Erin McMahonTeacherFrederick County Public Schools

Supporting scientific thinking & inquiry through play

IntroductionWhy STEMHow can I use it?

Mindset

Engineering a Letter3D Model from environment

Rapunzel Tower Building ChallengeBuild the Tallest Tower

How can we use this?

Closure Questions, Resources

Workshop Agenda

10 years teaching

Frederick County Public Schools, MD

1st grade teacher

PK-5th grade STEM Teacher

Maryland Association of Science Teachers Outstanding Science Teacher

My Journey with STEM

Problem Solving Skills

Communication Skills (written & oral)

Collaboration

Inquiry (Questioning)

Apply technology

Interpret Data

Innovation

Competition in global workforce

Disciplinary Literacy

Science

Technology

Engineering

Mathematics

Why STEM all of a sudden?Skills all learners will need to have to participate in the

21st century workforce.

What is

Your Mindset

?

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. Michael Jordan

I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it. 

~Thomas Jefferson

I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired this sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up, no matter what else happened. ~ Wilma Rudolph

Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential. ~ Winston Churchill

The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting in above average effort. ~Colin Powell

The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work. ~ Oprah Winfrey, O

Magazine

These individuals all have / had a “growth mindset”. By putting forth effort, and not giving up even when experiencing failure,

they eventually met success.

What is Your Mindset?

The American Heritage Dictionary defines “Mindset” as:

A fixed mental attitude or disposition that predetermines a person's responses to and

interpretations of situations.

Carol Dweck, a Stanford

University social psychologist

found that people possess

“fixed mindsets”, and / or

“growth mindsets”

https://www.stanford.edu/dept/psychology/cgi-bin/drupalm/

cdweck

She published a well known book, and several articles on her

research. People around the world are very interested in her findings and apply what she has

found to their lives.

Growth Mindset

“In a growth mindset, people believe that their abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point…”

http://www.mindsetonline.com/whatisit/about/index.html 05/31/11

http://myhomepage.ferris.edu/~baconc/Mindset.ppt#259,4,Depending upon the area

“The growth mindset views challenges as

opportunities for improvement.”

I believe that intelligence is not fixed My

intelligence can be improved through learning

I thrive on challenge

I throw myself into difficult tasks

I am self-confident

I can ignore the low aspirations of my peers

I react to failure by trying harder

I engage in self-monitoring

I have learning goals

I like feedback on my performance so I can improve

http://growthmindseteaz.org/caroldweck.html

Fixed Mindset

“In a fixed mindset, people believe their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits…. They also believe that talent alone creates success— without effort...”

http://www.mindsetonline.com/whatisit/about/index.html 05/31/11

http://myhomepage.ferris.edu/~baconc/Mindset.ppt#259,4,Depending upon the area

“The fixed mindset sees limitations on

intelligence, personality,

opportunities, etc…”

I react to failure by switching off and avoiding the issues

I like easy performance

goals

I believe that intelligence is fixedYou cannot get smarter.

I don’t like challenge

I don’t want to risk looking stupid

I was born bright / not very bright

I do things in order to get praise

I tend to conform to the low aspirations of my peers

http://growthmindseteaz.org/caroldweck.html

So, If I have a “fixed mindset”, am I stuck with it?

Did you know that

your brain and intelligence can grow?

NO!!!Mindsets can be changed.

You can become more intelligent!

By challenging your brain (working it just like a muscle) you can grow more dendrites.

Dendrites are little branch like fibers which grow from your neurons (brain cells) and create more brain connections.

By continuing to challenge & work your brain, you can develop even more brain power!

Look for opportunities to challenge yourself.

Grow dendrites!

Be willing to take on risks.

Don’t be afraid of failure.

It’s okay to fail. Keep on trying. Use what you’ve learned from the experience to help

you improve the next time.

Don’t limit yourself, and don’t let others limit you.

Aim to be your BEST YOU!

Be willing to work.

Develop a love of learning. Be a creative problem solver.

Don’t give up.

Famous Successful People Who Failed…

How did their failure lead to future success?

Henry Ford

Innovative assembly line

American-made cars

5 early businesses all failed

He was broke

Lead to Ford Motor Company

R.H. Macy

7 failed businesses

Big store in New York City

Macy’s Department Store

Soichiro Honda

Honda turned down by Toyota

Interviewed as engineer

Jobless

Started making scooters at home

Created Honda motor company

Walt Disney

Fired by newspaper editor

Said he had no imagination or good ideas

Failed business attempts

He went bankrupt

Movies, merchandise, theme parks now make over billions of dollars

Tasty Mistakes

Chocolate Chip Cookies (1930- Boston Ruth Wakefield ran out of baker’s chocolate so she substituted with sweetened chocolate)

Ice Cream Cones (1904- World’s Fair Ernist Hamwi was selling zalabia, a Persian waffle, when the man next to him was selling ice cream and he ran out of bowls, so they served it on the waffles)

More Tasty Mistakes

Potato Chips (1852- New York George Crum was a chef who had a customer send back his potatoes because he wanted them cut thinner and fried longer, so Crum got angry and cut them as thin as possible and served them with salt)

Accidental Inventions

Microwave Oven

Pacemaker

Penicillin

Vulcanized Rubber

Teflon

Super Glue

Safety Glasses

Even our youngest learners…

Now how can we apply this to our learners?

