Out-of-School Time (OST) organizations play a vital role in our education system by providing youth with ways of discovering and exploring the world of STEM that complement the learning they experience during the school day. But OST programs often face hurdles in implementation, particularly when educators charged with facilitation may lack a strong background in the subject matter.

 We kept these educators foremost in our minds while designing DIY Universe, a new way of engaging with research findings and data from NASA’s Great Observatories and other major NASA astrophysics missions, developed by the Christa McAuliffe Center for Integrated Science Learning at Framingham State University. DIY Universe is an online program for middle and high school youth and their educators, designed for OST settings, but available to educators and parents to use in any learning environment.

The goal of DIY Universe is to give OST educators—no matter what their background in Earth and space science concepts is—a robust, yet flexible, pedagogical scaffolding that allows them to facilitate meaningful learning experiences with their youth. This approach aims to remove the barriers that often discourage OST educators from effectively implementing NASA materials and other high-quality resources, and to lower the probability of introducing misconceptions.

By using DIY Universe, youth can develop their own understanding of how our universe works, motivated by the challenge to share their own knowledge through a personalized exhibit they create. Before OST educators guide their youth through the DIY Universe program, however, they must develop some confidence with its compendium of selected NASA Universe of Learning (UoL) online reference materials. Confidence is borne of competence, and this need can be addressed with scaffolding in the form of “Road Maps” for both educators and youth.

The program is designed to offer OST educators access to NASA’s UoL materials, while providing guidance on what resources to use and how. Road Maps facilitate a structured and tailored investigation of the main themes that are the focus of NASA’s UoL: Life and Death of Stars, Origin/History of the Universe, and Other Solar Systems/Other Earths. Each Road Map follows an accessible and age-appropriate learning task sequence that leaves plenty of room for personal exploration.

DIY Universe implements aspects of all three pillars of NGSS’s three-dimensional learning model. Science and Engineering Practices, including obtaining, evaluating, and communicating data, are essential to the work that culminates with a well-designed exhibit. Crosscutting concepts such as stability and change, energy and matter, and systems and system models are explored in the context of each of the program’s main science themes, as are the Disciplinary Core Ideas, which address the content knowledge associated with physics, astronomy, and astrobiology.

“Tool Kits”—one for youth and another, more comprehensive one for educators—complement the Road Maps by providing a selection of NASA resources that introduce the specific science themes and foundational tools needed to develop the project. Once youth choose a theme, the Road Map specific to that theme guides them in the step-by-step creation of a unique and very personalized exhibit they can proudly share with family and friends.

Resources provided within DIY Universe include data and images from Chandra X-ray Observatory, Solar Dynamic Observatory, and Hubble Space Telescope, and other science resources made available through several NASA websites, including Space Place, Exoplanet Exploration, Universe Unplugged, Imagine the Universe, and ViewSpace.

OST educators gain access to other powerful STEM resources through DIY Universe as well, including the MicroObservatory Robotic Telescope Network operated by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA), the extensive resource guide from Girls STEM Ahead, and video resources from PBS Learning Media/NOVA Labs Collection.

The McAuliffe Center will begin disseminating the program through national OST networks, statewide afterschool networks, and the national network of Challenger Learning Centers, of which the McAuliffe Center is a member. It is currently being introduced to several regular partners of the McAuliffe Center, including Massachusetts-based sites of Girls Inc. and Massachusetts Boys and Girls Clubs. Ultimately, the center will share the program through its membership in NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Museum Alliance, which will make the website available to both museums and traditional OST sites and at the NSTA Boston National Conference in April 2020.

DIY Universe was developed over two years by McAuliffe Center staff and Framingham State University interns, who researched the materials, provided feedback on the scaffolding of the activities, and designed the website and logo. The interns were supervised by project coordinator Dr. Julia Abbott, with support from McAuliffe Center Project Manager Evan Pagliuca. Dr. Irene Porro served as the director and subject-matter expert for this project. Work on the DIY Universe project is supported by NASA’s Universe of Learning, which is funded by NASA under award number NNX16AC65A.

Dr. Irene Porro is the director of the Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center at Framingham State University. The center was established by McAuliffe’s alma mater to honor her commitment to future generations through teaching. Today, the center’s mission is to be a leader in developing opportunities for integrated STEM learning through the sharing of resources, building of partnerships, and advancement of best educational practices.

