Supplies: Data Recording Sheet,Predication Sheet, Timer, Lamps, Ice Cubes, Trays, & Insulating Testing Materials such as: Cotton Balls, Aluminum Foil, Plastic Wrap, Fabric Scraps, Styrofoam, and Bubble Wrap
The Snowman by Raymond Briggs is a captivating wordless picture book that follows the incredible journey of a young boy who builds a snowman that comes to life. First published in 1978, The Snowman has become a classic picture book that is a staple in any library and many elementary school classrooms.
Set against the backdrop of a winter wonderland, this story beautifully illustrates the imagination of childhood. After the boy builds a snowman, the snowman takes the boy on a magical journey, but as their time together goes on, the snowman begins to melt. The Snowman is a great book for all ages but can be particularly useful for older elementary students to start a conversation about the transformation of snow or ice to water and how to use scientific exploration to prolong the magic of winter just a little bit longer.
Using Picture Books to Launch Science Investigations
Picture books can be a great launching point for older students into science investigations. Picture books are all about imagination and what better way to get students to start thinking outside of the box, than to start with a story that sparks curiosity. Many students are also helped by visual representations. Starting with a picture book allows students to mentally picture possibilities and gives context to the experiment. For this experiment, connecting to a picture book on building a snowman is something many students can relate to and gives the experiment purpose.
Materials Preparation
Before the lesson, divide your students into groups. Each group should have a tray, a lamp, a prediction sheet, and a data recording sheet. Use a cooler to keep the ice cubes cold while students are working and only pass out one insulating material at a time.
Procedure
Begin by reading The Snowman by Raymond Brigg. This is a wordless picture book. Using a projector to enlarge the pages is helpful for students when reading a book where they have to read pictures to convey meaning. Prior and during the reading, have a discussion on how to read images.
After reading, ask students why the snowman melted. What causes snow and ice to transform to water?
Talk about heat transfer and insulation. What types of things insulate us from cold weather? ex: mittens, blankets, houses. What kinds of things protect or insulate us from heat? Ex: trees, houses, sun hats.
Explain that students will be investigating how to insulate their snowman from the sun to keep their snowman from melting.
Place students into their working groups.
Show students the available materials and have them predict which materials will act as the best insulators. Have them use their predication sheet to record their predictions.
Start with one of the insulting materials. Hand out one to each group with 2 ice cubes.
Explain that one ice cube is their control ice cube and should not be wrapped in the insulator.
Have students wrap one of the ice cubes in the insulator material and then place both under the heat source.
Set a timer for 10 minutes. Have students record their observations.
After 10 minutes, students should record their final observations and clean up their testing site.
Repeat the above instructions with the other insulating materials.
After students have tested all the insulating materials, compare their scientific findings to their predictions. Were they surprised by anything? Which material was the best insulator?
End the activity by asking students what other materials might be good insulators, or what other strategies they might use for keeping their snowman around just a bit longer?
Assessment
You can assess this activity using student groups’ prediction and data recording sheets.
Supplies: Center Directions, Building Supplies, Pencils, Coloring Materials
“Like any great inventor, Josephine Garis Cochrane identified a problem and created something to solve it. But unlike most well-known inventors at the time, she was female. Born on March 8, 1839, Josephine came into a world that offered few rights or opportunities for women.” – Kate Hannigan
Last month, the Illinois Reading Council (IRC) released their selections for the 2024 ”Illinois Reads” program. Every year, the committee selects six books in six different grade bands, from birth to adult. What makes this list unique is that all of the authors are from Illinois. There are many great books on the list that I will be highlighting this year in the blog. But first, I will be highlighting a book by frequent IRC selection author, Kate Hannigan.
Joseph Cochrane, the inventor of the dishwasher, comes to life in Kate Hannigan’s latest book: Josephine and her Dishwashing Machine. This remarkable story about a woman who, despite barriers, is able to accomplish the remarkable, will inspire students to embrace a fail-forward mindset, seeing setbacks as vital stepping stones to success. Hannigan seamlessly weaves together Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math helping students to see STEAM in our everyday lives. Hannigan’s text is a great launching point for discussions around inventions, engineering design and inventor traits, such as perseverance and creativity.