* Criteria: The letter must be freestanding. It must be made from materials found in the classroom.

* Background: In the book Alberts Alphabet, Albert designs and builds all the letters of the alphabet, using tools and scraps. A playground and path are then lined with the letters.

* Design Challenge: Build a letter of the alphabet that will stand by itself. Be ready to present your work to the class.

Building A Letter

Materials: You may select from the items below.

• cardboard • straight edge • scrap paper/cloth • tape • brads • hole punch • boxes • stapler • scissors/cutting tools • wood and wooden dowels • string • writing and drawing tools • glue

What will you need…

Things to consider in the classroom…

* Test your solution

* Evaluate your solution

* Photograph results

* Rubric to assess

* Put students into groups

* What’s the problem

* Brainstorm solutions

* Create the solution you think is best

Engineering Design Process…

Here are a few examples…

• Look an engineering lesson plan

• Design a 3D model of a letter in your environment

• Letter model must have a moving part

• You must know the letter, the letter sound, and be able to build the same shape

What did we learn through play?

How can we apply what we learned from this challenge to a S.T.E.M. career?

Rapunzel, Rapunzel!• Tower Building Challenge

• Work with the people at your table to build Rapunzel’s Tower

• Your team will be judged on

• Tower design

• Tower strength

• Tower height

• Team collaboration

• Team presentation (Shark Tank 30 second sell time)

What do we already know about towers?

Real life application…

• Have you ever wondered how a skyscraper can stand?

• Have you ever wondered how architects design a skyscraper and how contractors build them?

• What are the forces acting on a tower?

• What is the importance of a foundation?

• Are there shapes that would increase building stability more than others?

What’s the tallest tower you can build using only two sheets of newspaper?

• Here’s the challenge…

• Getting the newspaper to stand up

• Without using tape, staples, glue or other materials

• You can bend, fold, or tear the paper itself

What you need…

• 2 sheets of newspaper

• Ruler

• You may alter the newspaper in any way to combat the forces pushing and pulling on your newspaper tower.

• Air pushing Building Load pushing Ground Pushing

Which way is most stable? How can you use this to build your tower?

Try it out…

• Now construct your tower!

• If you think you can make it taller, keep redesigning it until you can’t go any higher.

• Walk around and observe other group’s designs.

• When you are finished building, measure the height of your tower.

• Earthquake Scientist

How can we apply what we learned from this challenge to a S.T.E.M. career?

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Three Billy Goats Gruff

Three Little Pigs

Gingerbread Man

Humpty Dumpty

Jack and Jill

Hey Diddle Diddle

Tops and Bottoms

The Mixed Up Chameleon

Cinderella

Classroom STEM Challenges

Shapes All Around Us

Planting A Rainbow

Earth Friendly Bird House

Homemade Toys

CEE Children’s Engineering Educators

www.childrensengineering.com

Classroom STEM Challenges

Teamwork Rubric

Presentation Rubric

Team Design Brief (Engineering Design Process)

Judging Criteria (Aesthetic Design)

Team Jobs Materials Designer Project Manager Recorder/Reporter

How can we get students to collaborate in teams?

How we can assess STEM learning?

Time and Money…

No.

Catapults

Egg drop

Secret Codes

Paper Airplanes

Live Angry Birds

Parachutes

Recycled cars

Houses

Bridges

Garden

Marble Rollercoasters

Where it can begin

stem-works.com

Pinterest

Youtube

PBS

Magazines

Talk to kids

Books “Teaching STEM in the Early Years: Activities for Integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics” by Sally Moomaw

Where we can start

Engineering For Every Kid by Janice VanCleave

Team Building Activities For Every Group by Alanna Jones

Authentic Learning Experiences by Dayna Laur

Project-Based Inquiry Units for Young Children by Colleen MacDonell

PBL in the Elementary Grades by Buck Institute for Education

Print Resources

Peep in the Big Wide World www.peepandthebigwideworld.com

Buck Institute for Education www.bie.org

PBS Kids- Zoom www.pbskids.org/zoom/activities/

PBS Kids- Design Squad www.pbskids.org/designsquad

Click 2 Science www.click2sciencepd.org

Websites

STEAMy Resources

Valley Elementary School

Frederick County Public Schools, MD

erin.mcmahon@fcps.org

240-236-3012

Contact Me…

Erin McMahon