Panel: Engaging Students in STEM: How to Save a Perspiring Penquin

1. Engaging Students in STEM:
How to Save a Perspiring
Penguin
Melissa Higgins Jessie Klein
Christine Cunningham Gina Foley
Museum of Science, Boston

2. Bridging Engineering, S i
B id i E i i Science,
and Technology
for Elementary Educators
(BEST)

3. Why BEST?
• In MA there are engineering and
technology standards for grades K-12, and
we want our future educators to be
prepared.
• There is a need for engineering and
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technological literacy for all citizens.
• Community and four-year college faculty,
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as part of the K-16 education spectrum,
play a crucial role in systematic change.

4. Some History: How did we get to the BEST grant?
Engineering is Elementary
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ATLAS
BEST

5. EiE Units
Unit Title Science Topic Engineering Storybook/Setting
Field
Catching the Wind: Designing Windmills Wind & Weather Mechanical Leif Catches the Wind/Denmark
Water, Water Everywhere: Designing Water Water Environmental Saving Salila’s Turtle/India
Filters
A Sticky Situation: Designing Walls Earth Materials Materials Yi Min’s Great Wall/China
To Get to the Other Side: Designing Bridges Balance and Forces Civil Javier Builds a Bridge/USA Latino
Bridge/USA-Latino
Marvelous Machines: Making Work Easier Simple Machines Industrial Aisha Makes Work Easier/USA-African American
Sounds Like Fun: Seeing Animal Sounds Sound Acoustical Kwame’s Sound/Ghana
The Best of Bugs: Designing Hand Pollinators Insects/Plants Agricultural Mariana Becomes a Butterfly/Dominican Republic
Just Passing Through: Designing Model Organisms Bioengineering Juan Daniel’s Futbol Frog/El Salvador
Membranes
An Alarming Idea: Designing Alarm Circuits Electricity Electrical A Reminder for Emily/Australia
A Work in Process: Improving a Play Dough Solids & Liquids Chemical Michelle’s MVP Award/Canada
Process
A Stick in the Mud: Evaluating a Landscape Landforms Geotechnical Suman Crosses the Karnali River/Nepal
Thinking Inside the Box: Designing Plant Plants Package A Gift From Fadil/Jordan
Packages
The Attraction is Obvious: Designing Maglev Magnetism Transportation Hikaru’s Toy Troubles/Japan
Systems
Now You’re Cooking: Designing Solar Ovens Energy Green Lerato Cooks Up a Plan/Botswana
A Long Way Down: Designing Parachutes Astronomy Aerospace Paulo’s Parachute Mission/Brazil
Solid as a Rock: Replicating an Artifact Rocks & Minerals Materials Galya and Natasha’s Rocky Adventure/Russia
A Slick Solution: Cleaning an Oil Spill Ecosystems Environmental Tehya’s Pollution Solution/USA-Native American
Taking the Plunge: Designing Submersibles Sinking & Floating Ocean Despina Makes a Splash/Greece
Lighten Up: Designing Lighting Systems Light Optical Omar’s Bright Idea/Egypt
No Bones About It: Designing Knee Braces Human Body Biomedical Erik’s Unexpected Twist/Germany

7. ATLAS Goals and Outcomes
• Enrich community college elementary education courses
with technology and engineering.
engineering
• Strengthen elementary educators’ knowledge of and
capabilities to teach technology, engineering, and
science.
• Create a cadre of community college and four-year
faculty leaders that disseminate capabilities and
curricular models to colleagues in the region and state.
• Increase awareness among stakeholders about the
importance of effective technology and engineering
elementary education programs.

8. Partners
Northern Essex
Fitchburg State Community College
Museum of
Science
Holyoke Community
Westfield College
State Bridgewater State
21 Faculty from community colleges
8 Faculty from four year colleges
four-year
Bristol Community
21 School District Partners
College
Industry Partners: Verizon and Boston
Society of Civil Engineers

9. What we found through ATLAS
• Each college has different courses, systems,
and structures that require a myriad of
integration models.
• Student gains are greatest in science courses—
likely because of the natural links between
science and engineering.
• While gains are strongest in science classes,
having
h i connections made i other courses
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(particularly education courses) are invaluable.

10. Goals of the BEST grant
• Enrich college science and education
courses taken by preservice elementary
and early education students with
technology and engineering.
• Strengthen educators' knowledge of and
educators
capabilities to teach engineering,
technology and science in active and
engaging ways.

11. Grant Partners
• Berkshire Community College
• Massassoit Community College
• Middlesex Community College
• North Shore Community College
• Bridgewater St t University
B id t State U i it
• Fitchburg State University
• Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
• Salem State University

12. Process to Date
• Summer kick-off workshop
kick off
– 2010: Life sciences
– 2011: Physical
• Develop models for course integration
• Academic year implementation

13. Evaluation Results to Date
• Students in BEST courses are asked to complete pre-
and post assessments
post-assessments.
• Analysis of these assessments showed that after
completing engineering and technology activities in their
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courses, students’ judgments were significantly more
similar to those of engineering experts, and their
confidence surrounding these topics had increased
increased.
• Significantly, these results were found with students of
all majors, not just those who intend to become teachers.
Thus, results indicate that the BEST program is raising
the levels of STEM literacy of all participating students.

