How can I create authentic opportunities for students to learn about and demonstrate their understanding of essential science concepts? How can I develop engaging learning activities for students that focus on cutting-edge technologies and critical 21st century skills? How can I fuse maker space values and coding principles with my school’s curriculum while meeting my students’ needs for differentiation in the classroom? These are a handful of the questions I posed throughout the iterative development of two curricular units: Simple Machines and Coding in Earth Science.
From its roots in photocopied prescribed procedures of inquiry labs and simulations, to its modern status as collaborative files on Google Drive with learning objectives, open ended procedures, differentiated simulations, and culminating authentic assessment, this Simple Machines Unit presents a case study of the evolution of innovation within curriculum. The culminating project for the unit has included a load/mechanical advantage challenge; writing a children’s book and making augmented reality vocabulary walls; building with k’nex and VEX; and most recently designing and building or 3D printing a playground with functional simple and compound machines.
Coding in Earth Science grew out of the need to provide students with coding skills within a setting authentic to our middle school curriculum. Two years in the making, this pilot unit asks my 8th graders to use coding to develop and teach a 5-10 minute lesson on a concept in earth science to 5th and 6th graders from our local elementary school. Explore how and why these projects and units have evolved, while reflecting on how you might adjust a current unit or project to add making, coding, and tech fluency goals for your students. Leave with access to unit plans, project guidelines, and targeted inspiration to challenge your students to make and code within your curriculum!
Presenter Slides:
http://designcreateprint.weebly.com
