From the 2012 NSTA STEM Expo in Atlantic City. Saturday, May 20 at 1 pm.

1. Designing Fun
Sandra Roberts
Kaleidoscope Learning
NSTA STEM EXPO
May 19, 2012

2. The Goals
• To create science activities
that emphasizes design,
innovation and creativity.
• To engage students with
activities that present
interesting, challenging
problems to be explored.
• To guide students in a way
that encourages them to
lead with their ideas and
develop critical thinking
skills.

3. The Buzz
• Inquiry-Based Education
• Problem-Based Learning
• 21st Century Skills
• Child-centered or
student-led learning
• Differentiated
Instruction
• Hands-on Learning

4. The Problem
From Dan Meyer’s TED Talk “Math class needs a makeover,” March 2012
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_meyer_math_curriculum_makeover.html

5. The Problem
• Many textbooks use “recipes” rather than
experiments.
• Procedures lead students to the answers
and provide only the data they need to
some obvious problem.
• Supplies and variables are limited.

6. An Example
From Glencoe Science, Chapter Resources, Force and Newton’s
Laws, Hands-On Activities, Reproducible Student Pages

7. Scientific Method

8. Scientific Method
From Holt McDougal Online, Holt Science & Technology: Earth
Science ©2007, my.hrw.com

9. Science vs. Engineering
From “21st Century Skills” by Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel, pgs. 92, 93.

10. The Heart of Design
• Consider engineering
– Select a problem to solve.
– Select an item, process or
system to modify, adapt
or improve.
– Set a challenge by
limiting materials, placing
time constraints or
adjusting other variables.

11. Project Cycle
“At the heart of an effective
learning project is the project
cycle: define, plan, do, and
review — the ‘wheels’ of the
project for both students and
teachers. ‘Steering’ the project
is the real world question or
problem that drives students
to research and find
appropriate answers or
solutions. The gauges of
project progress are the
formative evaluations and
assessments that guide the
learning along the way, the
‘brakes’ determine the pace of
the project, and the learning
‘gear’ is the sum of the
From “21st Century Skills” by Bernie Trilling learning resources, human
and technological, available to
and Charles Fadel, pgs. 96-107. support the project work.”

12. Design Process
From “Design Thinking for Educators” by Riverdale Country School and IDEO, April 2011

13. Engineering Design Process
From NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/ From PBS Design Squad Teacher’s
audience/foreducators/plantgrowth/reference/ Guide,
Eng_Design_5-12.html http://pbskids.org/designsquad/

14. Design Cycle
“Our recommended
approach for solving
problems is the
design loop. Learners
can enter the loop at
any point because
ideas can originate
from anywhere. It
should also be noted
that there are a
myriad of miniloops
within this model.
The mini-loop of
testing, modification,
and retesting is
common in most
design projects.”
From “Inquiry by Design Briefs” by Julia Gooding and Bill Metz in
Science Scope, November 2007

15. SuperDuper

16. Scientific Method vs. Design Cycle
• What kinds of topics or
projects are better suited
to a design cycle, rather
than the scientific method?
• Physics: forces & motion, friction,
gravity, simple machines, waves and
fluids
• Chemistry: molecular structure,
materials
• Biology: genetics
• Earth Science: distillation, water
filtration, solar energy, telescopes
• Math: area and perimeter, geometry

17. Transforming an Activity
• Dig out the problem; find
the challenge
– What is your “ah ha” moment?
– What do you want your students
to discover?
– What concept do you want
students to explore deeply?
– Where is there room for creativity?
– What variables have a lot of
opportunity for modification?
• Make the challenge clear
to everyone.

18. Transforming an Activity
• Give the students room to
innovate.
– Leave the activity open ended.
Don’t make the path too clear.
Model the activity with care.
– Provide a wide variety of
materials. Let students bring in
materials.
– Allow time! Break the project into
several sessions if needed.
– Provide support materials. Let the
students research.
– Encourage collaboration between
students and between groups.
This isn’t a competition.

19. Transforming an Activity
• Let students ask questions.
• Use prompts.
– How can we. . .
– In what ways can we. . .
– Can we make a item that will. . .
• Ask students questions.
– What does the item do? How does
it act?
– How can you change the materials
to affect the action of the item?
– How could we measure the change
in the item or how the item works
as we change materials?
– What observations can we collect?

20. Transforming an Activity
• Design the groups well.
– Encourage positive
interdependence.
– Support and guide
interactions within groups.
– Make sure each students has
a job.
• Know when groups
aren’t needed.
– Consider partnerships or
individual design.
• Allow groups to merge
or divide.

21. Transforming an Activity
• Take breaks!
– It’s important to evaluate
results regularly.
– Encourage students to share
their knowledge and growing
understanding.
– Help students build the
vocabulary needed to express
their ideas.
– Build new questions and
challenges as you go! Be
flexible.

22. Transforming an Activity
• Flip the classroom.
– Give students resources to help
them review and explore concepts
between classes.
• Assess the results.
– Construct a rubric. Consider
“Novice, Apprentice, Master,
Expert” rather than numerical
values.
– Consider breaking from a
traditional lab report.
• Can they make a video, photo collage,
poster or
power point presentation instead?
• Can they design questions for a game or
quiz?
• Can the class create a website, blog or wiki
on the project?

23. Warning!!!
• You will hear, “I can’t.”
• There will be
frustration.
• Some groups will “fail”
at the task.
• Some students will
struggle to be creative.
• That’s ok!

24. A Demonstration
• What can we
explore?
– Force and
motion
– Friction
– Gravity
– Lift, weight,
thrust and drag
– Angular motion

25. Materials
• Balloons,
tapes, strings,
straws,
paperclips,
binder clips,
cardstock, etc.

26. Challenge Ideas
• Student designed challenges
– Who’s balloon can go fastest? Slowest?
– Who can use the smallest or lightest balloon
to travel the distance?
– Who can use the largest or heaviest balloon
to travel the distance without hitting the wall?
– Who can design a balloon that does “tricks?”
• Teacher designed challenge
– Who can make their balloon reliably stop over
an X placed under the line on the floor?

27. Questions and Answers
• What are some
“recipes” you’d like
to transform?
• What are some
successes you can
share?

28. References and Resources
• Meyer, D. 2012. Math class needs a makeover. TED Talks. http://
www.ted.com/talks/dan_meyer_math_curriculum_
makeover.html
• Fadel, C. and B. Trilling. 2009. 21st Century Skills.
San Francisco: Wiley.
• Everlove, S., N. Frey, and D. Fisher. 2009. Productive Group
Work. Alexandria: ASCD.
• Design Thinking for Educators. 2011. Riverdale Country School
and IDEO.
• Gooding, J. and B. Metz. 2007. Inquiry by Design Briefs. Science
Scope. 45(3), 35-39.
• Flannagan, J. and R. McMillan. 2009. From Cookbook to
Experimental Design. Science and Children. 46(6), 46-50.
• Capobianco, B. and N. Tyrie. 2009. Problem Solving by Design.
Science and Children. 47(2), 38-41.

29. Further questions?
Please keep in touch!
Sandra Roberts
Kaleidoscope Learning
908-854-9887
sandy@klcnj.com