Have You Thought About Naming the Rover in Your Class?

At the end of August (2019), NASA announced the Name The Rover Essay Contest. The contest is open to grades K-12 and is a great opportunity to meld STEM with a little English Language Arts with a writing component and a little Social Studies with a bit of a history component (if you've ever wondered how NASA names its rockets, rovers, spaceships, etc. throughout history). The contest entry deadline is November 1st, 2019. (That's 37 days away from the date of this blog post.) The rover is slated to be launched this summer 2020 and land February 2021. Here is a short video you can watch of the Mars Rover being built in a cleanroom.

There is a great list of lessons and resources which can be found here: Future Engineers: Name the Rover Challenge. It is worth mentioning that Future Engineers is a website that hosts several types of engineering challenges. If you register as a teacher, you'll gain access to challenges as they are made available, and you'll be able to create your own classes on the website to assign challenges too. This will share the challenge and all of its curated resources with each student for you to track their progress through the challenge. Once you've registered, you can set up your classes in your dashboard which will give you an access code to register your students. You'll find the parent permission form available both in email and printable form to save you time! Students can submit through their class portal or you can submit for them from the dashboard.

If you'd like some information about the history of naming spacecraft to help you and/or your students as you start this challenge, here are a few links below:

• "NASA has Specific Rules for Naming Its Spacecraft" via Smithsonian.com

• Origins of NASA Names  (PDF) by Helen T. Wells, Susan H. Whiteley, and Carrie E. Karegeannes 

• "What's Way Cooler Than Naming a Kid? Naming a NASA Spacecraft." via HowStuffWorks

• Astronomy Cast Episode 425: Naming Spacecraft - Video Podcast

Good luck!

Eclipse Experience

“For those who choose to experience this eclipse outside the path, a partial eclipse is all they will see. Even if the sun is 99.9% eclipsed for these observers, they will not experience the full, jaw-dropping, knee-buckling, emotionally-overloading, completely overwhelming spectacle that is totality.” – Dan McGlaun, veteran of twelve total solar eclipses, From Columbia, SC Fact Sheet.

I first learned about The Great American Eclipse at an NSTA conference about 2 years ago.  There was a lot of great information and we even received eclipse glasses back then, went outside and looked at the sun.  That was nice and I was hoping schools would catch the excitement.  I have done work with schools and teachers over the past year, but I never planned to stay in PA for our 81% eclipse.  I planned to head towards totality.  Well, it was a great decision and turned out to be a fantastic experience.  I could even become an eclipse chaser!  And a better planner as well:).  My son and a friend and his daughter headed to Columbia, SC for the event.  I made hotel reservations about a year in advance.  We took off on  Sunday for the trip down.  Our selected site to view was the South Carolina State Fairgrounds.  We had a big breakfast, stopped by the Piggly Wiggly for drinks, snacks and ice supplies, Albert's Deli for terrific sandwiches and headed for the Fair.  We had a nice spot and friendly neighbors.  In between setting up electronics to capture the event, we had great conversations and played some washer toss.

My son and me hanging out waiting for science

Looking at the Sun and waiting

The day was full of angst as cloud cover could potentially interrupt the event.  We were given a 50-50 chance of clear skies.  When I woke on Monday, the local weather folks were saying that high pressure should keep the clouds away.

Around 1:20 PM

The excitement builds

Right before the cloud moves in

About 20 minutes to totality and not looking good.

At 1:13 PM, we had mostly clear skies where the Sun was in the sky and could see the moon moving in front.  We took a few pictures as the Moon passed in front.  You could see and feel the excited building.  A few clouds started moving in and we could spot the Sun most of the time.  As the big moment approached, however, a set of clouds had moved in.  We were counting the minutes and finally the seconds to 2:41 PM and cloud just wouldn't see to move.  The skies were darkening and people were shouting at the cloud to get out of the way.  Finally, at the last moment, literally, the cloud seemed to scoot away and we were left with a view I will never forget.