Designing Centers around Narrative Non-Fiction
Using narrative non-fiction text as the foundation for designing classroom centers is a great way to allow students to take a deeper dive into the subject matter of the text. It also allows the teacher to teach targeted skills to a small group while the other students are engaged in self-directed, engaging activities. When designing the activities, I usually start with the one that I will need to facilitate with students. This could be an introduction to a new website or application or teaching an inquiry or research skill. Then I design activities that will allow students to be engaged in more creative activities that build important social emotional skills. For Josephine and Her Dishwashing Machine, I chose the following activities:
Researching Notable Women Inventors – Hannigan provided an amazing list of women inventors in the back matter of the book. For this center, students will select one of the listed inventors to research and complete a presentation on. At this center, the teacher can facilitate how to utilize on-line and print sources to obtain information, how to evaluate information and how to cite your sources.
Engineering Design Challenge – In the book, Josephine uses the design cycle to invent and build a dishwasher. In this building challenge, students will work as a team to build a model of a dishwasher using available materials to hold a cut out of a cup, plate, and fork.
Creative Writing – In 1893, Josephine takes her dishwashing machine to the World’s Fair in Chicago to exhibit it. Have students write a journal entry from Josephine’s point-of-view the night before the exhibition.
Inventor’s Challenge – In teams, task students to identify a common household chore they would like to make easier for themselves or someone else in their lives. They will create an invention and then make a poster to market their invention.
Materials Preparation
Before the lesson, divide your students into groups. They will move in groups around the centers. It’s helpful to make a master slide, with each group noted at a center, that can be displayed. Print out your direction materials and set up each station. For the engineering design station, make sure to have cardboard, tape, glue, cups, straws, scissors, plastic materials, and coloring materials. Print out page 5 of Josephine’s patent to show students or insert in your PowerPoint presentation.
Procedure
Show students the image of Josephine’s patent and invite them to brainstorm what this could be an illustration of.
Explain that this is a patent for a dishwasher.
Have a conversation around what a patent is and how it gives credit to inventors, so other people don’t steal their ideas.
Read Josephine and her Dishwashing Machine. Have a discussion about the characteristics of inventors. Ask students for examples of Josephine’s inventor traits. Ex: When she failed, she didn’t give up.
On your display, go to Google Patents and type in the number for Josephine’s Patent: US355139. Show students Josephine’s Patent.
Divide students into groups of 4-6.
Explain the centers activities and show student groups where they will be assigned for the first round of activities.
Explain how students can ask for help. Since you will be working with the research group, you may want to use an “ask 3 before me” rule. This can also help build communication and collaboration skills with students.
Explain to students what a completed activity looks like for each center.
Have fun!
Assessment
Each center will have its own assessment.
Additional Resources
There are many different extension activities you could do with this book, including discussions and activities around primary sources. The World’s Fair is a fascinating subject and there are many digital exhibits available to show kids. Here are just a few to get you started:
By Judith Dymond, Ed.D., STEAM Educator and Director of Development
Last holiday season, Brian Smith, Director of NIU Employee Assistance Program and a licensed social worker, talked at one of our STEM Cafés about holiday stress. Below are a few of his suggestions for navigating the stress the holiday season can bring out.
The holidays can be a stressful time, but understanding emotions and biases can help us successfully navigate conversations and increase positive interactions. With some minor changes, we can navigate these situations with our families and friends.
Consider for a moment some positive recollections and connections you have with the holidays. As humans, we all seek safety and connection. As we approach interactions with others, we can focus our attention on how we can create the environment that we want to share with others.
What are some of the potentially unhappy or negative experiences that you may anticipate for these upcoming holidays? It is natural that we might anticipate or pre-plan for potentially challenging conversations or interactions. Sometimes it can help if we prepare a simple statement to redirect unwanted conversations and set a boundary with others.