A native of Torino, Italy, Porro received her PhD in Space Science and Technology from the University of Padova, Italy. Before entering the field of education, she was a researcher in astrophysics at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Max Planck Institut für Astronomie in Heidelberg, Germany. She then joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she served as director of the Education and Outreach Group of the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.

Note: This article is featured in the October 2019 issue of Next Gen Navigator, a monthly e-newsletter from NSTA delivering information, insights, resources, and professional learning opportunities for science educators by science educators on the Next Generation Science Standards and three-dimensional instruction.  Click here to sign up to receive the Navigator every month.

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The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

The Wade Institute for Science Education has long valued the power of informal institutions to create precisely the kind of student-led inquiry-based learning and real-world problem solving envisaged by the three-dimensional learning of NGSS. Through our Professional Development Institutes and Customized Professional Learning Services, The Wade Institute delivers professional development (PD) experiences that maximize the impact of the informal institutions and other STEM stakeholders within a region. In the organization’s 33-year history, we have worked with more than 150 partners and collaborators, ranging from museums, nature centers, science and technology centers, zoos, and aquaria to institutions of higher education, engineering companies, and other cultural and educational organizations. Our work is based on the strong belief that informal learning environments, and the institutions that help create them, are an important complement to the learning happening in classrooms.

Phenomena-based learning, the gold standard of NGSS, stresses the importance of engaging kids in investigating questions and problems that are relevant to their own experience in the real world. When crafting our Summer Professional Development Institutes, we work with 3–5 partners in various regions across the state to develop programming focused on locally relevant, observable phenomena. With each partner organization hosting the course for one or two days over the course of the week, teachers may find themselves visiting labs or local industries, conversing with scientists about current research, and learning sampling techniques at field sites of local researchers, nature centers, and environmental education organizations.

While our programs are offered to teachers across the K–12 grade span, middle school teachers comprise the majority of our participants. The experiences provided by the institutes model the kind of active, real-world engagement that is critical for middle school students as their personal identities with science become more fixed and they begin exploring career interests. The Summer Institutes also explore a broad scope of content that provides an ideal lens for the NGSS Crosscutting Concepts that link the middle school frameworks. During this summer’s institute on Cape Cod, for example, teachers investigated the interplay between stability and change as they talked with local researchers about the dynamic relationship between local seal and shark populations and how these changing populations have impacted the tourist industry. In previous years, teachers north of Boston have looked for evidence of energy and matter cycles in aquatic ecosystems as they learned field-sampling techniques on the Ipswich River. In several institutes across the state, teachers have visited the production floor of an engineering facility in their community, seeing firsthand how issues of quantity and scale affect various aspects of the research and development (R&D) processes.

When the institute concludes, teachers develop investigations for their classrooms that incorporate the real-world problems and questions they encountered throughout the week. Seeing examples of how scientists and engineers work gives teachers a better context to bring the Science and Engineering Practices alive in their classrooms, engaging students in authentic investigation that mirrors the learning and thinking that happens in labs, field studies, and R&D facilities. With a broader awareness of their region’s science and engineering enterprises, teachers are also well equipped to create learning experiences that leverage natural and human-made phenomena found in their own communities. Our collaborating partners become resources for teachers throughout the academic year, providing opportunities for both on-site and classroom programs for schools, as well as additional resource support.

During the school year, we bring the collaborative learning experiences into the classroom with our Customized Professional Learning Services, designed to help teachers navigate the standards, implement the Science and Engineering Practices, and promote a higher level of student-led, hands-on, minds-on inquiry in the classroom. These services are tailored to schools’ individual needs, but they draw on the best experiences we have developed through work with our informal education collaborators.

Our collaborative partnership model has offered a powerful approach to creating professional learning experiences for teachers that maximize the impact of the diverse resources within a region. Informal educators bring a wide range of expertise in science content and a variety of perspectives on inquiry-based pedagogy. They introduce teachers to a wealth of local resources that can provide direct experience with compelling, locally relevant phenomena. They help teachers see what science and engineering look like in the real world. The Wade Institute for Science Education works with these partners and collaborators to develop programs that interweave thematic STEM content with inquiry-based pedagogy and support in navigating and connecting with the standards. Teachers leave programs with new tools to use in their classrooms and an enhanced capacity for designing hands-on, minds-on, inquiry-based investigations that integrate the Science and Engineering Practices into student learning in an authentic and meaningful way.

