JoinBuilding STEM Knowledge in a Breakerspace
By Debra Shapiro
Posted on 2018-04-06
Janet Sweat’s middle school students in Lake City, Florida, disassembled broken toys
to create cars, some that would run with remote controls and others without them. Photo courtesy Janet Sweat.
A breakerspace—a makerspace workstation where students can disassemble toys, electronics, and appliances—engages students “in the ‘how does this work,’ ‘what makes things work,’ ‘I wonder,’ and tinkering phases of investigating the world around them. In the age of touch screens, cell phones, headphones, etc., it is important to stress engaging with others and the world around them and to foster [students’] curiosity,” says Cynthia Crockett, science education specialist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “This is not a new phenomenon—the ‘take-apart table’ [dates back to] the 90’s—but…[it] has seen a resurgence [recently] with the advent of makerspaces.”
Crockett emphasizes that “no smashing or wanton destruction [is] permitted; that defeats the very purpose.” Instead, teachers should encourage students to “explore and move toward understanding the workings,” which happens when students study objects “to figure out how to ‘get inside,’ see how it is put together…‘ undo’ it, then…[re-examine it].” Students can further their learning by reassembling the item, she adds.
When Janet Sweat of Lake City, Florida, taught middle school, her students “would take apart broken toys to create cars that run. We would repurpose motors and create circuits…A broken PlayStation became a car with a pop-up top and headlights,” she recalls. “The students were extremely creative.”
Sweat had students sketch their creations beforehand. “The art piece was necessary [to show] what will the thing look like? What is the energy source? How will the circuit be designed?”
Afterward, the students “remembered those circuits and did well on tests,” she asserts.
Lucas Carr, technology teacher at Sullivan North High School in Kingsport, Tennessee, says his breakerspace “is a large part of my classroom…I have had students run through labs [in which] we took older/inoperable computers apart; students have brought in old electronic toys to repurpose parts; and we also compete in robotics competitions, which have involved many disassemblies of completed robots. In all, I believe these activities offer increased student motivation, and an opportunity for educators to present the knowledge and skills that students need to work with 21st-century concepts and equipment.”
Carr has a closet designated for storage of items to be dismantled. “One of the biggest challenges is having enough space so you can keep a good supply and give students a range [of items] to choose from,” he reports.
While Carr’s students are most focused on electronics, he suggests teachers who want to establish a breakerspace “start with what you’re most familiar with.” Some teachers and students might be more comfortable working with “dolls and stuffed toys, or old lawnmowers,” he notes.
“Our Makers’ Lab has always had a take-apart space, as well as our Tinkering carts and spaces…Our largest item was a washing machine disassembled by kindergartners,” says Matt Pearson, director of the Makers’ Lab at Marin Country Day School in Corte Madera, California. Before students work with “CRT [cathode ray tube] TVs and microwaves, which are high-voltage,” Pearson says he removes “the dangerous pieces” from microwaves and ensures the capacitors in electronics are discharged.
“I’m most interested in electromechanical items like pulleys, gears, motors, and switches because students learn a lot more” from them, he contends. “My most sought-after take-apart is the VCR [videocassette recorder]” because of “the many simple machines and electromechanical parts it contains. Students gaining an understanding of simple machines directly connects to the NGSS [Next Generation Science Standards] engineering standards in grades 3–5. An understanding of transferring or transforming energy is most easily taught with simple machines doing a task. VCRs have many.”
To initiate a project, students “have to formulate a pitch, why they want to do it, and argue it, like in the real world,” says Pearson. “They have to do research…I give them a budget for carrying out the project,” he relates.
“You have to foreshadow the takeapart, so I do it myself first,” Pearson advises. Students have to demonstrate the safe use of tools before using them.
Tinkering, he says, “serves as the creative and innovative connection between Making and STEAM [science, technology, engineering, arts, and math]. A STEAM education environment includes creative, stimulating, and inspiring classrooms where creativity is used to problem-solve interesting and culturally relevant challenges. I suggest that Making is the gateway to such a classroom, with Tinkering serving as the means to acquire new knowledge and skills and explore how to recombine the traditional in innovative ways.”
Anthony Perry, invention education coordinator for the Lemelson-MIT Program—which encourages students to invent and develop hands-on STEM skills—has facilitated summer camps in which elementary and middle school students learned engineering design by disassembling electronics. Students entering the camps typically “had zero experience working in a group. [They learned] you can’t do it alone; you depend on your teammates,” he asserts.