“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” Carl Jung. Our own self-awareness is another way to better enjoy holiday experiences. Knowing what is important to us, why it is important, with whom it is important, and sticking to our non-negotiable needs increases the possibilities for better holiday experiences.
Think before you speak.
Understand and respond to our emotions, recognizing and challenging our thoughts and expectations of ourselves and others. We can only truly manage ourselves, our emotions, and our own reactions. When we recognize and honor where our power and boundaries lie in each interaction then we are more likely to be the best versions of ourselves.
Cope in the moment: Mindfulness is a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling in the moment. There are many mindfulness measures that you can employ. If you are not familiar with it, try looking up the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique and consider using it if needed. The best way to manage our own emotions and reactions is to be able to know ourselves and our reactions.
Be a good listener. Listen to what others are saying, give what we would like to get in response, and think how you can respond positively.
Think about what you want to get out of the situation/engagement with others. What are your goals for this engagement?
When you consider what you need this holiday season, what are your non-negotiables?
What are five things that you want to do and with whom do you want to do them?
What do you need to do or experience most?
Self-care is essential.
Acknowledge that we may have a bias on the topic. Be sure to adjust your own mask before helping others.
Don’t dump your emotions on each other.
Don’t own someone else’s stuff.
Remember we all communicate differently.
Discuss with your family your needs and goals and listen to their own. This opens a dialogue and lessens the chance of hurt feelings or misunderstanding.
Practice what you might say at the event in case some of the anticipated topics come up. Prepare to speak up.
Choose the best space and time to communicate your message.
Set boundaries for ourselves. Know what you are capable of.
Speak up in a calm, simple, and direct way.
Recognize where our healthy power is to maximize connections with others.
Throw kindness around like confetti!
In summary, here are 6 easy tips for reducing holiday stress.
These tips should help us understand and respond to our emotions, recognizing and challenging our thoughts and expectations of ourselves and others, setting boundaries, and recognizing where our healthy power is to maximize connections with others. We can de-escalate potentially difficult conversations while increasing positive interactions and experiences with others during the holidays.
Oil pastels are a type of art medium that consists of pigment, a non-drying binder, and a non-toxic, non-yellowing wax. They are like soft pastels, but unlike traditional pastels, oil pastels are made with a non-drying mineral oil binder, which gives them a soft and buttery consistency. Let’s look at some key characteristics and features of oil pastels.
Oil pastels are composed of pigment, a non-drying binder (usually a mixture of mineral oil, a non-drying oil, and a wax binder), and additional additives for texture and color. They have a creamy and buttery texture that allows for smooth and easy application. The soft consistency makes them ideal for blending and layering. Oil pastels are known for their vibrant and intense colors. They can be applied with varying pressure to achieve different levels of color saturation. Oil pastels are a versatile medium that can be used on various surfaces, including paper, cardboard, canvas, wood, and fabric. Artists can layer and mix colors easily, allowing for a wide range of artistic expression. The ability to layer without the need for fixatives makes them convenient for quick and spontaneous work.
Oil pastels provide a unique and enjoyable drawing and coloring experience. They are a great choice for artists who want a portable and convenient medium that offers the ability to create expressive and colorful artworks.
Activity
Materials Needed:
Black Construction Paper
Oil Pastels
Paper Towel
Steps:
Collect your materials to create a wintery, night-time landscape.
Set aside the following oil pastel colors: white, brown, light green, dark green.
Using the brown oil pastel, draw a thick brown line for the trunk of the tree. Make sure to thicken the line by adding more than one line next to each other, and/or using the side of the oil pastel.
Add dark pine needles to your tree using the dark green oil pastel. This can be done by adding loose/non-linear lines in the rough shape of a triangle. Make sure to overlap the tree trunk.
Next, add light pine needles to your tree using the light green oil pastel. Overlap the light green oil pastel on top of the dark green and brown oil pastels to blend.
