outstanding look at this education trend. Simply put, a makerspace is a place for students to take raw materials and create "things" using their imagination. The creativity required and the "in-time" learning that a makerspace provides are powerful. I saw an example of the power of making this last school year when some of my students, who'd normally struggled in a traditional class, created things such as a working catapult fashioned out of popsicle sticks, rubber-bands and cardboard.

So the making led me to "un-making." To create an un-makerspace, I simply turned my classroom into a space where kids could take things apart. So many of the creative geniuses that I met at the Bay Area Maker Faire or that I've read about speak of taking things apart when they were kids. We all have this inner drive to create an understanding of the world around us. This is founded in the desire to answer all of the "why" and "how" questions in our thoughts.

Why did that little wheel spin when I pushed the play button on that cassette player?

How did the electricity get from the cord into the monitor and then create a picture?

How can I take this apart?

My students will have a space to dissect all the discarded and unwanted items and to ask those questions. In this un-makerspace, they'll have the chance to explore the possible answers.

Making an Un-Makerspace in 7 Easy Steps

How can you create an un-makerspace in your class? Here are the seven basic steps that I took to create mine.

1. Find the Electronics

It can be old stereos, discarded computers, or even VHS machines, but whether it is small or large, your students will learn. Visit garage sales. Put requests in the local paper or online. Ask parents and neighbors. There are so many ways to acquire the needed electronics to take apart. (Alternate to electronics, let your students bring in something their parents have selected for them to dismantle.)

2. Tools of Un-Making

Send out a request to your families and others in the community who may want to help. If you have a local hardware store or mechanic shop, so many people who work in these places are open to helping our schools, and they can be great resources for donations of tools like screwdrivers, wire cutters, pliers, wrenches, and hammers.

3. Safety, Safety, Safety

I remember the first three days of wood shop and auto shop classes in high school. We talked over and over about being safe, and the dangers of tools as well as their potential. The most important step is to make sure that your students have safety equipment, including goggles and gloves.

4. Organize Un-Maker Teams

Having students collaborate on this project is a great way to learn teamwork. I use a simple document to help guide the groups through the process. It's important for me to point the kids in the direction I want them to go while allowing them autonomy to find their way during the process.

5. Logging and Blogging

Providing students with the means to log their dissections through writing, photos, and video as they explore the scientific way to take things apart is a vital piece of the lesson. I have students use iPads to document the process with video and photos. After the process is done, having the students blog about their reflection is a powerful way to see what they're thinking.

6. Extend the Learning

Un-making provides many opportunities for learning math, writing, critical thinking, fine motor skills, and a chance to help develop a greater level of executive functioning skills (to name just a few). Decide how you can foster an atmosphere where student questions drive their desire to learn and take them in different direction.

7. Clean-Up

Be sure to have the proper gear for cleaning up after yourselves. You may consider using tarps or butcher paper for the students to work on as they un-make. Many of the items can still be given to an e-waste recycler if you don't find another use for them.

Un-Make It, Break It, Take It Apart

Beyond all the learning that takes place in the un-making process, it provides opportunities for students to try rebuilding or using the parts to create something new. Maybe those parts can become a beautiful piece of remixed art, sold to raise money for another project, or even used in your makerspace just like one amazing teacher Christine Eaves does.

So join us, turn up a song like ""(Un-Make It, Break It) Take It Apart" (created by Oliver Schinkten), and grab those old or broken VHS tape players before they get tossed into the dumpster. Smile when you see a keyboard that isn't working, and celebrate that old laptop with the broken screen that is out of warranty. It's all about how we look at things, our mindset, that can lead us to finding "new" in the old -- new questions to answer, new places to explore, and new learning to gain. As for those broken "unusable" things, they get a second life by becoming another learning opportunity for our students!

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Dissecting the Un-Makerspace: Recycled Learning | Edutopia

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Before we start taking apart the un-makerspace, we need to look at the maker movement. I love all the recent focus on makerspaces in schools. If you're not familiar with what a makerspace is, Vicki Davis created an outstanding look at this education trend.

