Hi Tami-

Thank you for your comments. I will address them each below.

Yes, we use notebooks in the units. We have a reference for the notebook prompts we are using. The DOI number is: 10.4231/R76D5QZS.

We have not yet truly released the units we are creating through this project. Although, if you want them, I'd be happy to let you see some of them prerelease (for use in the classroom) and yes, each one has an associated challenge that also helps students learn about NGSS-based science content and data analysis and measurement.

We provide the workshops you see here. However, there is a part of our grant that is about teacher leadership and coaching. Through this, we are helping teachers learn to develop and conduct their own PD for other teachers.

Best,

Tamara

 

Thank you for offering to share, Tamara. Is the information you were referring to posted later in this discussion? I see you gave detail on all 13 modules! :) I'm wondering if there is enough information for teachers to get started on their own? Will there eventually be a cost to schools? 

I think this program will really have impact and sustainability based on the teacher leader and coaching training.

Dear Tami-

The 13 descriptions below are just that, descriptions...  each one is written up as a unit plan for teachers including lesson plans, notebook prompts, blackline masters, etc. There is enough information for teachers to get started on their own. Of course, professional development around using engineering design in the science classroom is helpful, but we did try to make it explicit enough that if one does not have any experience with engineering the lesson plans and upfront materials will help bridge the gap.  You can find one of the units at this link:

 

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BypijqEOvFThc...

 

 

This is free for use in classrooms or in teacher education settings. If you would like to use it in any other capacity, please let me know. Please remember that this is still a draft - but a very far along draft. Please let me know what you think!  

 

In terms of cost to schools, our goal is to keep the resource as inexpensive as possible. Right now, in draft form, they are free. What I would like to see is that if a school is willing to print and use, then it remains free, but if a school would rather have that done for them, then there be a cost. We are still working with vendors to see if they would be willing to do that if we allow them to sell the materials in kits too.  We'll see how that turns out. :)

Tamara-

I am in public education and would love to look at your unit and share with teachers! Thank you! (I am having trouble with the link- error message?)

Hi Tami-

I think I fixed the link above. Can you please verify?

Also, if you like this one, please contact me offline if you want to talk about the others. My email is tamara@purdue.edu.

Thanks,

Tamara

 

Got it! I just skimmed through, and it looks awesome. I am going to take a closer look tonight- I will get back to you. Have these units been linked to NGSS standards?

Thank you for sharing, Tamara, really. If you want or need teacher feedback/trials on any of the other units... We are your district! :)

Yes, they are all linked to NGSS standards. We would love it if you wanted to try out any or all of them and provide feedback. Once you have had a chance to look at the one posted above, please let me know and we can set up a time to talk. 

Yes- sounds great!

Hi Kinnari-

The EngrTEAMS project is first a curriculum development project with a coaching component. Therefore, in the beginning, we provided PD and through the 3 weeks and then the subsequent year, the teachers worked in teams to develop the curriculum being implemented in the classrooms. In the last 2 years, we looked at the 50+ modules that the teachers created, took 13 of them that addressed different aspects of the grades 4-8 NGSS science standards and are doing another round of revisions through having teachers that did not write the curriculum unit implement in their classrooms. If you would like an overview of the project, you may want to watch our video from last year: http://stemforall2016.videohall.com/presentatio...

This year we thought it would be helpful to describe one of the most central ideas within our curriculum development project, i.e., how we think about and help others implement engineering design within an integrated STEM approach.

Throughout the project, the teachers have been the ones to enact the curriculum in their own classrooms. We are using a design-based research framework to develop the curriculum using Clements (2007) Curriculum Research stages to help guide our iterations. For the first 3 years of the project, the teachers were implementing curriculum they wrote in teams on their own. This past year and for the upcoming year, we are working in the curriculum development stage (Clements, 2007) of evaluation: diverse classrooms (phase 8) - which means that we have several teachers from multiple school districts that have a range of student populations implementing these curricula after another round of updates.

Does this make sense?

Best,

Tamara 

 

Hi Dale-

Thank you for the comments!  We love the graphic too. It has been a great addition to both this project and our project for K-2 students called PictureSTEM. 