One technique to blend oil pastels is to continue to overlap colors. It is ok for your pastels to get dirty because you can use a paper towel to wipe off any unwanted colors.
Now it is time for snow! With the white oil pastel, add loose shapes around your tree to make the tree appear as if snow is falling and collecting on it.
Add a ground using the white oil pastel. Add a little brown and green to the ground snow. Snow is white and will reflect the colors around it.
Lastly, complete your masterpiece by adding snow fall in the sky. Use varying hand pressure to make smaller and larger snowflakes.
Remember to handle your drawing with care. The non-drying mineral oil binder prevents your art from ever really drying. Over time the topmost layer of your drawing may harden, but that does not mean the oil pastel is dry underneath.
In this episode of Winning Ideas, as the cold months of winter begin to set in and we are longing for fresh fruits and vegetables – this is a great time to harvest seeds, plan a garden, and get some green growing in our kitchen all winter long. Have you ever walked the aisles of your favorite grocery store and seen that bin with ugly almost over ripe fruits and veggies that they are selling for a dollar for the lot. They look sketchy, potentially gross, and you might think they have absolutely no purpose and should just be thrown out? What if I told you – a lot of those are perfect for quick recipes and fun treats that you might not be thinking about. They are an opportunity to explore, use your creativity, and even plan a garden for next year.
Before we begin, I want to acknowledge the importance of growers who harvest seeds for a living. They are working hard to ensure that the food we eat is nutritious and full of vitamins and minerals. There are several different types of seeds we will touch on here, open pollinated (which are ones we will discuss later), heirloom and hybrid seeds. Heirloom vegetable seeds are seeds that have been bred, generation by generation, to be true to the parent plant. Often they are bred for certain qualities and have had consistent breeding for over 50 years. They consistently grow fruits and vegetables that have the same qualities that the year prior had. Heirloom seeds can be open pollinated (where they are pollinated freely by bees, bugs etc.) or they can be hand pollinated by the grower. In either case, they are steadfast and consistent and will always produce fruits and vegetables that are hearty and flavorful. On the contrary, seeds from your grocery store tomatoes are likely hybrid seeds. Plants grown in the moment to get certain qualities from two or more different parent varieties. They are bright and well flavored, but the next generation of seed might not be as robust and might show up with different qualities than the parent fruit or vegetable it came from. They can either be viable (able to reproduce) or nonviable (not able to reproduce). The trick is finding out which they are once they are ready to grow!
One of my favorite trials was creating my own variety of marigolds. I spent years open pollinating certain colors, features, and sizes to get the perfect flowers for my garden. I started one year planting 12 different store-bought marigold plants in my garden. At the end of the season, I harvested the seeds (for marigolds – wait until the flower dies and dries then gently tug the centers out of the flower husks) drying them on paper towels and then storing them in a simple Ziploc bag. The next year I planned those seeds along with 10 new different varieties of marigolds – this year with larger flowers and only orange. The first year I got typical marigolds and had the seeds from the store-bought ones. I loved watching the bees happily pollinate my marigolds and apricot trees (I grew up in Southern California). The next year, I chose a smaller flower along with all of the seeds I had harvested from the previous year. This year, my plants were a little more unique but still like a short marigold variety. As the years went on, I ensured I was mixing a fun new variety of marigold from the store with the marigold seeds I had harvested from the year before. Eventually I got the ideal marigolds I wanted. They were tall, almost weedy in nature, but produced the most amazing smelling colorfully diverse flowers. That was the year, I stopped buying store marigolds. I was able to harvest my personal variety of marigolds every year – and every year I was treated to beautiful plants that filled my garden. I now generously spread my marigolds throughout my garden, sharing the seeds with others to encourage them to try their own varieties. The joy that comes from growing your own plants, flowers and foods is a lifelong, sustainable practice that I will continue to pass along to my children.
