Project Proposal - Lexie

Title:                     Building and Working with Plant Cells in Minecraft

Problem:              Students will be required to build an accurate 3-D model of different plant cells.

Importance:         The project will help students understand what the different parts of plant cells are, their relative size and proportions to other parts of the plant cell.  They will be required to do various calculations, but because I am not totally familiar with plant cells, I am not 100% sure what I will have them do for the math portion.

Students:              I am working with a Biology teacher who has the same students as I do for Algebra I.  It is a group of 24 freshman students who are in the CHOICE program, which is a program that focuses on community and helping students that usually aren’t successful in school. 

Math:                    I am not sure what math will be involved yet.  I know that I will at least be able to have students calculate the volume of the different pieces of the cell and possibly have them do calculations by requiring them to have the cells be to scale.  This is usually a geometry topic, but I will have these students again for Geometry next year, so I would be willing to spend time with it this year and possibly not as much next year. 

Science:                The majority of the lesson will be Science and plant cells. This is where I will rely heavily on the teacher I will be working on this unit with.

Engineering:        Students will have to make a plan on how they will build the cell in Minecraft.  They might have to make a plan before beginning to build.  They will also have to check their progress while they are building the cells and determine what adjustments need to be made.

Technology:         Students will be using calculators ahead of time and then computers and Minecraft for the creation of their plant cells.

Sharing:               Most likely I will take pictures and videos of the process.  The main video will most likely be a video of the students in Minecraft creating their plant cells.

Project Proposal

Title: Mouse Maze

Problem: Our pet mouse Ninja needs some outside stimulation!

Importance: High to students (low to anyone else)

Students involved (number, grade level, etc.): 25 fourth graders

The math (math standards): Through building, drawing, and analyzing students deepen their understanding of properties of objects and the use of them to solve problems (3)

The science (skills or concepts): Students will develop an understanding of the processes of science used to investigate problems, design and conduct repeatable scientific investigations, and defend scientific arguments (A1)

The engineering: Science and engineering (building) affect the world in many ways (Engineering is Elementary Tie-in)

The technology: Use communications technology to exchange ideas and information (D2)

How it will be shared/communicated with the rest of us (PowerPoint, Prezi, Video, other): I plan on taking pictures as students work, as well as video of our pet mouse going through the mazes.  At the end of the unit, students can use the pictures and video to create a PowerPoint presentation  

Project Proposals due 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, February 19

The projects themselves are due April 28.

Your proposal should contain:

Title

Problem

Importance

Students involved (number, grade level, etc.)

The math (math standards)

The science (skills or concepts)

The engineering

The technology

How it will be shared/communicated with the rest of us (PowerPoint, Prezi, Video, other)

Reflection 5

Up and down the coastline of Baranof and Chichagof Islands we have been amazed at the overwhelming amount of debris that has washed ashore over the past several years from the Japanese Tsunami.  That being said I would be interested in creating a project based on this and the concept or concern of radiation that is reportedly following the same path.  As for a second STEM idea, a major ongoing local project has been the rebuilding of our dam. This project could possibly offer some engaging actives.

As for a particular STEM topic I would like to explore... I can’t think of anything specific at the moment and feel the majority of lessons that have been presented are thought provoking and move along almost too quickly.  The activity links provided were wonderful and I bookmarked those resources for future use.  

Although the conversion problems were very intriguing, I didn’t feel good at all about my performance since I wasn’t able to provide any assistance in solving the problems.  I would do far better if I had the opportunity to read and play with the problem prior to working with another person or group.  

The Minecraft piece was helpful and I like that I am able to create my own world for students to explore. I am uncertain how to get a copy of the Monster Lobe region(s) into my local world and I have several other questions about the Lobe itself, but I will email Colin directly for assistance on that part.

2/10 Reflection - Lexie

1.         I have not been able to think of any project ideas yet L.  I know that I would like to do something that relates to the math I will be teaching.  I think it would be great to do something with systems of equations, quadratics, factoring, or some other algebra I topic, but I don’t know where to even begin.  I am going to meet with a Science teacher that has the same students as me this week to try and figure out some kind of activity that we might be able to do.  She is working on animal cells with them right now, so we might be able to do that activity I saw that students were making cells in minecraft.  I’m sure that I will need a ton of support from you guys!

2.         I actually would like to learn about any STEM lessons.  I would really like to learn more that I could relate to math topics that I teach, so I can easily incorporate them into my lessons.  But honestly, I will appreciate all types of STEM lessons!

3.         I really liked the conversion activity tonight.  I think it is a great problem that I could easily incorporate into my classes. I could even see doing it as a kind of culminating assessment of conversions.  I thought that they were great problems because they apply to today and it was a topic that students would be interested in.