 

The EngrTEAMS project has been developing a suite of 13 integrated STEM curricula for grades 4 – 8. The curricula are hands-on engineering design challenges that integrate mathematics and science grade-appropriate content, mapping to Next Generation Science Standards for engineering and discipline-specific standards. Each unit was inspired by a team of teachers and developed in conjunction with members of the EngrTEAMS project. The design projects in each unit vary in context and in terms of the mathematics and science concepts needed to create an adequate solution. Yet, within all the variation, each unit is an authentic engineering design challenge. Each unit has gone through an extensive design research cycle to ensure its quality.

 

Here are short descriptions of each of the 13 units we are working to finalize in the last years of the project:

 

Chill Out- 4th & 5th Grades, Physical Science: Heat Transfer           

 

The True Chill Company is working on helping countries that have unreliable access to power keep vaccines cool in warm climates. The students will design a device for the True Chill Company that will keep vaccines cool without being plugged into a power source. Students learn about vaccines and their role in disease prevention. Before designing solutions, students learn about the science of heat energy and heat transfer, conductors, and insulators. Students then plan (design), try (build), test, and decide about (evaluate) a solution to the problem twice, once as an initial design and once in redesign. Finally, student teams write letters to their client describing their vaccine cooler solutions and justifying them with evidence.

 

Landmine Detonation Project- 4th & 5th Grades, Physical Science: Force & Motion  

 

This unit is an exploration of levers through an engineering design challenge. The class has been asked by a company (Landmine Detonation Company) to create a launcher that can be used to safely detonate landmines that are still active.

 

Flood Rescue Mission- Middle Grades, Physical Science: Force & Motion                          

 

In this unit, students will learn science, mathematics, and engineering concepts to learn about buoyancy through an Engineering Design Challenge. This challenge asks students to create prototypes of watercraft for the National Guard to use in flood emergencies. In this, students need to have an understanding of volume, mass, forces, and maximum capacity in order to address the challenge. Students work both in small teams and as a class to provide letters to the National Guard about what designs work the best. 

 

Shake It Up- 4th & 5th Grade, Earth Science: Plate Tectonics & Landforms

 

Earthquakes are a natural phenomenon that can have detrimental impacts on the daily lives of humans. Students will learn how engineering can reduce the impact of earthquakes. In addition, students will develop background knowledge on the cause of earthquakes and different types of anchors. Presented with the context of a renewable energy company seeking a way to stabilize their wind turbines in an earthquake prone area, students will design anchors that take into consideration the client’s criteria and constraints. Students will test their designs with shake tables and analyze the results to determine the anchors effectiveness at stabilizing the wind turbines. 

 

Mineral Mayhem- Middle Grades, Earth Science: Mineral properties and identification tests                       

 

Built on the real-world premise of a cargo train derailing from its tracks, students will complete an engineering challenge to design a process to sort minerals that have been spilled into a lake. As they learn about mineral properties and the value of non-renewable mineral resources, students will use this information to support evidence-based reasoning as they make design decisions. In addition, there are components of research and mathematical reasoning in thinking about cost-bene t analysis and in considering the physical property of density, including how to calculate and represent mass, volume and density in different ways. Students will also strengthen their communication skills by creating a presentation to explain their process and justify their decisions, aiming to convince a client that their process is the best option.

 

Green Houses- 4th and 5th Grades, Life Science: Ecosystems (and some Physical Science)

 

St. Paul, Minnesota has a long tradition of selling goods at the farmers market. It was St. Paul’s first public market. While fresh produce is only available during the summer season, dairy products, our, cakes and candies could be purchased year-round. Many families of students in schools in Minnesota grow and sell fresh produce at the market. However, the growing season for produce (tomatoes) in Minnesota is very limited due to the climate. Students will discover that to extend the growing season for tomatoes they will need to design and construct a model greenhouse that will maintain an optimal temperature closest to 24°C and maintain a temperature between 18°C and 35°C.