Angela Damery is Director of Education for the Wade Institute for Science Education in Quincy, Massachusetts. She has spent the greater part of her career working as an informal educator, most recently as the Program Manager of Exhibit Interpretation at the Museum of Science, Boston. She also taught seventh-grade math and science at Rising Tide Charter Public School in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Damery is passionate about creating learning experiences that allow kids learn to be curious thinkers and creative problem solvers, and her experiences as an educator both in and out of the classroom have led her to a strong conviction that rich informal learning experiences provide an essential foundation for effective classroom education.

Note: This article is featured in the October 2019 issue of Next Gen Navigator, a monthly e-newsletter from NSTA delivering information, insights, resources, and professional learning opportunities for science educators by science educators on the Next Generation Science Standards and three-dimensional instruction.  Click here to sign up to receive the Navigator every month.

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The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Informal science centers are in perfect alignment to provide rich NGSS supports using three-dimensional learning and real-world connections. When an educator hears about professional development opportunities at the New England Aquarium (NEAq), they are typically “hooked” by the idea that they may get some great lessons about ocean animals for the classroom while gazing at Myrtle, our 550 lb. green sea turtle. While the “hook” might be Myrtle, the “reel” is linking rich, real-world, accessible phenomena at the NEAq with NGSS-supported lessons for the classroom. Informal science centers like NEAq create models and analyze real-world phenomena using exhibits and research, and are a perfect resource when introducing phenomena in the classroom. NEAq is also a conservation-oriented organization, and our goal is to establish connections to nature, strengthen relationships, develop systems thinking, build skills for civic participation, provide diversity of participation and access, and promote hope, self-efficacy, and confidence. That is why we work to increase the capacity of educators, both in and out of the classroom, using the ocean as a means of providing three-dimensional learning opportunities that align with our goals.

To do this, we restructured how we run our professional development courses to start with a deep exploration of the standards that our courses will support, and then modeling what a lesson or activity could look like. By working with educators to focus on the content and practices of a standard, it helps define what the students will be learning, as well as how they will be learning. The Next Generation Science Standards does this. The NSTA website displays the standards in a way that lets you highlight the Practices, Disciplinary Core Ideas, and Crosscutting Concepts that go with each performance expectation. Using highlighters and printouts of standards, educators in small groups work through this themselves. This allows for great discussions on how they would have students engage in experiences that support the standard(s) we are working on. Where the real supports lie, though, is then modeling what this could look like in a series of activities built on real-world experiences that support why students should be learning these concepts.

An example of this is in our Full STEAM Ahead: Ocean Adventures workshop series for early educators. During the Ocean and Us class, our goal was to introduce lessons that support the following K–2 Performance Expectations:

Performance Expectations
K-ESS2-1	Construct an argument supported by evidence for how plants and animals (including humans) can change the environment to meet their needs.
K-ESS3-1	Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants and animals (including humans) and the places they live.
K-ESS3-3	Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.
K-LS1-1	Use observations to describe patterns of what plants and animals (including humans) need to survive.
1-LS1-1	Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.
K-2-ETS1-1	Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
K-2-ETS1-3	Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.

We started the day with an icebreaker about systems. Since systems is a Crosscutting Concept that is within many of the standards addressed, we wanted to begin by building a deeper understanding of biological systems. Small groups were given an image of the same tide pool ecosystem inspired by Istvan Banyai’s picture book Zoom. Some groups had a very “zoomed-in” version of the tide pool (such as a tide pool animal), while others had a very “zoomed-out” coastline view. Everyone else observed images at a scale in between those two versions. Each group defined the boundary of their image, then discussed the “living components” of the organisms in the pictures, what they needed to survive (food, water, shelter), and what was flowing in and out of the system (sun, water, air, food). Each shared their image and what they came up with. This allowed for the “aha” moment when the educators noticed that all their pictures were just “zoomed in or out” versions of one another, allowing for not only an understanding of how individuals fit into a large system, but also how the larger system impacts individuals.

Then throughout the day, we built lessons from a systems framework, using an image of a New England river with a dam and an arrow pointing farther up the river, and the prompt “Salmon swim upriver to spawn here.” After allowing educators to share their observations and questions, we created many of the lessons around this phenomenon, while answering most of the questions that the group came up with through engaging in activities. While at NEAq, we visit the salmon exhibit to observe how salmon swim and move, but we also show that for those without access to a facility like NEAq, such investigations can be done using videos and books, and by making models of fish with potatoes and different fin shapes using craft materials.