So how do you grow plants from the seeds living inside fruits and vegetables? It can be intimidating to have to harvest the seeds. Fear not! It is way easier than you think. For things like tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, or lemons, remove the seeds, rinse them clean in water, pat them dry, then let them continue to dry on a paper towel in a cool dry place for several weeks. Once they are completely dry, cut that paper towel into small sections with multiple seeds per square and store them in a zipped-up bag in a cool dry area until growing season. For the grow in the moment, you can trim your lettuce, green onions or celery down to about an inch from the root, place them in shallow water and allow them to grow back. Keep in mind they need light and occasionally fertilizer. (Fertilizer made from banana peels in water offers a lot of good nutrients your growing plants need!)
For other things like those over soft avocados that need to be eaten immediately, rinse the seed under warm water, gently removing any of the avocado from pit. Wrap your pit in a damp paper towel and place it in an unsealed Ziploc bag. Check your bag every few days and re-moisten your avocado pit, ensuring it doesn’t dry out. After about a month you will start to notice germination – a seedling root popping out of the bottom of the pit. When that pit is at least 4 inches long, you are ready to pot it in soil! (Don’t get too excited – avocados, like lemons, take years to grow and produce!)
But what do you do with the fruits and vegetables you are gathering while you are trying to harvest seeds? THIS IS YOUR PERMISSION TO EXPLORE! Try making something new – look up a recipe on your favorite social media and give it a try. Make lemon bars with a shortbread cookie crust out of those lemons. Experiment in making your own pasta sauce out of sauteed and blended tomatoes, onions, carrots, zucchini and spinach (it’s a great way to hide veggies in your kids pasta sauce). Cut up white or rye bread, cucumbers, add cream cheese, and some everything bagel seasoning and make little cucumber sandwiches. Don’t limit yourself to what you know – trying new recipes, flexing your creativity, and experiment. Bring your kids into the kitchen! It can be an amazing and fun way to engage their brains, teach them skills and try things out together.
One final note – there is debate about the importance of heirloom vegetable seeds vs. hybrid seeds that typically come from the store. While I don’t contradict the importance of utilizing heirloom seeds, they aren’t always accessible nor are they inexpensive. For a family on a budget, harvesting seeds from the over ripe tomato from the dollar bin at the grocery store might be the route to go. I have grown many plants from hybrid seeds. Some have been successful; some haven’t produced anything. The fun was in exploring, testing and growing my own varieties, and – the joy of spending time outside, getting my hands in the dirt and seeing things that I grew come to life is immeasurable.
Don’t forget to share your projects with us! Tag #NIUSTEAM and @NIUSTEAM for a chance to be featured in our weekly newsletter. Do good things, be good people and make yourself better than the day before.
“But the bridge I like the best isn’t so grand. It connects me to you and you to me…through the simple holding of hands.” – Cheryl Keely
I rarely come across a book that can so easily be paired with an engineering design challenge that also promotes building community. A Book of Bridges: Here to There and Me to You by Cheryl Keely and beautifully illustrated by Ceia Krampien is one of those books.
This simple narrative is about the ways that bridges connect us to each other, our communities, and our world. Sprinkled throughout the book are fun facts about our most famous bridges. Have you ever wondered why the Golden Gate Bridge is Orange? Or why birds’ eggs were mixed with mortar to create South America’s Puente de Piedra in Lima, Peru? Kids will be fascinated by these facts as well as learn about different types of bridges, including “wildlife bridges” designed solely for the safe passage of animals over busy roads and highways.
Linking Picture Books with Early Design Thinking Skills
Using picture books as a catalyst for design thinking challenges is a great way to get students engaged in using the design cycle. Introducing design thinking skills early to children is important for several reasons including:
Promoting Creativity- Keva Plank engineering design challenges are great because they illustrate how there are multiple ways to solve a problem.
Encouraging Collaboration & Communication- Working in teams to complete a design challenge helps students learn positive communication and group decision-making skills.
Developing Critical Thinking Skills- In design challenges students learn how to break down problems into smaller parts and make plans for solving those problems.