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Pretty much anything:
Ask for donations and you will get them.
My favorites:
Bikes, Remotes, game controls, chairs, IKEA stuff, clothes, battery operated toys, old phones, music box, kitchen gadgets, GO WILD!

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Magazine that celebrates your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your own will.

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How to Make a School Maker Faire

Maker Faire is a celebration of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness. It's a place to show what we've made and to share what we've learned with others - a great match for any educational community.

Schools host Maker Faires because they are a perfect combination of part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new. School Maker Faire exhibitors, or "makers," are primarily students-either as individuals, clubs, classes or groups. And Maker Faire exhibits can be from any discipline - from science to art to gardening to engineering to craft.

School Maker Faire organizers can be teachers, parents, administrators and even students.

Your school may want to host a Maker Faire in order to:

showcase the making already taking place on campus

replace a more limited science fair model

connect with larger creativity, innovation, STEM, or art initiatives

cultivate awareness of the Maker movement

build school community

The typical result of a School Maker Faire is a student body bursting with creative invention and excited to get more into making and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math.) Our School Maker Faire program is intended for K-12 (or international equivalent) schools. School districts need to request permission to register for a district-wide event. University or college-level programs - or schools interested in hosting city-wide Maker Faire events - should apply through the Maker Faire Global program website.

Learn More

We ran an online hangout called Get Going with Your School Maker Faire about some of the things you may need to know about running a School Maker Faire, featuring Sabrina Merlo of the Maker Faire Global program and Adam Campbell of the American Cooperative School of Tunis.

Finally, be sure to check out these pages (also linked above): Steps, Guidelines & Resources, Register Your Event, Find a Faire, and Organizer Resources.

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Maker Faire is a celebration of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness. It's a place to show what we've made and to share what we've learned with others - a great match for any educational community. Schools host Maker Faires because they are a perfect combination of part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new.

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current articles and variety of resources on where the Maker culture is going in schools.

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The Maker Movement: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants to Own the Future: To better make the case for making, learn about the maker movement's pedagogical roots. (Edutopia, 2014)

How the Maker Movement Is Moving Into Classrooms: Get familiar with maker terminology and trends: Maker Faires, fab labs, hackerspaces, makerspaces, and more. (Edutopia, 2014)

How the Maker Movement Connects Students to Engineering and Tech: Watch a video to see how one eighth grade student uses his passion for electronics to teach fellow students about 3D printing, Arduinos, and other hands-on lessons in STEM skills. (Edutopia, 2014)

Meaningful Making: Projects and Inspirations for Fab Labs and Makerspaces: In this free online book, the Stanford University FabLearn Fellows take you on a tour of making and digital fabrication in education; explore project ideas, articles, best practices, and assessment strategies. (FabLearn, 2016)

Dive Into the Maker Movement: Accompany an educator on a visit to the fab lab at New York City's Marymount School to learn more about how the maker movement is making its way into schools. (Edutopia, 2013)

Trees of Knowledge: Learn how one teacher creates learning landscapes with materials, tools, and projects to enable curiosity to take root and knowledge to grow. (Edutopia, 2014)

Research Roundup, Some Studies on Making and Learning: Explore the research supporting the case for making in education. (Makerspace)

Getting Started With Making in Schools

Make the Most of the Maker Movement: Take a look at five suggestions for early adopters of maker approaches in schools. (Edutopia, 2014)

Middle School Maker Journey: Top 20 Technologies and Tools: Examine a list of 20 great tools that can help facilitate great projects and experiences in your makerspace. This post is fifth in a series describing one middle school educator's year-long journey with making -- read all the other posts to learn more about his journey. (Edutopia, 2015)

Supporting Maker Education District-Wide: Review critical components to consider in order to effectively implement maker education within a school district. (Edutopia, 2015)

Maker Education Resources: Explore lesson plans, tools, and tips on integrating maker education in the classroom. (Sonoma County Office of Education)

MakerEd's Resource Library: Browse a library full of resources on everything maker: project ideas, assessment tools, makerspace design tips, and professional development tools. (Maker Ed)

A Blueprint: Maker Programs for Youth: Download a PDF guide on how to design and implement a maker program in your school, community, or just about anywhere. (New York Hall of Science)