The camps also helped students develop persistence, he says. “Things aren’t going to work right away. You have to change course, ask a peer, or try something else.”
Perry had students keep engineering notebooks. “For each step, they would sketch it out and make observations,” he recalls. The notebooks also “made it clear that smashing something is not the way to learn about [electronic circuits and systems].”
Suggestions for Safety
“Like with any type of demolition work, safety preparation is critical,” asserts Ken Roy, NSTA’s chief science safety compliance consultant. He cites “the need to be aware of personal protective equipment requirements and appropriate use [e.g. eye (safety glasses or goggles) and hand protection (work gloves)]; the need to work [safely] with hand tools; and the need to assess hazards and determine risks of materials/equipment to be worked with.”
Above all, students must be trained “on all of these safety issues noted and [successfully assessed before doing]… breakerspace activities. Teachers [must] make sure [to have] continuous and direct adult supervision of students…under ‘duty or standard of care’ legal requirements…to ensure that behavioral expectations are being followed and to be prepared for the unexpected safety issues.”
For a complete list of safety procedures for breakerspaces, see Roy’s safety blog.
This article originally appeared in the April 2018 issue of NSTA Reports, the member newspaper of the National Science Teachers Association. Each month, NSTA members receive NSTA Reports, featuring news on science education, the association, and more. Not a member? Learn how NSTA can help you become the best science teacher you can be.
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Janet Sweat’s middle school students in Lake City, Florida, disassembled broken toys
to create cars, some that would run with remote controls and others without them. Photo courtesy Janet Sweat.
Ed News: Lecture Instruction – Alive and Not So Well
By Kate Falk
Posted on 2018-04-06
This week in education news, new analysis of college-level STEM classes found that lecture instruction still remains as the dominant form of teaching; report that launched the modern education reform movement turns 35; schools and districts across the country invest in STEM labs to help motivate students and stimulate innovation; and NASA astronaut says you don’t have to be a genius to have a career in science; and Hawaiian robotics teacher inspires a generation of STEM students.
Teacher Pay: How Salaries, Pensions, And Benefits Work In Schools
Teacher pay has been in headlines across the country recently: Educators in Oklahoma and West Virginia successfully forced the legislature to pass pay raises in early 2018, and teachers in Arizona were demanding lawmakers there do the same. Teaching has long been viewed as a low-paid job, but much more goes into teachers’ compensation than just the take-home paychecks. Read the article featured in Education Week.
Lecture Instruction: Alive And Not So Well
You’ve heard about the revolution in STEM teaching? About how professors are retooling their courses to focus on active learning? About how the flipped classroom has made the traditional lecture obsolete? It turns out that the revolution hasn’t quite taken place, at least broadly, in higher education. Read the article featured in Inside Higher Ed.
“A Nation at Risk”, the damning report that sparked the modern education reform movement, turns 35 this year. The report, released during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, warned of a “rising tide of mediocrity” in American schools that demanded national attention. Read the article featured in The 74.
School STEM Labs Inspire Students, Power Innovation
Schools and districts are investing in STEM education to provide students the skills they need to thrive in their future careers, from technical skills to critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, communication and collaboration. Many schools are building dedicated high-tech learning spaces to start or invigorate their STEM programs. Advanced manufacturing labs, for example, provide hands-on learning experiences where students can design products on computers and build those products with 3D printers, laser cutters and other computer-connected equipment. Read the article featured in Ed Tech.
I Was A Bad Student Who Became An Astronaut. Let’s Stop Telling People They Can’t Be Good At Science
Since I’ve returned from spending a year in space, I’ve been traveling the world sharing my experiences. I’ve been surprised by one of the things I’ve heard from audiences: that they believe science is too difficult, too complex for a normal person to comprehend. Apparently, over one-third of the world thinks I’m a genius, because according to them 3M State of Science Index, 36% of people around the globe think you need to be a genius in order to have a career in science. I’m here to tell you that’s not true. Read the article featured in TIME magazine.
Springtime is science fair season. Thousands of kids across the country, from elementary through high school, spend weeks or months coaxing seedlings to grow, building devices to harness solar energy and carefully mixing acids and bases. Read the article featured in The Hechinger Report.