Routinely incorporating quick design thinking challenges, like this one, helps students grow a fail forward mindset where they learn from challenges and are eager to try again instead of giving up.
Materials Preparation
Before the lesson, print out the building map on 11 x 17 or 11 x 14 paper and laminate. Divide Keva Planks into bins for each group. (Around 50 planks per bin.) This activity can also be done with Lego bricks or other building block materials you may have.
Procedure
If your students have never used Keva Planks before, offer opportunities prior to this lesson for free exploration with the planks.
Begin by reading the book. Have a discussion about the different types of bridges in the books. Ask students what they know about bridges. Did they notice any bridges in the book that weren’t man-made? Why are bridges important to us?
Introduce the Design Cycle to students. For younger students it is recommended to use a simplified version of the Design Cycle with Ask, Plan, Create, Evaluate, like NIU STEAM’s Design Cycle.
Divide students into groups of 3-4. Each group gets a building map and a bucket of Keva Planks.
Explain the design challenge:
Students will work in groups to design a bridge to go over the pond.
The blocks can’t touch the water.
Everyone on the team must be included in the design and building.
Model how to work in a team and what it looks like to make decisions as a group.
If students are struggling to get started, you can model some building strategies with the Keva Planks.
While students are building, continue to encourage collaboration and communication, making sure all voices are being heard and valued within the group.
After students have constructed their bridges, ask for groups to quickly share out their designs and one example of a way their group worked well together.
Assessment
You can visually assess students’ success by seeing if the bridge connects one side to the other and does not touch the water.
Additionally, you can add a strength component to the challenge by placing a toy car on the bridge and seeing if it will hold the weight of the car.
Greetings, fellow digital enthusiasts! I’m Durgaprasad Koppala, currently pursuing my master’s in Operations Management and Information Systems (OMIS) at NIU. As Computer Science Education Week approaches, I thought I would share my journey to the world of algorithms, codes and endless possibilities. Come with me on a stroll down memory lane as I unveil the inspirations that fueled my passion for computer science and explore why this captivating field is more crucial now than ever before.
In a world where technology orchestrates the symphony of our daily lives, my fascination with computer science was sparked by a simple question: How does this magic happen? Upon completing high school, I made the decision to learn a programming language and enrolled in a summer course institute. There, I faced a challenge: write a program to print a right-angled star pyramid (typically, with 5 stars as a base, then 4 stars, 3 stars, 2 stars, and finally 1 star at the top) as output. Despite struggling to write the program and experiencing multiple failed attempts, I persevered until I finally cracked the code. It required a significant amount of time to write and execute the code, but the moment I saw the output on the console, I was overwhelmed with joy. Boy-o-Boy, it felt like I was the Neo of the Matrix. Subsequently, my brother became a significant inspiration for me to pursue a career in computer science. He has been a torchbearer in our family, and my initial knowledge of computers was acquired through him. Following his path, even after three years of work experience, my quest for learning new technologies remained insatiable, leading me to pursue my master’s at NIU. The vibrant community at NIU goes beyond imparting knowledge; it also nurtures the spirit of innovation. Education here is not merely about acquiring skills; it’s about embracing a mindset that thrives on curiosity and resilience.
Why should one delve into the realms of computer science? The advantages are as profound as they are diverse. The world needs problem solvers, and computer science equips you with the tools to satiate that hunger. Whether it’s the thrill of creating cutting-edge software or the satisfaction of unraveling complex problems, the journey is as rewarding as the destination. In an era where technology takes center stage, learning computer science isn’t merely an option; it’s a necessity. It serves as the key that unlocks doors to a myriad of career paths – from cybersecurity guardians to data maestros, the possibilities are as vast as the digital landscape itself. As torchbearers of the present, we owe it to future generations to furnish them with the language of tomorrow – the language of code.
To the young minds out there, let me be your messenger of encouragement. Learn to code, not merely for the sake of acquiring a skill but to cultivate a mindset that thrives on curiosity, resilience, and the joy of perpetual learning. The world is changing, and you have the power to be the architects of that change. So, I invite parents, teachers and curious minds to come together on this journey. In the world of code, we discover the poetry of our shared future.