What's Next for Maker Education: Find information, resources, and professional-development opportunities in this online guide, including Edsurge's recent coverage on funding and building a makerspace, creating more equitable maker communities, expert tips, Maker Faire, and more. An earlier guide on "How to Build a Maker Community" is also worth a view. (Edsurge, 2016)

Launching School Makerspaces

Building Maker Mindsets and Culture

Designing Classroom Makerspaces for Transformative Learning: Discover how integrating maker culture into curriculum can transform how learning happens in schools. (Edutopia, 2013)

Capture the Learning: Crafting the Maker Mindset: Review a few simple steps for incorporating a maker mindset into how you plan classroom activities. (Edutopia, 2014)

Creating an Authentic Maker Education Rubric: Download a three-part rubric to guide students through process, understanding, and product. An editable version is also available. (Edutopia, 2015)

Design Thinking, Making, and Learning From the Heart: To better understand how to incorporate design thinking into maker education, learn how students engaged their senses and empathy through a WWI memorial project. (Edutopia, 2015)

How Maker Culture Builds Stronger Learning Communities: Learn about an innovative youth leadership program called Public Workshop and how they partnered with high school students to remake their environment. (Edutopia, 2015)

Selecting Maker Tools and Projects

Reaching All Makers

'Diversity Does Not Happen By Accident' and Other Lessons About Equity in the Maker Movement: Explore takeaways from a panel of researchers and practitioners on equity and making, organized by the Stanford School of Education. (Edsurge, 2016)

The New Face of STEAM: See how one school implements culturally responsive instruction in their STEAM Lab, a space that is part makerspace, part artists' studio, and part fabrication laboratory. (Edutopia, 2016)

Encouraging Neurodiversity in Your Makerspace or Classroom: Learn how students with neurological differences bring unique qualities of focus, nonlinear thinking, recall, and brainstorming enthusiasm to a makerspace or classroom. (Edutopia, 2016)

Design Challenge: DIY Assistive Game Controllers: Consider using tools like Makey Makey to transform game controllers into devices that students of any ability can enjoy. (Edutopia, 2014)

Makerspaces for Students With Special Needs: Discover how students with special needs and neurological differences can benefit from the hands-on process, experimental nature, and visible results of maker education. (Edutopia, 2014)

Maker Movement: Bridging the Gap Between Girls and STEM: Find out how girls at the Ellis School are empowered to identify for themselves what personal and community challenges they want to address through making. (ISTE, 2014)

Examples From Schools That Work

Edutopia's flagship series highlights practices and case studies from K-12 schools and districts that are improving the way students learn. Below, dive into real-world examples of maker education in practice.

At Albemarle County Public Schools, maker education fosters student autonomy, ignites student interest, and empowers students to embrace their own learning.

A Student Maker and the Birth of a Startup: Read one student's account of how he responded to a summer maker challenge and ended up demonstrating his sports training product prototype at a White House tech innovation fair.

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Resources for Maker Education | Edutopia

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The Maker Movement: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants to Own the Future: To better make the case for making, learn about the maker movement's pedagogical roots. (Edutopia, 2014) How the Maker Movement Is Moving Into Classrooms: Get familiar with maker terminology and trends: Maker Faires, fab labs, hackerspaces, makerspaces, and more.

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"Leverage students’ existing design knowledge. Many elementary school children have engineering design-related hobbies that can be leveraged as they learn science. Engineering design is a great entry-point for many students."

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Practice Brief 43 -- Topics: Background Implementation

Why Do We Need to Teach Science in Elementary School?

Teachers should support extended 3D investigations in elementary education for all students (e.g., by not allowing students to be pulled out during science). Keep images of science broad.

District Staff & PD Providers should support elementary teachers in teaching science and school-building administrators in supporting science instruction.

School Leaders should resource and support teams of elementary teachers by giving them ample time and materials to teach science.

What Is The Issue?