When modeling and seeking to understand systems, we know that it is important to understand human impact on systems, and we can draw on our knowledge to train educators on how to communicate using values and solutions. Teachers develop an understanding that we use rivers, just like other plants and animals do, but sometimes our actions can have unintended consequences. Teachers learn how humans have built fish ladders to aid movement of fish past dams, then engage in engineering activities to build models of fish ladders, eventually doing this with learners to help them increase their hope and self-efficacy. It also boosts educators’ confidence to teach even their youngest learners about their connection to the natural world.

We live on a blue planet, and know it is important to inspire problem-solvers to act on behalf of the ocean. This is just one example of the many ways that we are trying to support educators at the New England Aquarium to develop ocean problem-solvers through three-dimensional learning opportunities.

What are some ways you are using real-world phenomena to engage in three-dimensional learning experiences? Are you able to use an informal science center near you, or are you working at an informal science center that provides opportunities for educators?

Corrine Steever is the Teacher Services Supervisor at the New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts. She provides teacher professional development programs that enhance participants’ understanding of ocean science, and cross-curricular connections that support multiple ways to engage their students in STEM practices. The New England Aquarium also provides free resources to educators through their Teacher Resource Center. Steever is a board member of the Massachusetts Association of Science Teachers and Massachusetts Marine Educators.

 

Note: This article is featured in the October 2019 issue of Next Gen Navigator, a monthly e-newsletter from NSTA delivering information, insights, resources, and professional learning opportunities for science educators by science educators on the Next Generation Science Standards and three-dimensional instruction.  Click here to sign up to receive the Navigator every month.

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The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Democrats Introduce Bill to Reauthorize Higher Education Act

House Democrats introduced a long-awaited bill earlier this week that would update the Higher Education Act for the first time in more than a decade.

The College Affordability Act, H.R. 4674 (116) expands federal Pell Grants and would ease current student loan debt, but it does not seek to completely eliminate college costs or cancel student loan debt, two proposals currently being offered by  several  2020 presidential candidates. It is expected to cost $400 billion over the next decade.

According to the press release issued by the Democrats, the bill:

• Tackles the rising cost of tuition by restoring state and federal investments in public colleges and universities, which will reduce the burden that has been shifted to students and their families.
• Makes college affordable for low- and middle-income students by increasing the value of Pell Grants.
• Eases the burden of student loans by making existing student loans cheaper and easier to pay off.
• Cracks down on predatory for-profit colleges that defraud students, veterans, and taxpayers.
• Holds all schools accountable for providing students a quality education that leads to a rewarding career.
• Improves students’ safety on campus by blocking Secretary DeVos’s survivor-blaming Title IX rule and introducing stronger accountability to track and prevent cases of sexual assault, harassment, and hazing.
• Expands students’ access to high-quality programs by making Pell Grants available for short-term programs.
• Helps improve graduation rates by providing stronger wraparound services to keep students in school and on track.
• Invests in the critical institutions that enroll underserved students by increasing and permanently reauthorizing mandatory funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and other Minority Serving Institutions.

Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), the chairman of the House education committee, said in a statement,  “The College Affordability Act is a proposal that Members across the political spectrum should be able to support. It is a necessary and sensible response to the challenges that students and families are facing every day.”

Read the full press release from the Democrats on the bill here and the New York Times article and Forbes article.

ED Awards New Research Grants for STEM Education and Computer Science

Last month Education Secretary DeVos announced $123 million in new grant funds would be distributed to 41 school districts, nonprofits and state educational agencies under the Education and Innovative Research (EIR) program.

The program aims to fund innovative programs meant to improve academic achievement for high-need students.

The awards include over $30 million to eight grantees serving rural areas and over $78 million to 29 grantees focused on STEM education. Over 85% of the funded STEM projects include a specific focus on computer science.

A link to the Department of Education press release, which includes the winning grantees, can be found here.

Appropriations Update

As reported in previous NSTA Legislative Updates, federal programs are currently under a stop-gap spending measure (continuing resolution) that provides continuing appropriations at FY19 levels to federal agencies through November 21, 2019. After that, if no agreement is reached, funding runs out and the government would be in risk of shutting down. Will they come to a compromise on the Fy20 budget? Earlier this week Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby told Politico that spending negotiations remain in a “prolonged slump.”

As you will recall, in June the House did pass H.R. 2740 (116), a minibus which bundles the text of four of the 12 appropriations bills for FY2020, (Defense, Labor-HHS-Education, Energy-Water and State Foreign-Operations). The House bill provides a 6 percent increase to the Department of Education, includes $1.3 billion for Title IV/A Student Support and Academic Enrichment (SSAE) grant and $2.5 billion for the Title IIA grant, an increase of $150 million and $500 million respectively.