 

Loon Nesting Platforms- Middle Grades, Life Science: Ecosystems                                    

 

Students will be learning about ecology and ecosystems through the construction of loon nesting platforms. First, they will explore human impact on ecosystems and the roles of organisms in ecosystems. Next, they will analyze qualitative and quantitative data to find a good location for their platform based on habitat characteristics and dietary needs of the common loon. After additionally incorporating knowledge of food chains and food webs, students will be able to make an educated decision as to which lake would be a suitable place for their nesting platform. Students will also have the opportunity to improve the design of their nesting platform and to summarize their learning throughout the unit.

 

Electromagnetic Claw Games: Diggin’ for Fool’s Gold, 4th and 5th Grades, Physical Science: Electricity and magnetism

  Galactic Games has contracted students to design a new electromagnetic arm for their version of a mechanical claw game. The game has recently been exposed as being rigged and unfair, so the company wants students to design and create a model of a new arm attachment for the game. Throughout the unit, students will learn about electromagnets and magnetism, as well as how to work through the engineering design process and run controlled experiments.

 

Planet Andoddin, 4th and 5th Grades, Earth Science: Mining and Natural Resources

 

Students are tasked with working for a Multi-million dollar multi-national corporation that has discovered resources on an exoplanet, Andoddin. They must utilize all available data on the planet, including types of resources, map analysis, design/build, and data analysis. Using the Engineering Design Process, students must create tools to mine wood, sand/gravel, and iron ore (and water). They must also use the Engineering Design Process to select a site for mining on the planet once they have arrived there.

 

Pollutants in the Pond, 4th and 5th Grades, Life Science: Ecosystems

  A local golf course has been using too much fertilizer causing the lake ecosystem to become unhealthy and out of balance and unhealthy.  Students will gain background knowledge about a pond/lake food web and the interdependence of these organisms, the damage that phosphorus in fertilizer can cause on an aquatic ecosystem, and the history of a local body of water.  Students will ultimately design a means of stopping or slowing fertilizer from running off into a model pond/lake.

 

Ecuadorian Fishermen, Middle Grades, Physical Science: Heat Transfer 

 

A group that works with small businesses in Ecuador has discovered that some of the Ecuadorian fishermen need help. These fishermen take their small boats over to the Easternmost Galapagos Island (San Cristobal), which has many unusual and tasty fish. Once back to their fish markets in Ecuador, the fishermen need a small cooker to cook the fish in so they can be sold for the greatest profit. Students will use their knowledge of specific heat and heat transfer to design a cooker for the fishermen.

 

Got GMOs?, Middle Grades, Life Science: Genetics

 

The University of Minnesota’s Agricultural Extension Office needs help with their design of a barrier that effectively reduces cross-contamination of non-GMO corn fields from GMO corn fields. Students are asked to use what they know about genetics and heredity to create a “User’s Manual” for farmers who use the newly designed barrier(s) to test for cross-contamination once their barrier is installed.   

 

Laser Security System, Middle Grades, Physical Science: Physics of Light 

 

There have been recent robberies at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Students are asked to design a security system in order to protect very expensive artifacts at the museum. Students use their knowledge of key concepts such as light reflection, refraction, and diffraction, as well as how a laser works to design a laser pointer security system.

 

This may be more information than you wanted to know :).  Let me know if you have questions.

 

Best,
Tamara

Dear Chris-

This project is about the teachers developing curriculum and learning to be STEM leaders in their schools. So all of the curricula talked about here were authored mainly by the teams of teachers. However, so that they did not have to have all of the background knowledge needed to communicate that well to others, we put project staff on each team to help them with the communication ideas.  Over the life of the grant, we have worked intensively with more than 200 teachers, but we are reaching many more through the staff outreach activities.

Best,

Tamara

Hi Dale-

Thank you for the comments! We have had a wonderful experience working with the teachers in this capacity. It truly doesn't happen without them. The teachers involved in writing the curriculum were called "fellows" because we wanted them to understand that their role was not to be "taught" how to do something, but rather they were partners in this work. That was further enhanced by putting staff members from the grant on each of the teams to help them write more clearly for others. This gave them someone with some expertise in curriculum writing to go to when working on writing.