Meet the Hawaiian Robotics Teacher Inspiring a Generation of STEM Students
The Waialua High School robotics team was just named regional champ, beat 54 teams at the international Festival de Robotique in Montreal last month and they will be traveling to Houston in April for the world championship. In fact, this team has qualified for the world championship every year since 2001, and they’ve won robotics competitions all over the U.S. and in Australia, China and Japan. Credit for the team’s glory goes to Glenn Lee, an affable electrical engineer who originally took a teaching job as a way to support himself through business school. Read the article featured in People magazine.
Stay tuned for next week’s top education news stories.
The Communication, Legislative & Public Affairs (CLPA) team strives to keep NSTA members, teachers, science education leaders, and the general public informed about NSTA programs, products, and services and key science education issues and legislation. In the association’s role as the national voice for science education, its CLPA team actively promotes NSTA’s positions on science education issues and communicates key NSTA messages to essential audiences.
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Coming to a City near You—March for Science 2018
By David Evans, NSTA Executive Director
Posted on 2018-04-05
About this time last year NSTA and many of our teachers joined millions in the streets of Washington, DC and in cities nationwide for the March for Science 2017.
This year, March for Science (MfS) 2018 is scheduled for April 14 (find out more here). We encourage you to join one of the more than 200 scheduled satellite events nationwide and use your voice for change.
Why march again?
The goal of the March for Science is to champion robustly funded and publicly communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity.
This last year we have seen more threats to science at all levels of our government. The Administration has not named a science adviser and challenges to the science behind global warming continue to mount. The EPA has dismissed science advisors and replaced them with industry representatives. National Park Service Advisory Panel members have resigned because the Secretary refused to meet with them. Scientific content on federal websites has been altered. Perhaps most significantly, as reported in the NY Times, “Since World War II, no American president has shown greater disdain for science – or more lack of awareness of its likely costs.”
In his FY2019 budget President Trump –for the second year in a row—proposes to eliminate key education and research programs across the federal agencies.
Fortunately, Congress largely ignored the Administration’s proposed cuts in these areas when it passed the FY2018 budget a few weeks ago.
Congress boosted most science programs in the FY2018 budget. The National Science Foundation is receiving a 4 percent increase, while the Department of Energy Office of Science budget will increase by $869 million or 16 percent, and the National Institutes of Health is receiving a $3 billion or 9 percent boost. Read more here.
Despite Administration efforts to undermine public education, programs authorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) also did very well in the FY2018 budget. Title II grants used by states and districts for teacher professional development and other activities received level funding at just over $2 billion.
The Title IV-A Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grant program will see a $700 million increase for FY 2018 (total funding level is $1.1 billion). This funding will allow districts to create programs that address school safety and mental health services, provide well balanced education programs, including STEM education programs, and incorporate more education technology and professional learning.
The ESSA Title II-B 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant program, which funds science and STEM programs in many afterschool and extended learning environments, will receive just over $1.2 billion in FY 2018. (More here on the education budget.)
Interestingly, this last year we’ve also seen an “amazingly large” number of scientists running for public office in 2018.
Shaughnessy Naughton, the founder of 314 Action, a political action committee which launched in 2014 to help scientists run for office, told Huff Post that the number of science candidates is “really astonishing” and that her group has “never seen anything like this.” As of the end of January, more than 60 researchers and technologists were running for federal office and at least 200 candidates with previous careers in STEM have announced bids for approximately 7,000 state legislature seats.
Two hundred candidates with STEM backgrounds are running for school boards.
So on April 14, let’s stand and demand that our leaders use science to inform their work and that we want their decisions to be data-driven and evidence-based.
Let’s march for our students. Let decision makers know they need to make strategic investments in K-12 STEM education instead of eliminating key funding sources.
Nothing less than the future of the American dream depends on preparing students to enter society with the knowledge and technical skills and tools that are critical to the workforce, our national security, and our science and technology driven society.
This is why we should and will march again. See you on April 14. 
Dr. David L. Evans is the Executive Director of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). Reach him via e-mail at devans@nsta.org or via Twitter @devans_NSTA.
The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.
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About this time last year NSTA and many of our teachers joined millions in the streets of Washington, DC and in cities nationwide for the March for Science 2017.
This year, March for Science (MfS) 2018 is scheduled for April 14 (find out more here). We encourage you to join one of the more than 200 scheduled satellite events nationwide and use your voice for change.
Why march again?
Robert E. Yager Exemplary Teaching Award—2018 winners
By NSTA Web Director
Posted on 2018-04-05
The Robert E. Yager Exemplary Teaching Award recognizes six full-time K–12 teachers of science who successfully use innovation and excellence in their classroom.