Our future depends on a public that can use science for personal decision-making and to participate in civic, political, and cultural discussions related to science. Though we have national goals for science education, science is often pushed to the side-particularly at the elementary school level. There are multiple reasons for science to be a core part of elementary school learning. It can support: (a) development of a knowledgeable citizenry, (b) meaningful learning of language and mathematics, (c) wonderment about how the natural world works, and (d) preparation for STEM-related careers.

Authors:

JULIE CAFARELLA, AMBER MCCULLOCH & PHILIP BELL - JANUARY 2017

Reflection Questions

Do you view ELA and math instructional time to be at odds with the teaching of science? Have you considered integrating ELA and math into science investigations?

On average, how many science instructional minutes do your students receive each week? 300? 150? 30? Fewer? What factors shape that quantity?

What concrete steps need to happen in order for you to improve your science teaching?

Things To Consider

Attending to Equity

Recommended Actions You Can Take

ALSO SEE STEM TEACHING TOOLS

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This site is primarily funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Award #1920249 (previously through Awards #1238253 and #1854059). Opinions expressed are not those of any funding agency.

Work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Others may adapt with attribution. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Opinions expressed are not those of any funding agency.

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Why Do We Need to Teach Science in Elementary School? : StemTeachingTools (en-US)

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Practice Brief 43 -- Topics: Background Implementation Teachers should support extended 3D investigations in elementary education for all students (e.g., by not allowing students to be pulled out during science). Keep images of science broad. District Staff & PD Providers should support elementary teachers in teaching science and school-building administrators in supporting science instruction.

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Maker Ed’s set of micro credentials focuses on six of the skills we believe are crucial to educators looking develop and expand their skills as maker educators.

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Educators are always learning. In the classroom with students, at workshops and trainings, through the process of developing and facilitating lessons, and in so many more places educators are constantly building and refining their skills. Often, the skills developed in their day-to-day practice prove to be the most valuable tools for educators. With micro-credentials, educators can now be formally recognized for the skills and competencies they learn throughout their careers. Micro-credentials are research-backed, expert-assessed, representations of learned skills or competencies that can be presented as a digital badge. In partnership with Digital Promise and their micro-credential platform, Maker Ed is excited to share " Getting Started with Making, " a set of six maker education micro-credentials.

Maker Ed's set of micro credentials focuses on six of the skills we believe are crucial to educators looking develop and expand their skills as maker educators. Each credential emphasizes our belief that maker education is most successful, impactful, and sustainable when the needs and interests of learners guide the learning experience. From designing the physical space in which making takes place to choosing the materials with which students will make, maker educators should plan in collaboration with learners. Here are the six credentials, and their key competencies:

As the micro-credentials are competency-based, educators can earn them by doing the work they are already doing in and out of their learning environment. To earn a credential, educators start by submitting the evidence and artifacts described in the credential. For instance, artifacts might include classroom videos, documentation of student work, or project plans that exhibit the skill or competency outlined in the credential. The submitted artifacts are reviewed by experts in the field and if a specific requirement is not met, assessors provide feedback to guide educators towards successful completion of the credential.

Start today! Dive into these free, self-paced professional development opportunities from Maker Ed and start integrating maker-centered learning into your classroom.

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What Are Micro-Credentials, And Why Are They So Exciting?

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Educators are always learning. In the classroom with students, at workshops and trainings, through the process of developing and facilitating lessons, and in so many more places educators are constantly building and refining their skills. Often, the skills developed in their day-to-day practice prove to be the most valuable tools for educators.

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From beginner to advanced this has all the best collection of Do It Yourself (DIY) projects. They can easily be adjusted to fit younger audiences. All the supplies are listed and usually easy to find around the house.

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Step-by-step

We make it easy to learn how to make anything, one step at a time. From the stovetop to the workshop, you are sure to be inspired by the awesome projects that are shared everyday.

Made By You

Instructables are created by you. No matter who you are, we all have secret skills to share. Come join our community of curious makers, innovators, teachers, and life long learners who love to share what they make.

A Happy Place

Making things makes people happy. We can't prove it, but we know it to be true. Find your happy place, and join one of the friendliest online communities anywhere.

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Instructables is a community for people who like to make things. Come explore, share, and make your next project with us!