 

The biggest help here, though, has been the many rounds of design-based research on each of the curricula. In the first 3 years of the grant, all teachers came together in the teams to develop curricular units. The units go through 3 iterations in the first year while the teachers are still working on them. They put out a draft at the end of the summer PD, then they do a pilot with kids in the summer so that they can improve their draft, they complete a second draft by the end of the summer. The teachers then implement it in their own classrooms and complete a third draft. At this point, things change for each of the curricula.   

 

Now that we are in years 4-5, we chose the 13 curricular units described above and did one more year of design-based research on them. They went through another round of editing - this time from the project staff with curriculum writing expertise - but in consultation with the original teacher authors. The teachers coming to the PD in the summer are going to implement these 13 units for a different type of test in the classroom (i.e., Clements (2007) curriculum research stage of evaluation: diverse classrooms (phase 8) - which means that we have several teachers from multiple school districts that have a range of student populations implementing these curricula). We call these teachers Field Test Teachers - and they work with us over the year to help improve the materials for teachers who did not write the initial drafts.

 

It is not an easy process - and yes, communication to other educators has been an issue, but the years 4-5 field tests have really helped us make the units more shareable. If you want to see one of drafts of the units at the stage of the final field test - but needs one last revision, see the link above in conversation I was having with Tami LaFleur.

Let me know what you think, if you check it out.

Best,

Tamara

 

The Mineral Mayhem draft can be found at this link:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BypijqEOvFThc...

Let me know what you think.

Best,

Tamara

Hi Jodye-

 

Sorry for the late response. I took the weekend off! :)  

 

We really had very little reluctance on the teachers early on. This was due to at least 3 factors. One, we had leadership of the schools help us identify teachers that were ready for this kind of experience. Two, we asked them to be "fellows" with us and highlighted that this was not a typical professional development where we were going to try to teach them something but that they were our partners and we were going to create something together. Three, we highlighted that they had been identified by their school leadership. What we did see was a little bit of fear of failure... but not reluctance.

 

The student response has been overwhelmingly positive. The students indicate that they really love learning in these modules. We are seeing certain types of learning gains and attitude changes that are statistically significant - publications forthcoming.

 

In terms of our "fellows" colleagues, we see a mixed bag. Some of our later fellows and some of our field test teachers ended up being invited due to the earlier participants getting them interested and then letting us know.  We do know anecdotally that a few teachers that our fellows and field test teachers are working with have said that they were not interested in moving toward curriculum/teaching models like this - but those stories are not abundant (again not researched either).

 

Thanks for the questions!

Best,

Tamara

 

Great questions Michael! We are using technologies as well as grade heterogeneous groups to try to foster the formation of sustainable learning/teaching groups. The project I've been working on (http://stemforall2017.videohall.com/presentatio...) is with a school district that has had a "technology" expert (teacher on special assignment) for many years, and is fairly well equiped for technology. We used multiple Vermier probes, on-line discussion boards (the district is now a Google Apps for Education (GAFE) district, the lesson documents are all electronic, we've incorporated computer programming into the PD, use of video and images.... Although the teachers "know" each other, we are hoping that use of technology (distance contacts) will enable them to contact each other more easily for future interactions and collaboration.

Dear Michael-

We have not used a specific platform for support. We have a support structure that began with a coach assigned from the project, then moved to a teacher leader model (another part of the project not highlighted in this video). Since many of our fellows' teams were across districts, virtual meetings became important. We allowed them to pick their platforms for this. I am aware that our teams have used Skype, Google Hangouts, and Webex as ways to meet together. I am sure there are others too.  

 

The teacher leader program is meant to support STEM integration in the districts we work in long after the grant funding is finished. We tailored the teacher leader models to the different needs of each district with a long-term goal of being able to provide the community at large with ideas of what these models look like and how they work. Two of the co-PIs on EngrTEAMS lead this effort: Gillian Roehrig (roehr013@umn.edu) and Marty Davis (marshall.davis@spps.org). 

 

Best,

Tamara

Dear Kristin-

Thank you for your kind comments. We agree. Some of them are geared toward 4th and 5th grade (we have even had a few 3rd grade teachers choose to implement some of them). In the descriptions above, the grade levels are included.

Best,

Tamara