Month: February 2016

Technology Careers Assembly

Mimi Onuoha and Surya Mattu present in the Meetinghouse.

Mimi Onuoha and Surya Mattu present in the Meetinghouse.

This week the Middle School was honored to host a panel of amazing technology entrepreneurs, programmers, and artists who spoke with our students about the wide variety of ways they solve problems, create products, and use computer programming to redefine our relationship to our phones and social media streams.

Many of the panel members were Friends Seminary parents who work in technology fields, and several amazing parents inspired the idea for the assembly and worked with me to plan the panel and find contacts in the industry.  We saw a photo of the birth of Twitter (before it was known as Twitter) and viewed maps of GPS phone data, visualizations of Instagram health-related hashtags, and devices invented to re-power cell phones during Hurricane Sandy.

Our students impressed me by asking questions about the privacy of their information online, preferences for programming languages (Java or Python, anyone?), and how wireless networks work.  Based on the resulting conversations this week, many students walked away with a broader idea of how technology might be used in their future lives, and more questions about how it is changing the world around them.

7th Grade Skyscrapers

7th grade skyscraper design project

7th grade skyscraper design project

Last year, on the hunt for an interdisciplinary Middle School project, one of the 7th grade math teachers and I collaborated on a new curricular idea.  We developed a skyscraper design project, where we asked students to choose an existing skyscraper, calculate its dimensions using a set scale, and build a 3-D model using the 3-D design program Tinkercad.

With the help of a Collaboration Grant from the school, which funded the purchase of a new 3-D printer, and the generous support of the other 7th grade math teachers, this year every 7th grade student had the opportunity to participate.  Our skyscraper design project went from being in “beta” to a more established part of the curriculum.  Last week we put together a display case of all the 7th grade skyscraper projects.  The work and effort of the students was evident, and it has been particularly satisfying watching the project grow.  It’s fantastic watching students apply the abstract concepts of scale and proportion to a practical design problem.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

William Kamkwamba and his first windmill in Malawi.

I just finished reading an incredibly inspiring book called “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.” It’s the story of a young man named William Kamkwamba, who helps supply electricity to his family’s home in Malawi by building a windmill.   Because of a shortage of money, he is forced to drop out of school.  His technical knowledge comes from books that he checks out of his local library.  He rummages for parts in the village dump and cobbles together his windmill in part from a bicycle dynamo.  The amount of adversity he must overcome in order to get the windmill working is incredibly humbling.

Right now our 6th grade technology class is working on developing their own alternative energy devices as a collaborative project with their 6th grade goLEAD class.  We are currently communicating with global partners and learning the 3-D design tool Sketchup, which we will use to develop 3-D printed prototypes.

This book reminded me how much you can do with so little.  It made me think about the true spirit of what we call “maker” education: student-directed, problem-oriented, and hands-on.  I encourage you to watch William Kamkwamba’s TED Talk or check out the children’s version of his book.

5th Grade NXT Projects

An NXT Drawbot.

An NXT “Drawbot”

This year after programming their NXT robots to solve basic sensor and movement challenges, I gave the 5th graders a choice activity to end the quarter.  We had already programmed our robots to move and turn, detect obstacles in a “Roomba” challenge, and navigate basic mazes using the Ultrasonic sensor.  Teams of students worked on challenges that motivated them. Some students wanted to engage more with building custom robots, and others dug into programming challenges.  It was amazing to see them use their troubleshooting skills to actively find solutions to problems and test out their ideas.

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An NXT “Sumobot”

There was so much industry and excitement in the room.  Most students chose to either build and program “sumo” robots or “drawbots.”  Sumo robots used their light sensor to compete against other robots and stay in the sumo ring.  Drawbots created original pieces of art and shapes on paper, a difficult engineering challenge.

Giving students more choice and opportunities to differentiate their learning is one of my personal goals as a teacher, particularly since I believe in the pedagogy of problem-based learning and maker education. It is not easy for multiple groups to be working on so many different projects in the same room at the same time!  However, I was inspired when I noticed how many times I saw students helping each other, collaborating, and learning together.  I’m looking forward to coming up with more choice options for next year!

Hummingbird Rover

Our assembled Hummingbird Rover.

Our assembled Hummingbird Rover.

The Hummingbird Robot Kit from Carnegie Mellon released their new, upgraded Duo boards in 2015 that allow students to create untethered robots that can freely move around (with the use of a battery pack).  Jennifer and I were able to 3-d print this rover design and assemble a mobile rover, hoping to inspire our technology students to design and print their own models.

There is nothing like printing your own parts, working through problems, and being able to see your robot rover take its first steps!  I love the Hummingbird boards for their versatility, craftiness, and the creativity that they inspire in our students.  I’m excited to see what our 8th graders design!