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NYTimes: Learning to Think Like a Computer

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NYTimes: Learning to Think Like a Computer

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This promise - as well as a job market hungry for coding - has fed enrollments in classes like the one at Berkeley, taken by 500 students a year. Since 2011, the number of computer science majors has more than doubled, according to the Computing Research Association. At Stanford, Princeton and Tufts, computer science is now the most popular major. More striking, though, is the appeal among nonmajors. Between 2005 and 2015, enrollment of nonmajors in introductory, mid- and upper-level computer science courses grew by 177 percent, 251 percent and 143 percent, respectively.

In the fall, the College Board introduced a new Advanced Placement course, Computer Science Principles, focused not on learning to code but on using code to solve problems. And WGBH, the PBS station in Boston, is using National Science Foundation money to help develop a program for 3- to 5-year-olds in which four cartoon monkeys get into scrapes and then "get out of the messes by applying computational thinking," said Marisa Wolsky, executive producer of children's media. "We see it as a groundbreaking curriculum that is not being done yet."

Computational thinking is not new. Seymour Papert, a pioneer in artificial intelligence and an M.I.T. professor, used the term in 1980 to envision how children could use computers to learn. But Jeannette M. Wing, in charge of basic research at Microsoft and former professor at Carnegie Mellon, gets credit for making it fashionable. In 2006, on the heels of the dot-com bust and plunging computer science enrollments, Dr. Wing wrote a trade journal piece, "Computational Thinking." It was intended as a salve for a struggling field.

"Things were so bad that some universities were thinking of closing down computer science departments," she recalled. Some now consider her article a manifesto for embracing a computing mind-set.

Like any big idea, there is disagreement about computational thinking - its broad usefulness as well as what fits in the circle. Skills typically include recognizing patterns and sequences, creating algorithms, devising tests for finding and fixing errors, reducing the general to the precise and expanding the precise to the general.

It requires reframing research, said Shriram Krishnamurthi, a computer science professor at Brown, so that "instead of formulating a question to a human being, I formulate a question to a data set." For example, instead of asking if the media is biased toward liberals, pose the question as: Are liberals identified as liberal in major newspapers more often or less often than conservatives are identified as conservative?

Dr. Krishnamurthi helped create "Introduction to Computation for the Humanities and Social Sciences" more than a decade ago because he wanted students "early in their undergrad careers to learn a new mode of thinking that they could take back to their discipline." Capped at 20 students, the course now has a waitlist of more than 100.

Just as Charles Darwin's theory of evolution is drafted to explain politics and business, Dr. Wing argued for broad use of computer ideas. And not just for work. Applying computational thinking, "we can improve the efficiencies of our daily lives," she said in an interview, "and make ourselves a little less stressed out."

Computing practices like reformulating tough problems into ones we know how to solve, seeing trade-offs between time and space, and pipelining (allowing the next action in line to begin before the first completes the sequence) have many applications, she said.

Consider the buffet line. "When you go to a lunch buffet, you see the forks and knives are the first station," she said. "I find that very annoying. They should be last. You shouldn't have to balance your plate while you have your fork and knife." Dr. Wing, who equates a child filling her backpack to caching (how computers retrieve and store information needed later), sees the buffet's inefficiency as a failure to apply logical thinking and sequencing.

Computational thinking, she said, can aid a basic task like planning a trip - breaking it into booking flights, hotels, car rental - or be used "for something as complicated as health care or policy decision-making." Identifying subproblems and describing their relationship to the larger problem allows for targeted work. "Once you have well-defined interfaces," she said, "you can ignore the complexity of the rest of the problem."

Can computational thinking make us better at work and life? Dr. Krishnamurthi is sometimes seduced. "Before I go grocery shopping, I sort my list by aisles in the store," he said. Sharing the list on the app Trello, his family can "bucket sort" items by aisle (pasta and oils, canned goods, then baking and spices), optimizing their path through Whole Foods. It limits backtracking and reduces spontaneous, "i.e., junk," purchases, he said.

Despite his chosen field, Dr. Krishnamurthi worries about the current cultural tendency to view computer science knowledge as supreme, better than that gained in other fields. Right now, he said, "we are just overly intoxicated with computer science."