Here is a small activity-based binary lesson that teachers could use in their classroom to teach the language of computers.
Activity: Binary Bracelets
Objective: Understand the basic concept of binary code, the language computers use to communicate, through a creative and wearable activity.
Materials:
Beads in two different colors (representing 0 and 1)
String
Instructions:
Introduction:
Briefly explain to participants that computers communicate using a language called binary code, which consists of 0s and 1s.
Share a simple example of a binary code and its representation (e.g., ‘0101’ could represent the number 5).
Binary Code Chart:
Provide a binary code chart showing the binary representation of a few letters or numbers (A, B, 1, 2, etc.).
Explain how each letter or number can be represented by a unique combination of 0s and 1s.
Creating Binary Bracelets:
Instruct participants to choose a word or their initials that they want to encode in binary.
Provide beads of two different colors—one color for 0 and another for 1.
Have participants string the beads onto the string, following the binary representation of each letter or number in their chosen word.
As they add each bead, they are essentially creating a wearable representation of their chosen word in binary code.
Share and Reflect:
Once participants have finished creating their binary bracelets, encourage them to share their creations with each other.
Facilitate a discussion on the experience, asking questions like:
What did you find interesting or challenging about encoding your word in binary?
How does this activity relate to the binary code used by computers?
What other words or messages could you create using binary code?
Extension:
For a more advanced activity, participants can try encoding longer phrases or sentences using binary code.
Discuss the importance of precision in coding and how small changes in the code can lead to entirely different meanings.
This activity not only introduces the concept of binary code but also encourages creativity and engagement. Participants will have a tangible and personalized reminder of the fundamental language that powers computers.
By Jason Klein, Senior Director of Learning Partnerships, P20 Network
Less than ten years ago, computer science education became a hot topic in school districts throughout the United States. While many of the world’s leading information technology companies are based in the United States, there continues to be concern about the global shortage of electrical engineers, software developers, networking professionals, cybersecurity experts, and this concern is even more significant within the United States as immigration is necessary to fill these high-tech careers.
The reaction to the gaps in workforce needs and the careers that students are being prepared for through their school experiences are reminiscent of similar historical concerns about math and science education in the United States early in the Cold War during the mid-to-late 1950s and again in the 1990s with the birth of the world wide web and in the aftermath of the Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS).
Over the past decade, school districts have addressed concerns about computer science education with solutions like The Hour of Code from CODE.org, working with online solutions that support block coding such as MIT’s Scratch, exploratory and elective classes, and formalizing computer science coursework in high schools through either Career and Technical Education or in the context of a Mathematics department. These high school offerings today often even include culminating coursework that offers dual credit with a postsecondary institution or The College Board’s Advanced Placement Computer Science.
Despite the growth of computer science in a variety of ways at elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools across Illinois, there remain huge gaps in access, notably for schools that are smaller in size and for school districts with lower levels of financial resources. While we definitely need to close these gaps, we also need to remember that computer science is a quickly moving target for all students and all schools, and this certainly complicates our efforts as educators.
Today, the future or Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) remains unclear. Today, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, and Large Language Models are the newest flavors of technology. In each case, we need true experts who are the innovators and developers of these technologies. Additionally, to be literate moving forward, everyone needs to have a foundational understanding of how these technologies work. Not only will this be critical for career success in tertiary sector information economy jobs, but understanding how these systems work is also critical to be fully participating members of our communities and individuals who can engage in voting and policy discussions at the local, state, national, and international levels.
