STEM Activities
Turkey
Amusing Science Experience
An inquiry Maths Lesson
1. Orientation to the prompt: question, notice and wonder
The teacher invites pairs of students to make an observation or pose a question about the prompt, providing the class with stems (examples below) if appropriate. (Find more question stems to promote mathematical thinking here.)
2. Establish aims and plan actions
The teacher reviews the questions and observations (perhaps 'thinking aloud') and might take the opportunity to comment on possible lines the inquiry. Students participate in directing the inquiry by selecting a regulatory card- a selection that is then justified in a class discussion.
3. Exploration
Students might decide on a period of exploration when they aim to generate more examples, find a case that satisfies the condition in the prompt or test a conjecture. At the end of this period, students might have formed a generalisation through an inductive process of pattern-spotting.
4. Teacher or student explanation
Students might identify an impasse that can only be overcome with new conceptual or procedural knowledge. Their request for an explanation might lead to a whole-class episode when knowledge is shared or constructed collaboratively. Alternatively, the teacher might encourage small-group instruction (led by the teacher or a student).
5. Reason and prove
Students prove a generalisation they have made earlier in the inquiry. They reason deductively, perhaps with formal algebra or through a structural analysis of a mathematical model.
6. Present results
Students present their results in written or other forms. The teacher often calls on students to present their work in progress or suggest new ideas and directions to the class.
7. Reflect and evaluate
The teacher leads students in reflecting on the course of the inquiry, and in evaluating how successfully the class has resolved the questions posed at the beginning.
ROAD CONSTRUCTION-STEM ACTIVITY WORKSHOP
The municipality is planning to establish a settlement for Ukrainian refugees in the hill area. You are an engineer working at the Municipality. The Mayor asks you to prepare and present a model of the road to be built.
For your mock-up, you will use:
1 piece of 100x120 cm styrofoam
50 pieces of skewers
1 piece of tape
1 utility knife
While making your model, you should follow the rules below;
You should use 60x50 cm styrofoam as a base.
You can use the other 60x50 cm styrofoam to make roads.
Your path should lead 50 cm above the base.
Your path should not overflow the projection of the base.
Your path must be at least 6 cm wide.
Your road should gain enough strength that cars can easily exit.
Robotic Plan 1
In the Build a Brushbot activity, students make robots using scrub brushes. By attaching the leads of a small motor to a battery, and putting an off-center cork on the motor's shaft to make it vibrate, students make a simple circuit that powers the shuffling movement of a brushbot. Brushbots use slightly larger electronics elements than bristlebots (see below), so they can be great for first-time robot builders and easier for younger fingers to manipulate than robots that use smaller motors. The battery pack also has an on-off switch, which means students can turn their robots off to conserve battery power. The brushbot is great for STEAM-focused explorations as kids can get creative with decorating their robots, and tinkering with the robot to improve its stability encourages even the youngest of students to troubleshoot and make changes to their robot.