It is certainly worth wondering if some applications of computational thinking are trivial, unnecessary or a Stepford Wife-like abdication of devilishly random judgment.

Alexander Torres, a senior majoring in English at Stanford, has noted how the campus's proximity to Google has lured all but the rare student to computer science courses. He's a holdout. But "I don't see myself as having skills missing," he said. In earning his degree he has practiced critical thinking, problem solving, analysis and making logical arguments. "When you are analyzing a Dickinson or Whitman or Melville, you have to unpack that language and synthesize it back."

There is no reliable research showing that computing makes one more creative or more able to problem-solve. It won't make you better at something unless that something is explicitly taught, said Mark Guzdial, a professor in the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech who studies computing in education. "You can't prove a negative," he said, but in decades of research no one has found that skills automatically transfer.

Still, he added, for the same reasons people should understand biology, chemistry or physics, "it makes a lot of sense to understand computing in our lives." Increasing numbers of people must program in their jobs, even if it's just Microsoft Excel. "Solving problems with computers happens to all of us every day," he said. How to make the skills available broadly is "an interesting challenge."

*

"It's like being a diplomat and learning Spanish; I feel like it's essential," said Greer Brigham, a Brown freshman who plans to major in political science. He's taking the course designed by Dr. Krishnamurthi, which this term is being taught by a graduate student in robotics named Stephen Brawner.

On a March morning at the Brown computer science center, Mr. Brawner projected a student's homework assignment on the screen. Did anyone notice a problem? Nary a humanities hand was raised. Finally, a young woman suggested "centimeters" and "kilograms" could be abbreviated. Fine, but not enough.

Mr. Brawner broke the silence and pointed out long lines of code reaching the far side of the screen. With a practiced flurry, he inserted backslashes and hit "return" repeatedly, which drew the symbols into a neat block. It may all be directions to a machine, but computer scientists care a great deal about visual elegance. As Mr. Brawner cut out repeated instructions, he shared that "whenever we define a constant, we want that at the top of our code." He then explained the new assignment: write a program to play "rock, paper, scissors" against a computer.

Mili Mitra, a junior majoring in public policy and economics who sat with a MacBook on her lap, would not have considered this class a year ago. But seeing group research projects always being handed off to someone with computing knowledge, she decided that she "didn't want to keep passing them along." She has learned to write basic code and fetch data sets through the internet to analyze things she's interested in, such as how geographic proximity shapes voting patterns in the United Nations General Assembly.

Despite finding interactions with a computer much like "explaining things to a toddler," Ms. Mitra credits the class for instilling the habit of "going step by step and building a solution." She admits to being an impatient learner: "I jump ahead. In C.S. you don't have a choice. If you miss a step, you mess up everything."

Just as children are drilled on the scientific method - turn observations into a hypothesis, design a control group, do an experiment to test your theory - the basics of working with computers is being cast as a teachable blueprint. One thing making this possible is that communicating with computers has become easier.

"Block" programming languages like Scratch, released by the M.I.T. Media Lab a decade ago, hide text strings that look like computer keys run amok. That makes coding look less scary. Instead of keyboard letters and symbols, you might select from a menu and drag a color-coded block that says "say ( ) for ( ) secs" or "play note ( ) for ( ) beats." The colors and shapes correspond to categories like "sound" or "motion"; the blocks can be fit together like stacked puzzle pieces to order instructions. Students use this to, say, design a game.

One need not be a digital Dr. Doolittle, fluent in hard-core programming languages like Java or Python, to code. Block languages cut out the need to memorize commands, which vary depending on the computer language, because the block "is read just the way you think about it," Dr. Garcia said. Students in his Berkeley course use the block language Snap! for assignments - he doesn't teach Python until the last two weeks, and then just so they can take higher-level courses. "We tell them, 'You already know how to program,' " he said, because the steps are the same.

Computer Science A, which teaches Java, is the fastest-growing Advanced Placement course. (The number of students taking the exam in 2016 rose 18 percent over 2015 and nearly tripled in a decade.) But professors complained that "Java was not the right way" to attract a diverse group of students, said Trevor Packer, head of the A.P. program, so a new course was developed.