What does all of this mean for computer science for our students? Ultimately, we need to support all teachers with embedding computer science-thinking throughout the school day and throughout the scholastic experiences of all students. This modern approach to computer science is taking shape in schools across Illinois already, and today, ECEP Illinois (Expanding Computer Education Pathways), the Illinois Effort that is part of the national ECEP Alliance, is laying the foundation for an expanded schoolwide approach that integrates computer science education across traditional academic disciplines and across grade levels. There are a range of K-12 and postsecondary organizations that comprise this group, and in July 2024, ECEP Illinois plans to release its report on our next step to make this reality about infusing computer science thinking for all students throughout their schooling experiences. Professional learning for teachers across Illinois will be critical to this. In the meantime, we can all begin thinking about how we can be more sophisticated users of technology ourselves, thinking about how it works and why its been constructed that way, engaging our students in these same lines of thinking, and considering how we may be able to incorporate computer science thinking into the units and lessons we already teach as we move forward, ranging from thinking about if/then structures to the incorporation of large datasets in work to writing well-structured prompts from modern LLMs such as ChatGPT and Bard.
In this blog, Jess offers ideas for project-based learning for grades 6-12 to help students learn about the impact their school has on the environment – and practice making a positive difference. She includes ideas for science, math, history/civics or language arts.
I’m Jess Winn, and I like to call my blog series “Winning Ideas” (get it?). In this episode of Winning Ideas: How often do we take time to really thank Mother Nature for what she provides us? In this month’s edition, where thankfulness is at the forefront, I’m exploring how we can design an environment for sustainability at our school.
How many times have you walked into your school and thought about the waste that surrounds the profession we are in? From paper assignments, to useless bathroom paper towels that never soak up anything, to the barrage of garbage that is inevitably produced each day at lunch…the waste produced by schools is significant. Multiply that by the number of schools across the country, and we have a relatively large impact. How can we as educators inspire our students to consider the number of resources we go through, and their impact on the overall total? How can we find ways to conserve these resources that truly are creating a larger scale issue on the planet?
Now this isn’t your average project – your students’ ideas, once generated, need to be shared to start actually impacting change! Send an invite to your school board members, your administration, city council, and other stakeholders in education. The more you build your project – the better solutions you will achieve.
So how do we start something this grandiose? Start with your goal as a teacher. Is this a history project where students are learning how to write and propose amendments to existing policies? Are you a science teacher looking for ways to have your students examine the human impact on the earth’s climate? Are you an English instructor looking at alternative technical writing assignments? Or maybe you’re a math teacher considering how much garbage is produced on any given day at your school. Whatever lens you approach this project through – be sure you have a clear outcome for your students. If they are going to present in front of stakeholders, they need to be prepared. Give them a lofty goal – you will be surprised at the outcomes they achieve. Give them the tools to be successful – show them how to do technical writing, how to research current policy and the process for suggesting changes, teach them the math they need to know to see how impactful the amount of waste actually is. Whatever you decide, be sure it’s based in fact, it has an actual outcome that can make a measurable difference – and be sure you give them enough time to complete the project.
Once you have your basis set up, start to generate a list of questions for students to think about. Don’t be surprised when they have their own questions, too – let them take ownership of that! If you foster a classroom environment of curiosity, your students will follow suit.
Some things I recommend you consider – does your school have an existing recycling program? Does it have a compost bin? Are there water saving methods in place? Energy efficiency? Is lunch served on reusable trays or in plastic and paper pre-packaged meal trays? Allow your students to select an area where they believe they can create a sustainable change. Be sure to remind them they are all a part of the problem until they are part of the solution. These changes can’t just be the responsibility of the school or district – students need to consider the social impact of change as well. How will the students, teachers and families be held accountable for the changes? How are they getting others involved and on the same page? How do they create a culture of gratefulness for the Mother we all depend on – Mother Earth?
Now just step back and give your students the reins – they need to feel responsible for this project. Allow them the confidence that they can influence others in an outlet other than social media. When they present their ideas that will, hopefully, find traction, take lots of photos, invite their families to share in their successes, and don’t hesitate to celebrate their learning!
Don’t forget to share your projects with us! Tag #NIUSTEAM and @NIUSTEAM for a chance to be featured in our weekly newsletter. Do good things, be good people, and make yourself better than the day before.