The cloud is moving just a moment before totality

The start of totality

Glasses were off but you can see how close the cloud was

Here is one of our pictures of totality.  Doesn't do it justice

Totality came with a quick flash and we took off our glasses.  It was amazing.  I have seen so many pictures but it just doesn't capture the actual view I saw.  Awesome!!!  My son came over and leaned on me as we just watched.  That was definitely an emotional moment for me.  I hit the remote for the camera a few times and then all too quickly, we saw the bright diamonds telling us to put our glasses back on.  We stood around for a few minutes and looked again at the Sun peeking out from behind  the Moon and tried to put into words, that which was breathtaking.  We slowly packed up to start our long journey home, only to have a bit of rain start.  This just made the timing a bit more perfect for us.

Totality ends in a spectacular way

Here is a 360 Video Clip to see our surroundings.  Here is the full view of the clouds moving.  The best part occurred when Ian walked over and put his arm around me. Hard to see in the dark.

So what did we learn?  This was a fantastic way to reinforce the periodic nature of the universe and how science can truly predict these motions.  I also learned that I need more time onsite for the next one.  A few days before and at least a day after - it took us 3.5 hours to drive 60 miles in trying to return home.  We took video, 3D video, and pictures to various degrees.  It captures the memories, but being there was almost surreal.  The next total solar eclipse worldwide takes place on July 2, 2019 in South America.  In the lead up to the event, I helped to create student activities, taught workshops, led webinars, tested materials and 3D printed parts to help record and learn about eclipses.  At the end, I was reminded how awesome Nature truly is.

Can we make reservations 7 years in advance?  Can't wait for April 8, 2024.

Visit to STEAM Academy at Ferguson

Today's visit was to the York City School District.  I went on a tour of the STEAM Academy at Ferguson.  The academy runs for students in grades 4 through 8.  Students in these grades have a daily period where they attend the STEAM academy.  While there are other activities that occur during this time on occasion, most days are dedicated to STEAM activities.  In the first marking period, students did science fair project.  As we toured the classes, there were science fair boards all around.  As the YCSEF director, that made me feel good about the work they are doing:).  Posted in the rooms - you could see the engineering design process. Each month has a challenge for students.

Students were using notebooks to record their work.  This was terrific and the note on the board was more optimistic: Create, Design, Play, Remix, Play, Share.  A great model for work.  Students in 5th grade were working on little bits.

The highlight for me, was viewing the work in 8th grade.  They were using Makey Makey and students had a number of different projects going on.  Two young ladies made a piano out of bananas and two young men had a set of bongos.  Dr. Holmes even got a chance to play.  There was another project with students making different sounds through a glove type device.  

Students were using a lot of different equipment including 3D Printers.  One students presented me with a parting gift:

PSU MakerCommons and MediaCommons

Today I had a chance to visit the PSU Media Commons and Maker Commons and wow!  These are great spaces and opportunities for their students.  The Media Commons is a lab with 40 iMacs arranged in an X configuration.  

Students can use the lab to learn how to use media and tools such as iMovie.  What impressed me most, was the philosophy behind the lab.  The space is located in the library.  In the "old" library, students had to learn how to locate resources - card catalog and all.  The "new" library is about tools - like 3D printers and Video Studios.  Going back to the old, we don't want students spending so much time looking for their resources that they don't have time to actually use them.  I remember microfiche and trying to get the right source.  Moving forward, we don't want students to focus on the how to of using technology.  Instead, they should be focused on the project and academic learning that is taking place in completing their project.  PSU has made this happen.  Students can use the space to learn how to work with media effectively.  Teachers can assign the students to the space as well.  The key is that there are tutorials and consultants (PSU staff who work with students to guide them in the creation of their project and support where needed).  I like the term consultant.  It fits perfectly with what they are doing - guiding and working with students.  There were several spaces in addition to the lab.  There was a 1 button studio.  PSU created this (and it is a free download) to allow students to record video by essentially clicking one button.

Above is a good shot of the studio.  Notice everything is off the floor.  If you check out the website, they have an equipment list and details on installation.

We then moved to two other rooms.  One had the 3D printer farm.  Yes, it is a farm.  There were 36 printers just working away.  They "harvest" the printers twice a day.  Students can send their jobs to the printers from anywhere online.  Once printed out, students can pick them up at their local PSU library - even on the branch campuses.  