Reflection for 2/10 Class

  It was really fun to dust off the high school/college brain cells-what's left- and do conversions!  I love doing conversions, to me it's like alchemy, you really do transform one thing mathematically into another. I went back and did the conversions I missed at the beginning of class too just because.  Those little Nano cars are  a kick but I think Colin had a good point about high-centering in 3" of snow.  Wouldn't it be great to have something that efficient that could roll Alaska style?  In the meantime,  it's just fun to go to class and see what we're going to do next!  The one thing I did learn on Monday was how enormously helpful the people at the HelpDesk are, even though they couldn't fix my mic problem- brand new headset too! They got me through some ugly malware so I could just connect. I'll be at a different computer next week! Anyway, it's fun to go and listen to the archived versions of classes because you get to hear the conversations the instructors have among themselves while we are working. Listening to them talk, I got great insight into how I might set some of these ideas for my students, especially since I'm not always confident about presenting some of this material as an integrated lesson at this point. Listening to people model the process was an added bonus.  That liquid density website was a blast and I'm hopeful that it's one website I can take my fifth graders to at school this week. 
    I haven't fleshed out entirely what I want to do for extended STEM lessons and Minecraft but I know I want to spend time with levers and another extended period with pistons, maybe in combination or patterning with them.  I would like to extend my Harry Potter ideas into Chemistry, a la Potions and Enchantment in Minecraft as well but I haven't figured out how to make those connections more solid.  The potions stuff in Minecraft is really quite fantastical but I would like to somehow make solid connections to real world chemistry.  That is a goal.
    I was reading on the blog, but I didn't take notes about who mentioned doing space and building a rocketship in Minecraft but I know that there is info out there.  My kids spend a long time listening to StampyLongHead and IBallisticSquid youtube.com videos.  They've talked about going to the moon and building rocketships.  I know Kate tried with a friend but am not sure of the outcome.  Ben is super keen on building a submarine. Truth is, I don't feel like I'm teaching anybody anything but I'm having a great time learning! 
  As far as STEM topics I'd like to explore for this class, I'm just enjoying being pleasantly surprised each week at what we do, how we can bring it to students and what I remember from my own past, a long time ago and a galaxy far, far away!  My deepest wish is always finding ways of bringing STEM to the K-2 set so anytime we get to spend extending in that direction is wonderful. 

Reflection 5: Two original STEM Lessons and Comments from class

Two original STEM lessons:

So far I have come up with one originial project idea.  Our military is going through a process called “Force Management”, basically the downsizing of our military due to budget/funding.  One thing the base is currently looking at closing is at least one of the golf courses on base.  If I understand correctly Moose Run has two courses, while Eagle Glen has one.  If I assigned this problem the students would look at the two different courses and determine which one should remain open.  They would need to look at how much money is used to keep each golf course open and determine how much money is actually made at each golf course.  Then the students would use their science and engineering skills to determine how to use the golf course that is not being used.  The students will need to keep in mind the reason for closing one golf course is due to budget cuts, so spending money on building something new is not really an option.  (A suggestion might be turning it into a frisbee golf course).  The students could also develop surveys using technology to determine how the base community wants to use the closed golf course.  

 

 

Taken from: http://www.mooserungolfcourse.com/Directions.htm

 

Taken from: http://golf-courses.findthebest.com/l/4269/Eagleglen-Golf-Course

Stem Project Idea Two:

Several times this past fall the road between the Fort Richardson side of JBER and the Elmendorf side of JBER has been closed due to flooding from Ship Creek.  Your job is to research what has been done in the past to prevent flooding in this area and work with local scientists and engineers to develop a new or improved method to prevent flooding in this area.  Or, if through research you determine you are unable to prevent flooding, what can be done to lessen the flooding once it occurs?

STEM Ideas I would like to learn more about:

I know we have a mix of grade levels represented by our teachers, but I think it would be great if you could spend some time on K-3 STEM lessons.  It seems that the focus of both of my grad classes this semester are on 5^th-12^th grade, which is great because I certainly need help with those grade levels.  Still, I would love to see more examples of STEM used in the primary grades.

General comments from class:

I enjoyed class.  I like doing conversions.  When I do math, especially more difficult problems, I find it easier to solve it first and then explain it.  I don’t always feel like I do a good job working collaboratively when I solve problems this way.  I prefer to have time alone to work a problem and then work as a group.  I like to “grapple” with it on my own first.  Even when I help my daughter with algebra I will solve the problem first and then we will discuss it.  A week or so ago, she asked for help.  She said, “Just solve it so I can see how you do it to figure out what I did wrong.”  I guess we think alike.  I like the design for our class so far.  I appreciate that we get bits and pieces from each component of STEM.