The education funding bill introduced in the Senate funds many programs at levels lower than the House bill. The Senate bill would provide $71.4 billion in discretionary spending on education, less than the House’s proposed budget of $75.9 billion for the Education Department.  Title IVA Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants did receive a $50 million increase over last year in the Senate bill. Title IIA, which funds teacher professional development would be level funded.

Stay tuned, and watch for more updates in future issues of NSTA Express.

Jodi Peterson is the Assistant Executive Director of Communication, Legislative & Public Affairs for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Chair of the STEM Education Coalition. Reach her via e-mail at jpeterson@nsta.org or via Twitter at @stemedadvocate.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Introduction

The PocketLab Air Sensor is a fantastic tool for investigating the validity of fluctuations in climate and air pollution in your own community.  As a result, teachers can offer students an instrument to measure what’s in the air  (i.e., CO2, ozone, and particulates) for a reasonable price of $298.00.  

With wireless sensor technology, the PocketLab Air can measure a variety of different variables: carbon dioxide, ozone, particulate matter, temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, and light.

The small size of PocketLab sensor is convenient to take on the go for experiments, and it stores a large amount of data, which can then be shared with the free PocketLab “app.” When both the “app” and PocketLab device are working as one simultaneous unit, scientists of all ages can generate experiments that reflect the current state of the world around them.

The PocketLab Air, one of four PocketLab devices, is created for users as young as fourth grade students to act as weather professionals. Moreover,  it’s a sophisticated enough instrument for researchers of climate and air quality to use in the field.

One of the greatest features is that the device can be used to collect data with an iPhone, iPad, or Android devices via Bluetooth 4.0; making the PocketLab Air easy to use for scientists of all ages.   

Additionally, the PocketLab Air sensor has the ability to integrate data with CloudLab Science Notebook, which stores and organizes all of the collected data into a single software program.

Once you are ready to begin taking measurements, it’s crucial to make sure the battery is fully charged before launching the PocketLab Air into action.

To do this, simply take the orange micro USB cord that is included with the PocketLab Air and plug it into the sensor. The USB cord can then be plugged into a computer or another device that is compatible with USB ports. Charging the PocketLab Air takes approximately 60 minutes for a full charge.

Once charged, users can follow the directions in the PocketLab Air “Getting Started Guide” by  downloading the free “app” and connect the PocketLab sensor to their chosen device, e.g., iPhone, iPad, etc.

For more information and instructions regarding the PocketLab Air, click on the following link: https://www.thepocketlab.com/store/pocketlab-air.

After the PocketLab Air is paired with a compatible device, the user will be prompted to grant access to the camera and microphone. Enabling access to the camera and microphone allows users to “record up to 30,000 measurements to the on-board memory.”

Also, the “app” allows users to toggle between the six sensors in the device, change the points/second feature, and seamlessly move between units of measurement. In addition, an excellent feature is that as real-time data is collected, it’s possible to compare measurements taken by different sensors.

Once the user becomes acquainted with the “app,” they can adjust the sensors and take measurements.  Every time a sensor is purchased from Myraid Sensors, a series of four getting started activity cards are included and are helpful to get acquainted with the device; especially in the early design stages of an experiment. Hence,  information is available about ozone, carbon dioxide levels, particulate matter, and air quality index.  

Essentially,  these cards outline how the PocketLab sensor can assist the user in recording data related to whatever experiment they are designing. Moreover, uers can reference the cards via the instruction manual tab located at: https://www.thepocketlab.com/educators/resources

Keep in mind that when taking measurements, the gas and weather sensors need time to settle in that subtle changes in the environment may take the sensor up to 10 minutes to fully adjust. In other words, you need to be patient and take your time when using the PocketLab Air sensor.

Overall, we found the PocketLab Air sensor to be an excellent fit for science teachers to put into the hands of their students. Undoubtedly, it is a standards-based device that offers students authentic learning opportunities to conduct research in their communities and beyond.

