Posts Tagged ‘hands on learning’
Science-Based Valentine Day Projects
I really like using maker education and STEM/STEAM projects to celebrate holidays and special events. My method of teaching new concepts is to use the Stages of Make Education that I presented in Learning in the Making: How to Plan, Execute, and Assess Powerful Makerspace Lessons:
The following Valentine Day projects were completed by my 3rd through 6th grade gifted students. Due to the new skills involved, they were asked to copy the basic instructions. Then as is typical of my students, then went quickly into the Advance and Embellish Stages of Making.
Circuit-Based Valentine’s Projects
NGSS Standards Addressed
- Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.
- Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another
Introduction
I began asking who knew what an electric circuit. Sadly, none did. I showed them Electric Circuits – BrainPop UK https://youtu.be/3LsXGAbwTOQ
Circuit Project 1: Conversation Hearts Box Operation Game
Project Description
The Instructable, Operation Valentine: a Game, a Gift, a Lesson in Electric Circuits, was used for this project. I substituted aluminum tape for the paperclip and pre-wired LEDs instead of the Christmas lights.



What follows is a video that shows how one student took this project from Copy to Embellish of the Stages of Making:
Circuit Project 2: Chibitronic LED Valentine Day Card
For this activity students were asked to create a Valentine Day card by making a paper circuit using a Chibtronic LED and a cardstock switch built into the circuit. I adapted the activity from two activities from their website:
- https://chibitronics.com/2020/02/15/valentine-light-up-card/
- https://chibitronics.com/2020/02/05/happy-valentine-with-light/
I cut out the front “cover” of the card using my Cricut machine to show a heart where the light would shine through. The students chose a piece of colored tissue paper to cover it. Instead of providing a circuit temple, I drew it on the whiteboard and asked the students to draw their own on another piece of cardstock.


This student were from the Copy Stage to the Advance Stage of Making by creating a popup card he figured out and crafted:
A Little Chemistry
NGSS
By the end of middle school, students will be able to apply understanding that pure substances have characteristic physical and chemical properties
Introduction
I showed them Physical and Chemical changes (Brain pop) https://youtu.be/hq8K-dF8_4c
Project Description
I used the following video as my reference for both materials and procedures:
What the students’ molds and candy looked like . . .


Paper Bobsled: STE(A)M Olympics-Related Lesson
I’ve discussed experiential learning in The Imperative of Experiential and Hands-On Learning and the lesson I describe in this post meets the characteristics I described in that blog post:
In an effort to engage students both in a STEM activity and learn more about the Olympics, I created a lesson on bobsledding.
Standards Addressed
As a STE(A)M lesson, it addresses cross-curricular standards:
Next Generation Science Standards (Science)
- Develop a model to describe that when the arrangement of objects interacting at a distance changes, different amounts of potential energy are stored in the system [Grades 6-8]
- Construct, use, and present arguments to support the claim that when the motion energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object. [Grades 6-8] (Source: http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/build-a-bobsled-racer/)
ISTE Standards (Technology)
(Technology is not heavily used in this lesson. Videos are used, though, to share content.)
- Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.
Next Generation Science Standards (Engineering)
- Define a design problem that can be solved through the development of an object, tool, process or system and includes multiple criteria and constraints, including scientific knowledge that may limit possible solutions.
- Analyze data from tests to determine similarities and differences among several design solutions to identify the best characteristics of each that can be combined into a new solution to better meet the criteria for success.
- Develop a model to generate data for iterative testing and modification of a proposed object, tool, or process such that an optimal design can be achieved.
National Core Art Standards
- Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
- Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
- Refine and complete artistic work
Math Standard (see math labs below)
- Represent using pictures, diagrams, graphs, tables, numbers, words, and/or symbols (e.g., use tables to record data such as how fast the [bobsled] goes down the run, measure the length/width/height of the completed [bobsled] run). (Source: https://www.teachengineering.org/lessons/view/uno_gaitway_lesson01)
The Hook
Students are shown the following videos to get them familiar with bobsledding (none of my students knew what it was) and the physics of bobsledding:
Making the Paper Bobsled and Track
I created the following tutorial to teach students how to make a paper bobsled and the track:
To build your track, you can use the following templates for your tracks:
- Straight tracks https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1nhPqWyPIAZ4aQ2INn-oPDgK1jNOwpTwY8y9Wk0sLPZg/edit?usp=sharing for
- Curves https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Wyl2kBrlWJkC_mMeg8phIQx9Bx8tyeBsODMSczLoojU/edit?usp=sharing
Math Connections
One or both of the following math labs can be added to the lesson:
- Calculating Average Speed of a Rolling Marble (in this case – a bobsled) –
- Roller Coaster Math
Process-Oriented Reflection Questions
Here are some questions for students to reflect upon during their making process:
- What factors influence how fast your bobsled travels down the track?
- Would your bobsled go faster if a lot or a little of the bobsled touched the track?
- Would more weight increase or decrease the speed of your bobsled?
- Would the position of the weight affect the speed of your bobsled?
- What is friction and what influence does it have on your bobsled?
- What is the Engineering Design process?
- Why is it important to make one modification to your bobsled at a time?
- What type of energy does the bobsled have when it is at the top of the track56half way down the track and at the bottom of the track?
- Do you think that your bobsled would travel more quickly or slowly on a straight or hilly track? (Source: Design Challenge: Echo Base Bobsleds)
The Role of Kits in Maker Education and STEM Learning
There has been a fair amount of criticism leveraged against “paint-by-numbers” types of STEM and maker kits. This criticism revolves around the stifling of the creativity of learners. I contend that learners need foundational skills so that they can be freed up to be creative. Think about learning how to cook or play an instrument. The basic and foundational skills need to be there in order for the makers to go in directions that are new and creative for them.
This past spring we returned to face-to-face teaching but students could stay remote if they and their parents chose that. Half of my student selected that option. I was able to purchase DEUXPER Science Experiments DIY Kits – one for each learner – through DonorsChoose. For the students at home, I delivered the kits to them.
The kids in both groups thoroughly enjoyed making the projects. There are several benefits for learners in making from a kit:
- I discussed stages of being a maker learner in my book Learning in the Making: How to Plan, Execute, and Assess Powerful Makerspace Lessons. As described for the Copy Stage, doing prescribed, step-by-step, procedural projects helps with scaffolding. They help build foundational skills for learners to be able to make more complex, open-ended, and self-driven projects.
- Following Directions or Step-by-Step Procedures – This is a life skill in that putting things together is a beneficial for later in life. Lots of things folks purchase come in parts that have to be put together.
- Learning How Things Work – By seeing the individual parts of a project prior to them being combined into a whole, working project, learners get to see how things work.
- Perseverance – For more complicated kits (which I use), the learners almost always have a challenge to face. I will not directly help them. I ask them to persevere. I also suggest they ask one of their peers for assistance. Learners really enjoy giving one another tips for constructing their projects.
- Feelings of Accomplishment – in completing a difficult task. The looks of joy and pride in completing their projects were a beautiful site to see. It was also fun seeing the joy they had in playing with the projects they created.