Ultimate Stem
Joanna has been teaching middle school mathematics and science at Mildred I. Lavizzo School for five years. During this time Joanna’s classes have been bridging science and math concepts through the Solar Power Up, Robotics, and other STEM projects.
The Solar Power-up project is an engineering and technology project focused on designing and building model solar-powered cars. The 8th grade students at Mildred I. Lavizzo school participate as teams in building their own solar-powered cars which are ultimately tested in the Solar Grand Prix. Each team completes lessons on acceleration, friction, drag, wheel alignment, and solar energy. Each lesson has it’s own hands-on component to promote student understanding of each concept. Students are then given materials and guided through the various phases of car design and construction.
My ultimate teaching moment occurred during the pre-construction lessons, students began to disengage and even though the lessons included hands-on activities students did not seem to be highly interested. Feeling perplexed I asked several teams how they were feeling about the project. The unanimous response was “we just want to get into building our cars”.
The student response was enough for me. I immediately began designing a way to get the materials out and let them start tinkering. I started with the motors. The motors took precision and detail to build. The students began working diligently and some groups were experiencing problems which required they come to me for help. Next I gave a brief explanation of the materials and each group received a copy of the Solar Power-up design specifications. Again, students began tinkering and when they ran into issues would seek help from myself and other students. It was apparent to me that allowing the students to investigate and learn on their own made a huge impact on the total classroom learning environment. Of course there were still lessons that we had to go through but now student enthusiasm and engagement resonated an exciting classroom environment.
Listening to student responses and utilizing some backward design allowed me to teach the lessons while getting the students involved in design and construction early in the process. This change has achieved enthusiasm, engagement, and understanding from the beginning of the project to the end.
Communication and change can be very liberating.
BIG IDEAS
The Solar Power-up project is an engineering and technology project focused on designing and building model solar-powered cars. The 8th grade students at Mildred I. Lavizzo school participate as teams in building their own solar-powered cars which are ultimately tested in the Solar Grand Prix. Each team completes lessons on acceleration, friction, drag, wheel alignment, and solar energy. Each lesson has it’s own hands-on component to promote student understanding of each concept. Students are then given materials and guided through the various phases of car design and construction.
My ultimate teaching moment occurred during the pre-construction lessons, students began to disengage and even though the lessons included hands-on activities students did not seem to be highly interested. Feeling perplexed I asked several teams how they were feeling about the project. The unanimous response was “we just want to get into building our cars”.
The student response was enough for me. I immediately began designing a way to get the materials out and let them start tinkering. I started with the motors. The motors took precision and detail to build. The students began working diligently and some groups were experiencing problems which required they come to me for help. Next I gave a brief explanation of the materials and each group received a copy of the Solar Power-up design specifications. Again, students began tinkering and when they ran into issues would seek help from myself and other students. It was apparent to me that allowing the students to investigate and learn on their own made a huge impact on the total classroom learning environment. Of course there were still lessons that we had to go through but now student enthusiasm and engagement resonated an exciting classroom environment.
Listening to student responses and utilizing some backward design allowed me to teach the lessons while getting the students involved in design and construction early in the process. This change has achieved enthusiasm, engagement, and understanding from the beginning of the project to the end.
Communication and change can be very liberating.
BIG IDEAS
- Becoming a facilitator opens the door for students to guide their own learning, and take the lesson in a direction that best serves students’ needs.
- Students learn best when they have confidence and support to explore or expand upon their learning. This is when teachers see the most “aha” moments.
- It’s important to motivate learners to think about how they can apply what they are learning and give students choices in meeting the learning objectives.
- All lessons use tools and/or technology as supplemental materials to increase student engagement and understanding.
- Lessons provide students with problems and allow them to use creative outlets (drawings, cartoons, software, Socratic seminar, solar car) to take charge of their learning.