14. Contact Information for BEST
project staff
• Christine Cunningham: ccunningham@mos org
ccunningham@mos.org
• Melissa Higgins: mhiggins@mos.org
• Martha Hass: marthahass@gmail com
marthahass@gmail.com

15. Jessie Klein
Middlesex Community College
kleinj@middlesex.mass.edu

16. SCI 122 Integrated Science II
 Fall 2010
 Survey Biological Principles
Survey Biological Principles
 Elementary Education majors
 Early Childhood majors
Early Childhood majors
 Para Professionals

17. Best of Bugs: Designing Hand
Best of Bugs: Designing Hand
Pollinators
 Unit on Flower Structure and Pollination
 Fast Plant‐life cycle
Fast Plant‐life cycle
 Pre‐Test and Post‐Test
 Engineering Design Process
Engineering Design Process
 Technology in a Bag
 Card Tower
 Module Scenario‐Agricultural Engineering
 Plant from Hawaii brought to the Dominican Republic lacks
a pollinator

18. Best of Bugs: Designing Hand
Best of Bugs: Designing Hand
Pollinators
 Scenario
 Why Don’t I have Apples?
 Agricultural Engineering
 Bee Colony Collapse Disorder‐Readings and
Assignment
 Apple Segment of Botany of Desire DVD
 EIE Activity

22. Pre and Post Results

23. Pre and Post Results

24. AVERAGE on PRE and POST

25. A Slick Solution: Cleaning an Oil
A Slick Solution: Cleaning an Oil
Spill
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 BIO 140 Botany
 Unit on Ecology
Unit on Ecology
 Pre‐Test and Post‐Test
E i
Engineering Design Process
i D i P
 Technology in a Bag
 Card Tower

26. A Slick Solution
 Module Scenario‐Environmental Engineering
 Contain and clean a spill on an reservation in
Washington State.
 Class Scenario‐Oil spill on interstate near the campus
pond
 Test containment and clean‐up materials
 Develop plan
 Clean‐up spill staying within a budget

28. A Slick Solution: Cleaning an Oil
A Slick Solution: Cleaning an Oil
Spill
 Assignment‐readings on wetlands
 Describe their clean‐up procedure
 Develop a wetland food web
 Describe plant adaptation for life in wetlands
 Discuss impact of oil spill, climate change, and
invasive species on wetlands
 Discuss why wetlands are important

29. What is Engineering?

30. What is the problem?
You need to solve this problem. What do
you want to know before you start?

31. Your Challenge: Design a model enclosure
that keeps our model penguins from
melting in the hot Arizona sun.
• You have an unlimited amount of tape and 5
f
pieces of material to construct your enclosure. You
have scissors to use as a tool
tool.
• You may only use ONE of each type of material.
• Visitors must have a 360 view of the penguin in the
enclosure.
• Test your design by placing your model penguin in
your enclosure and then placing them both in the
“oven” for 5 minutes. The less your penguin
“perspires” the better
perspires better.
• You have 15 minutes to complete your challenge.

32. Time Mass
Start
End
d
Total change
in mass
% change i
h in
mass

33. Using verbs, describe what you did
during h design
d i the d i process.

34. The Engineering Design Process
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Brainstorming
Criteria No evaluation
Constraints IMAGINE
Sci. info
ASK
THE GOAL
To solve a problem by PLAN
developing or improving
a technology
Get
specific
IMPROVE with one
CREATE
idea
And test

35. BEST at BCC
BEST at BCC
Gina Foley
Life Science Faculty
Biotechnology Program Advisor
Berkshire Community College
e s e Co u ty Co ege

36. BEST at BCC
BEST at BCC
• Taught in General Biology I
Taught in General Biology I
• 5 education students per 30
• C bi d
Combined Lecture and Lab
d b

37. Initial Meeting
Initial Meeting
• Engineering Design Pre‐Assessment
Engineering Design Pre Assessment
• Discuss pre‐programmed understanding of
Scientific Method and Engineering
Scientific Method and Engineering
• Marshmallow Challenge

38. The Challenge
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Raise your team
marshmallow higher than
any other team using the
materials given.
materials given
The Materials
The Materials
•20 sticks of spaghetti
•1 yard of tape
•1 yard of string
•1 marshmallow
IN 18 MINUTES!

39. Common Team Misjudgments
•Lack of communication
•Lack of communication
•Lack of planning
•Too much planning
•Forget the importance of the
iterative process!

40. Successful Teams
•Communicate
•Plan
•Remember that it is all
about the marshmallow!

41. Learning outcome:
Learning outcome:
•Students get a practical
understanding of the engineering
design process.

42. 2nd Lab Meeting
Lab Meeting
Students work in teams to design a
membrane to save their frog from
desiccation.
• Lab performed during biological
membranes chapter.
• They must consider the importance
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of the structure and function of
membranes.
• Students plan approach, test
materials, re‐plan and build the
materials re plan and build the
model membrane that will keep frog
alive.
• 24 hours later we check on frog.

43. 2nd Lab Meeting
Challenge: Keep your frog
Challenge: Keep your “frog”
alive for 24 hours.
Materials:
•Sponge, filter paper, felt, screen,
cheesecloth
hb h
•Amphibian house
•Plastic frog

44. Has the frog survived??

45. Benefit to ALL students
Benefit to ALL students
• Using the EiE lessons
Using the EiE lessons
brings a real‐life
connection to sometimes
connection to sometimes
abstract concepts.
• Students consider careers
Students consider careers
in education because of
the experience.
the experience

46. Future Activities
Future Activities
• Explore traits of organisms that have
Explore traits of organisms that have
beneficial applications to humans
• Identify organism and gene of interest
Identify organism and gene of interest
• Identify restriction enzyme needed to splice
gene.
• Bioengineer a new transgenic organism
• Consider the ethical implications of such an
organism
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