The final room was the Invention Studio.  This room had little bits and legos.  The tables move up and down and had a moveable white board that slides on the table.  It might look messy, but they had lots of tools for student to work with and mounted iPads for research or media collection.

Overall, this was a great visit.  I really liked how they talked about Design Thinking being the most important part of the studio spaces.  They also talked about letting students fail in their work so that it leads to a conversation.  That is how we correct and move forward in the design process.

Tech Day at West York

In working with the station rotation model at West York Middle School, I have been providing professional learning opportunities for staff.  On the day before Thanksgiving, I was able to be there while the students led the PD session.  Billed as a tech learning day, the reins of some of the presentations got turned over to the students who led the teachers through some tech integration.  Students gave up a day of their vacation to attend.

Dennis Albertson was the faculty organizer.  He used Google Hangouts to communicate to all of the rooms.  Students introduced themselves and communicated throughout the morning.  

This was a great chance for students and staff to become invested in learning about technology.  Kudos to WYASD - I'm glad I get to work with such a dedicated staff:).

Pumpkin Chunkin'!!

There is a great STEM event held at West York high school for the past number of years.  This is the Pumpkin Chunkin' championships.  Led by physics teacher, Kevin Wolf, local schools are invited to build catapult type devices to launch pumpkins ranging in size from 8 - 15 pounds.  The pumpkins have to hit a target that is set between 30 and 60 yards.  I know I saw different schools constructing their devices in my travels throughout October.  Some schools have students building on their own outside of school while others incorporate it into the curriculum or extra curricular activity.  Regardless, it is a great chance for the authentic work we have discussed previously.  There is a lot of excitement as students take turns launching.  I even had a chance to visit and reminisce with the Red Lion team.  I have brought teams to the competition for the past several years.  Check out some of the pictures:

At the end, all teams lined up for a group launch.  See the video:

While it could be argued that all districts were winners the top five included:
Dover - 1st, Hanover - 2nd, York County School of Technology - 3rd and 4th, and Red Lion 5th.  Other participants included Central York, West York, Susquehannock and Dallastown.

A Visit to Greencaste-Antrim School District

Another day and another great visit!  This time, I ventured over to Greencastle-Antrim.  This tour was led by Chief Education Officer Bob Crider.  We toured the middle and high schools.  The first stop was in a 6th grade classroom and Stacie Shaner.  She is leading the initiative to push STEM to the elementary classrooms.  She has earned a grant to develop STEM carts that can be deployed to elementary students.  This is an aggressive plan to take activities to students.  It also combines with a GAMS STEM Carnival in the Spring which I hope to attend.  I liked how the room was designed with students working in pods and they were clearly engaged in the lesson at hand.

We moved on to 8th grade where students work on a robotics curriculum as seen above.  Students work in teams to build Lego bots.  They are currently using NXTs but are transitioning to EV3s.  You can see the lines on the floor to make use of the light sensor.  All students will rotate through this course.  They are also building projects throughout the semester.  What caught my attention was on the board.  They are using the design process.   It is so important to provide students with a framework to rely on for design work.

We then moved to the high school where they have just started a STEAM program.  You can see the curriculum below.

There are 3 tracks for students to progress through.  Notice that the courses have and & in the title.  You could really see students working through several authentic tasks.  G-A has redesigned this space that was likely the traditional Tech Ed space.  Art not only has a space in this area but it fits with the curriculum.  Students are working with both physical and digital media.  Attention is being paid to the aesthetics in both design and detail.  Students can progress through a course sequence as seen.  The digital citizenship class forms the foundation of the technology to be learned.  The district is all Microsoft with students using Surface Tablets.  You can also see the plans to expand into AP courses in the future as well as robotics.  I thought it was a great use of existing tools and space.  Take a look at how they reshaped the classrooms.

There is some work to be done in bringing in the core curriculum to work with the STEAM program and they mentioned some revisions to the Digital Citizenship course.  I could feel the excitement among the staff as they discussed the hard work they have completed so far and the work to come.  Check out their work @ga_steam!