The course, Computer Science Principles, is modeled on college versions for nonmajors. It lets teachers pick any coding language and has a gentler vibe. There is an exam, but students also submit projects "more similar to a studio art portfolio," Mr. Packer said. The course covers working with data and understanding the internet and cyber security, and it teaches "transferable skills," he said, like formulating precise questions. That's a departure from what the College Board found in many high schools: "They were learning how to keyboard, how to use Microsoft applications." The goal is that the new course will be offered in every high school in the country.

President Obama's "Computer Science for All" initiative, officially launched last year, resulted in educators, lawmakers and computer science advocates spreading the gospel of coding. It also nudged more states to count computer science toward high school graduation requirements. Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia now do, up from 12 in 2013, according to Code.org. It's what Dr. Wing had hoped for when she advocated in her 2006 article that, along with reading, writing and arithmetic "we should add computational thinking to every child's analytical ability."

*

In an airy kindergarten classroom at Eliot-Pearson Children's School, in the Tufts University Department of Child Study and Human Development, children program with actual blocks. Marina Umaschi Bers, a child development and computer science professor, created wooden blocks that bear bar codes with instructions such as "forward," "spin" and "shake" that are used to program robots - small, wheeled carts with built-in scanners - by sequencing the blocks, then scanning them. Each "program" starts with a green "begin" block and finishes with a red "end."

Coding for the youngest students has become the trendy pedagogy, with plentiful toys and apps like Dr. Bers's blocks. Dr. Bers, who with M.I.T. collaborators developed the block language ScratchJr, is evangelical about coding. Learning the language of machines, she said, is as basic as writing is to being proficient in a foreign language. "You are able to write a love poem, you are able to write a birthday card, you are able to use language in many expressive ways," she said. "You are not just reading; you are producing."

Peer-reviewed studies by Dr. Bers show that after programming the robots, youngsters are better at sequencing picture stories. Anecdotally, she said, when they ask children to list steps for brushing teeth, they get just a few, "but after being exposed to this work, they'll have 15 or 20 steps."

Dr. Bers embeds computing in activities familiar to young children like inventing stories, doing dances and making art. At the Tufts school on a recent morning, children puzzled over a question: How does a robot celebrate spring?

"He's going to dance, and then he will pretend that he is wet," offered Hallel Cohen-Goldberg, a kindergartner with a mane of curls.

Solina Gonzalez, coloring a brown, blue and red circle with markers, peered soberly through pink-framed glasses: "He just does a lollipop dance." Solina's partner, Oisin Stephens, fretted about the root beer lollipop drawing she had taped to a block. "The robot won't be able to read this," he said. (It's an invalid input.)

As they lurched around the carpet on their knees, the children executed computer science concepts like breaking instructions into sequenced commands, testing and debugging. One team used "repeat" and "stop repeat" blocks, forming a programming "loop," a sequence of instructions that is continually repeated until a certain condition is reached.

It may be a leap to think of talking to machines as child's play. But when Dr. Bers chats with students as they sequence blocks, they hardly notice they are coding. "They say, 'Well, I'm not programming,' " she said.

Consciously or not, this next generation may be effortlessly absorbing the computational thinking skills so many covet, and in the process refining what we mean by digital native.

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This promise - as well as a job market hungry for coding - has fed enrollments in classes like the one at Berkeley, taken by 500 students a year. Since 2011, the number of computer science majors has more than doubled, according to the Computing Research Association.

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Thanks Glenn Malcolm for the awesome background music

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For lesson outline and presentations that are going on, go to: http://edtechlounge.com/presenting-at-gis-kl/

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Beebot Cards from @PanaAsavavatana

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GOAL 1: Explore and get to know the space- Where is everything?
GOAL 2: Learn to be safe in the space. How can we prevent hazards?
GOAL 3: Make something in the space. What does the design process look like?

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Often ES students come to the designated makerspace and do not have a focus. This leads to half completed projects, safety concerns, and a mess.
Set the goals at the start incorperate the design process as a