10-Rep Learning ~ Teague's Tech Treks

Learning Technology & Tech Observations by Dr. Helen Teague

Nov
19

By

Pre-Thanksgiving Fall Leaves STEM & STEAM Lesson Ideas

Category: Creativity Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a Comment

 

We returned from #CCEFinland to full-out fall leaves courtesy of a sudden freeze while we were away. Keeping to our presentation theme of #HarnessingImagination, we brainstormed some lesson ideas while we raked the leaves and gathered components for our Thanksgiving centerpiece.

Teachable Moments, like turkey giblets, are never wasted. For a STEM connection, I can use the photos along with information from ESF State University of New York to form the basis of a ThingLink scavenger hunt on the science behind why leaves turn different colors in fall.  ThinkLink Inc. is a Finnish-American in-image app created in 2010 by Ulla Engeström and Janne Jalkanen. Depending on time limitations (and how compelling the Black Friday sales are), I can ask students to either complete the Scavenger Hunt that I create or they can add their own components. 

Question 1: What design elements would you add to this lesson?
Question 2: What standards does this lesson address?

Please leave a comment with your ideas.

The leaves transformed the lawn to a carpet of color. For a STEAM connection, I can use the photos of the multi-color lawn as a palette for student composed poetry/haiku. After reading and discussing the technique of haiku from the Australian Writers’ Centre, student teams can take turns writing alternating lines of the poem or haiku. Alternately, students can choose to work solo on their poem/haiku.

Question 3: What design elements would you add to this lesson?
Question 4: What standards does this lesson address?

Please leave a comment with your ideas.

Tomorrow’s post will feature the STEM lesson Thinglink deliverable. Click here to view.

All of the outside color found a place on our Thanksgiving table with our Fall Centerpiece of Safflower blossoms, garden parsley, rosemary, and chives. A little glitter spray paint glammed up some of the outside English laurel leaves.

 

 

References:

#HarnessingImagination

Australian Writers’ Centre, (2018, April 19). 19 Haiku poems about Autumn. Retrieved from
https://www.writerscentre.com.au/blog/19-haiku-poems-about-autumn/

College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York (2018). Why Leaves
Change Color. Retrieved from: https://www.esf.edu/pubprog/brochure/leaves/leaves.htm

All photos by Teague

Sep
6

By

STEM and Makerspace DIY Games

Category: Creativity, Makers, Post Feed Tags: , , , Leave a Comment

V.I.T. (Very Important Tweet) from my Twitter Feed:

Jun
19

By

Summer Day Camp Combines Literacy and STEM on a University Campus

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Hardin Simmons University’s Dream-Catchers Summer Camp Engages Students – Enhances Literacy for Young Scholars

Hardin-Simmons University’s Irvin School of Education hosted the sixth year of Dream-Catchers Summer Camp, a program designed to enhance literacy among elementary and middle school scholars from the Abilene Independent School District (AISD) and other nearby districts, held June 18 – 21 and June 25-28, 2018.

Dream-Catchers Summer Camp, funded by numerous donors through the Community Foundation of Abilene, HSU alumni, friends of the program, and local businesses, promotes problem-solving, critical thinking, and hands-on activities while building motivation and achievement in science and social studies. Dr. Renee Collins, Associate Dean of the Irvin School of Education, developed the camp as a result of research in the Engagement Model of Learning for diverse learners. The camp provides real-world connections with opportunities of collaboration, autonomy, and abundance of texts pertaining to Texas Parks and Wildlife Growing Up Wild and Project Wild activities for the young scholars as well as the American Revolution for the adolescent scholars.

According to Dr. Collins, the many motivating and engaging activities provides opportunities for success while applying reading and writing strategies. The scholars make connections through art, music, theater, and technology activities within the day. HSU is designated as a summer feeding site for children under the age of 18, so all scholars attending the camp eat a nutritious meal furnished from Abilene ISD. The 70+ camp staff members include current HSU education majors, AISD teachers, HSU alumni, Abilene community members, and other education major from nearby universities. The 165+ scholars, who range from kindergarten to 8th grade, make friends, develop literacy skills, expand knowledge about science and social studies, as well as
enjoy university aged mentors during the two weeks. It is a win-win experience for everyone.

For the first time, live-tweeting will occur during the camp. The live tweet hashtag is #HSUDreamCatchers

~Post content adapted from original press release by Dr. Renee Collins.

Post by Helen Teague, cross-posted at https://hsutxonlineed.edublogs.org/2018/06/19/hsu-dream-catchers/

Oct
2

By

Be Internet Awesome: Helping kids be safe, confident explorers of the online world.

Category: Best Google Tip, STEM Tags: , , , , , , Leave a Comment

Be Internet Awesome: Helping kids be safe, confident explorers of the online world.

This resource from Google is packed with curriculum, games that allow for hands-on practice, and even a pledge to teach students how to safely navigate the internet.

