Spatial+Skills+Action+Plans

Please use this space for notes on your discussions and for your action plans.

Action Plans:

Elementary

** Friday 12, 2010 ** ** ELEM/MS Division Meeting **

Silent math is just as important as silent reading.

Created Mobile Tinkering Stations Cart -- Sherry Lee at Hockaday slee@mail.hockaday.org Contains rubiks cube, puzzles,

Inpact Math – build block structures and then draw a flat picture. Then would reverse the process.

First Grade – Frameblocks. Allows you to go from 2D to 3D immediately.

3D projectors and 3D printers. Use 3d printer in science. $750 Makerbot.com. Open source printer

“Make Magazine” has cool stem like projects. Talk to librarian to see about a subscription.

Paper engineering elective at Hockaday. Patti Black pblack@mail.hockaday.org

3D projectors can show you images just like Avatar. Can show a human heart in 3D. A museum in Dallas will have a 3D imaging table where a students can dissect a frog or human body in a 3D arena

“The Ring of Truth” – Series 1986 – Different components – take snippets to show to different grade levels.

With Everyday Math are there lots of manipulatives?

Hexa Hexa Flexa Guns – six sides and six different faces. When you flex it you go from one face to a different face.

Mindware and Creative are publications contains where all sorts of different math pieces like pentaminos can be purchased.

Turn puzzles upside down and work the puzzle. Girls time themselves and work in groups like Field Dependent Easier for girls than guys to collaborate.

Time and money constraints and buy in from other teachers and administration.

CogAT 3rd grade test and it has a spatial testing section in it so we can see where students are struggling in spatial learning.

Alternative energy. Redesign campus and build a scale model in 8th grade physics class, Engineering drawing. Showing isometric views. Could use toilet paper tools.

Problem is finding time in the students busy schedule, - Have hands on activities for rainy day recess. - Tetrix - Rush Hour Game online - Puzzles.com (logic puzzle tab, stringco, gridworks, )

It is our responsibility to take some of these ideas we have learned here at STEM Think Tank and figure out ways we can get teachers at our schools to buy in to some of the spatial ideas across curriculum. Spatial skills doesn’t only have to be introduced/used/practiced in math and science. Talk to SS teachers incorporate some sort of spatial skills when they do mapping and using globes. Can have spatial skills in other classes not just science and math. Why can’t foreign language class incorporate some form of spatial learning in the form of a project they would be doing anyhow? If the roadblock is getting other teachers to buy into this, then Linda has given us volumes of materials of research to back us up in order to move our schools forward with spatial learning in our classes.

Middle School

Upper/High School US2 I .hands-on activity-- 1. volume by roatation in calculus with playdough and then slice w dental floss 2. balloons hanging in classroom when doing molecular geometry (helps to visualize why H20 is bent and the significance in polarity) 3. molecular geometry - toothpicks and gum drops-- try to arrange such that gumdrops the farthest away from each other 4. pipecleaners to show breaking down vectors, teaching cross-products vs dot products 5. grassmall (3d modelling software)- to go from 2d-3d 6. molecular workbench (concord consortium) 7. flow charts in computer programing 8. mapping problems in problem solving to improve pattern recognition 9. concept mapping 10. building scale models for cardboard boat race 11. using "escher type" brain teasers as introductory activity (Mindtraps Geometrical Riddles in 3 levels - on Amazon) 12. using origami to introduce scientific method-- importance of following procedure as well as spatial skills 13. unit origami- make 6 and make a cube, good with cross age group activity 14. Lego digital designer - free downlown - 3D rotation (could be used in history courses to build historical buildings) 15. toy aisle-- "Tangles" to model double helixes, "Zooms" 16. Alice programming environment 17. Lego Mindstorms 18. video game availability at school 19. Tinkering spaces / STEM play 20. Turn poster projects in 3d projects 21. Claymation videos for mitosis. 22. Use physical movement to model concepts-- displacement vs distance traveled, biological cycles 23. Work in reverse- take a 3D shape and students have to create the pattern and develop their own formula for volume

[Math Teachers wish they had a lab space for such activities- puzzles left out, math teachers wish they had lab time]

II. talk with dept (math) to ask what can we take out in order to add time for such skill development -- something has to be given up III. need to keep manipulative in US curriculum-- not just for younger students IV. raise the consciousness of students what you are doing- intentionally recognizing visual strengths V. join forces with the Art Department-- how can we complement what each other already do; join forces with athletics VI. Our efforts need to be more deliberate (and longitudinal) -- give spatial skill development is due time VII. Reverse classroom can allow for more in-class activity time VIII. Longer blocks for such activities. IX. Educate colleagues & parents about the importance developing skills. X. Use spatial skills to help provide context for student-- where does this topic fit in to the big picture? XI. We need to be aware of age appropriateness given students' developmental level XII. Need greater understand developmental brain development in order to understand where students are in approaching their abilities. XIII. Need to approach "spiraling" from a content perspective AND skill perspective IV. Possible link with Technical Theater groups at schools.

[Need to distinguish between lab activities and experiment.]

SWITCH TOPICS-- 1. easier to do with an integrated math curriculum (done in grade 7-9), grade-level meetings with math/science faculty 2. curriculum development time is important 3. logistics of getting an overlapping group of students 4. having teachers who teach in both departments 5. share data from labs to math teachers for examples/ use scientific formula as examples 6. funding summer work to do interdisciplinary 7. have a STEM course on top of Math, Science, Tech courses -- with relevant projects to tie pieces together 8. "Science Fair"- re-envisioned to be assessed by multiple departments- ie the paper is part of English Department
 * I. Successes on integration on Math and Science courses**

[SCRATCH 2D (MIT), ALICE 3D (CMU)]

II. Is it possible to keep in touch after this conference? Ans: STEM Wiki