What’s Included

• 1 PocketLab Air Sensor

• 1 Protective Carrying Case

• 1 Set of Getting Started Activity Cards

• 1 PocketLab Air Sensor Sticker

• Dozens of Lessons and Activities

• Micro USB Charging Cable

Classroom Resources

–https://www.thepocketlab.com/educators/lesson-plan-directory

–https://www.thepocketlab.com/educators

–https://www.thepocketlab.com/pocketlab-air

Specifications

• Wireless Connection: Bluetooth 4.0

• Battery: Rechargeable via micro USB

• Battery Life: 24 hours (wireless, full data rate)/ 3 days (intermittent measurements)

• Wireless Range: 250 feet (76 m) range

• Dimensions: 4 x 2.5 x 1.3 in (10 x 6.4 x 3.3 cm)

• Weight: 142 g (5 oz)

• Memory: 30,000 data readings

* For specific sensor specifications, check out the following link! https://www.thepocketlab.com/store/pocketlab-air

Cost

$298

About the Authors

Edwin P. Christmann is a professor and chairman of the secondary education department and graduate coordinator of the mathematics and science teaching program at Slippery Rock University in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. Marie Ellis is a graduate student at Slippery Rock University in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania.

Fireworks!?

In Anne’s a mixed-age classroom of 3-to-5 year olds, not all children are able to draw possible solutions to engineering problems because they may be still developing the necessary fine motor skills.  However, by creating verbal designs, children can describe their design quite successfully. In the process of creating verbal designs, the children build on what they already know, individually and sometimes collectively, if in groups.  The result can be a clear design with concrete testing questions. 

Educators who can be open to children’s loftiest ideas—even those that seem impossible at first—honor children’s capabilities and thinking. Consider how you might be able to say, “Yes, and…” and help children begin problem solving by asking open-ended questions. Make firecrackers at school!? The children wanted to wanted to build their own fireworks and although the teachers ruled out the use of explosives, several children did not give up on the idea of fireworks.

Two materials were proposed for the “light.” Isla and Eve proposed using tiny rounds collected when using hole punches (“confetti”), and Cohen wanted to try miniature pom poms. The children decided this was a testable question and gathered both materials. 

Throughout their process the children used engineering habits of mind: systems thinking, creativity, optimism collaboration, communication, and  attention to ethical considerations (the impact of engineering on people and the environment) (Counsell 2015). The success of their fireworks was confirmation that fostering children’s capacity to design and construct their designs helps them develop critical thinking skills and engineering habits of mind.

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Engineering Design with Cardboard

Teaching a summer camp class at the Pinecrest Pavilion Summer Camp on using cardboard in construction of designed structures provided an opportunity for me to see how the developmental age and prior experience of students directs the choice of projects and tools. Kindergarten to grade 2 children were enrolled in the morning session and the afternoon session was 3rd-5th.

Designing and building a marble run was our first project— re-using materials such as cardboard tubes and boxes, construction paper, and egg cartons, with tape. I provided some precut pieces of tape for the younger group and set up “tape stations” with scissors. The older group tended to take the rolls of tape to their table where it disappeared under their materials! The younger children built shorter structures. Seeking to make long ramps, the older children hastily rolled construction paper into long, structurally weak tubes. 

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There was just as much difference in skill sets within the age groups as there was between them. Some children needed to hear others’ ideas before they could settle on a plan and get to work. Some were focused on completion and didn’t spend much time making a stable structure or creating a clear pathway for the marbles. Others worked so long on perfecting one aspect of their marble run that they ran out of time that day to make the rest of what they envisioned.  

To become proficient at making well-formed objects of any kind (that meet their own expectations), children need more time than five half-days to mess about with materials, design, build, test, and re-design no matter what material is involved, but especially if they haven’t previously used the material. That very important open-exploration period strengthens children’s experience with the properties of materials and ability to imagine and design. Developing this knowledge also involves developing fine motor skills, patience, and spatial awareness, and is a lot of fun!

The project of making “something” using cardboard gave children an open-ended challenge. Miniature stage scenes, cozy kitty boxes, arcade games, a model kayak, figure with movable limbs, and a fort were structures designed and built, but not perfected over the week.

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On the fourth day I challenged the older children to design and build for another person. Each child wrote a note describing and/or drew a picture of an object or structure they would like someone else to build for them. The papers went into a bowl and then each child drew one out to work on.  This is when children’s communication and attention to ethical considerations were evident. They had to interpret the notes to meet the needs of their “clients.”

A classroom center for design using cardboard would provide opportunities for children to continue working on their ideas and solving problems through re-design during the school year. What do your children create with cardboard?

Engineering Habits of Mind. From STEM Learning with Young Children: Inquiry Teaching with Ramps and Pathways by S. Counsell, L. Escalada, R. Geiken, M. Sander, J.Uhlenberg, B. Van Meeteren, S.Yoshizawa, B. Zan. 2015. New York: Teachers College Press.

National Research Council (NRC). 2012. A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13165