Here is the link: https://beinternetawesome.withgoogle.com/
#STEM

Sep
29

By

Weekend Ed. Quote~ September 29

Category: Post Feed, STEM Tags: , , , , , , Leave a Comment

“It is important for the school to wrap around the learner, rather than to have the learner wrap around the school.”
~Dr. Eric Hamilton, PhD, Pepperdine University

~~~

More Weekend Ed. Quotes

#STEM

Sep
27

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STEM Learning Resources from PBS Learning Media

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PBS Learning Media has abundant #STEM resources to take your students on a learning adventure and inspire a lifelong love of science!

Wild Kratts follows the adventures of Chris and Martin Kratt as they encounter incredible wild animals, combining science education with fun and adventure as the duo travels to animal habitats around the globe!   Explore Collection

Additional Resources

Animal Adaptations / Grades: PreK-3

How are some birds able to survive winter weather while others have to fly North? Why are Polar Bears and Walrus’ able to survive on land and water? Discover Wild Alaska with the Kratt Brothers! Students will learn about animals in Alaska and how they adapt, survive, and thrive in the wild.  Discover More

Ready Jet Go! / Grades: PreK-3

This space-themed collection includes fun, educational video clips about planet Earth, the other major planets in our solar system, and the characteristics that set them apart. Discover More

Earth Science / Grades: K-2

From different weather patterns to land formations, help your students learn more about how the Earth works and how it was formed with this collection from NASA. Discover More

Sep
26

By

Quick Glance STEM Stats 2

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Quick Glance STEM Stats

  • In 2013, 1.38 million American high school students enrolled in physics courses. *Source
  • In 2015, 1505 young women earned a college degree in Physics. *Source

*The aps.org site offers raw data, data rendered in excel, powerpoint, and Adobe files for additional in class use. 

 

#MakeWhatsNext  #STEM  #QuickGlanceSTEMStats

Please share your STEM stats in the comments section.

 

 

Sep
23

By

Weekend Ed. Quote ~ September 23

Category: Post Feed, STEM Tags: , , , , , , Leave a Comment

“A superb machine in an amazing place doing everything possible to reveal the mysteries and secrets of our solar system… This morning, a lone explorer, a machine made by humankind, finished its mission 900 million miles away. To the very end, the spacecraft did everything we asked. We believe we got every last second of data. We have indeed accomplished everything we set out to do.”  ~ Earl Maize, Cassini project manager, referencing the September 15th demise of the Cassini spacecraft.

Cassini Fast Facts:
Launched in 1977
Traveled almost 1 million miles
Reached Saturn in 2004

From NASA Website: Swirling Patterns on Saturn

 

~~~

More Weekend Ed. Quotes

#STEM

Sep
19

By

Quick Glance STEM Stats 1

Category: Post Feed, STEM Tags: , , , Leave a Comment

  • Only 6.7% of women graduate with STEM degrees. Source
  • .04% of teen girls plan to major in computer science. Source

#MakeWhatsNext   #STEM   #QuickGlanceSTEMStats

Please share your STEM stats in the comments section.

Sep
18

By

Thank-A-Coder: Nigel de Grey

Category: Post Feed, STEM Tags: , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Here is a “Thank-A-Coder” post to include STEM in everyday classroom instruction and observation.

Nigel de Grey was a British coder during World War I. Like many coders, Nigel de Grey worked to break the codes that the enemy used to plan attacks, coordinate arms shipments, and discuss battle strategy. Also, like many coders, Nigel de Grey worked in the obscurity of Bletchley Park, in the cramped office known as Room 40. One hundred years ago, in 1917, Nigel de Grey hacked the coded text of the Zimmermann telegram.

The Zimmermann telegram, sent from the German foreign minister Arthur Zimmermann to the German ambassador in Mexico. The telegram, written completely in code, urged Mexico to become a German ally and fight against the Allies in World War I.  In return for becoming a German ally and attacking the United States, Arthur Zimmermann promised to cede the US states of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico to Mexico, along with large some of money, as a prize after the war.

The codes used by the Germans were “exquisitely complex, so much so that the Germans assumed they could never be cracked.” Working at Bletchley Park, Nigel de Grey had to be hacked by hand since no computer existed (yet) to crack such complicated codes. The decoding of the Zimmermann telegram greatly influenced American President Woodrow Wilson to reverse America’s previously neutral status during World War I and enter the war, thus ensuring victory for the Allies.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2633708/how-zimmerman-telegram-changed-history/

Zimmermann telegram code from https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2633708/how-zimmerman-telegram-changed-history/

 

Nigel de Grey’s brilliant code hacking helped him to be known as “the greatest hacker of the first World War.”

 

Read More: The Road to Bletchley Park, Codebreaking in World War One, Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes

 

Sources:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/29/bletchley-park-codebreakers-first-world-war-exhibition

What is The Zimmerman Telegram and how did it lead to America joining the allies in World War One?


https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/01/the-greatest-hackers-of-the-first-world-war/

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