District II
None awarded
District IV
James Brown
Science Teacher
Sand Creek Middle School
Albany, NY
James Brown believes when students are taught in an interdisciplinary manner through a lens of how and why, science suddenly comes to life. Instilling in students that science is key to understanding the world around us provides the student with a framework for their learning. Kelly Grindstaff, Project Manager, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, says, “In my over two decades in education as a teacher, teacher educator, and professional development professional, I can think of no one more deserving than Jim for an award recognizing Exemplary Teaching. … [H]is leadership in growing STEM education has been unparalleled in my experience.” Brown makes learning real for students by integrating curriculum through daily activities and by showing students that science is all around. Rather than giving answers, he gets them excited about finding their own. Brown’s lessons often incorporate specific skills, which give students tools to be successful, and contests, which motivate kids beyond a grade and provide an authentic audience. Joseph A. Farron, Jr., Environmental Engineer, states, “Mr. Brown is a tremendous educator who uniquely fosters an understanding of science to help his students become involved in the world they live in. Our organization has been impressed by programs he has helped establish, and our only real question about Mr. Brown and his educational initiatives is, what will he do next?”
View James Brown’s PowerPoint presentation
District VIII
Brian McDowell
Science Teacher
Mason County Schools
Maysville, KY
Brian McDowell uses authentic experiences to cultivate middle school students’ problem-solving, self-directed, and collaboration skills. McDowell created “A Place for Inquiry” nature trail just outside the school, installing a dinosaur trackway where students are asked to collect evidence and create a claim of what occurred based on the evidence. Simple questions such as “How many dinosaurs were here or were the dinosaurs running or walking?” are used to initiate dynamic discussions and debate. Brown has also created a bone assemblage, stratigraphy column, bird blind, rock cycle model, and flagpole shadow study for students to use their scientific practices. David E. Russell, Department of Zoology, Miami University, says, “There are so few opportunities for our students to actually conduct research, understand the nature of science, and feel as if they are part of this dynamic world, that the bird blind project is fantastic for the long-term (and short-term) development of our next generation of scientists and environmentally informed voting public.”
View Brian McDowell’s PowerPoint presentation
District X
Kristen Poindexter
Science Teacher
Spring Mill Elementary School
Indianapolis, IN
Kristen Poindexter strives every day to help her students become excited about the world around them, constantly checking in with them during labs and experiments to make sure they are highly engaged and are making connections to themselves and the world around them. She creates an environment where asking questions and taking chances is encouraged and expected. Poindexter also sets up making-meaning conferences where students can share their experiences, data, claims, and evidence. Students learn to listen to each other and help validate their peers’ thinking with supportive evidence of their own. Through this process, her students see their peers as more than classmates, becoming a tightly bonded classroom where everyone supports one another. Poindexter often receives compliments from other teachers in the school: They are able to pick out her current and former students because of the way they craft their questions and go about finding answers to their questions and wonderings. Allyson Smith, Director of Curriculum, MSD of Washington Township, says, “One of the many characteristics I admire about Ms. Poindexter is her reflective nature. She is constantly reflecting on her practices and refining her craft. She exemplifies the term lifelong learner. Her love for science is contagious and all of her students and colleagues are excited to learn from her and with her.”
View Kristin Poindexter’s PowerPoint presentation
District XIV
Deepa Iyer
Science Teacher
Knox Gifted Academy
Chandler, AZ
Deepa Iyer encourages students to think deeply about the material, learn through experimentation, engage with the design thinking process, and collaborate. She sees her role as helping students collaboratively build models of concepts through experimentation and analysis. In Iyer’s classroom, students sit in groups of three and engage in various discussions related to the content, tasked with discussing something unique. Beyond pure scientific experimentation, Iyer also encourages students to use the design thinking and engineering process as way to interact with content and make learning relevant, engineering solutions to problems like scarcity of potable water, smart watering systems to prevent wastage of water, or developing solar panels that mimic the movement of sunflowers to maximize the production of renewable solar energy. She uses these learning experiences to create a community learning experience. She uses students’ varying levels of skills to the class’s advantage by creating a system of peer support: a message board made from sticky notes where students can ask and receive help on their projects. Through this, students learn the art of collaboration and enhance their learning through teaching. Lynn Weed, Principal, Knox Gifted Academy, says, “Deepa possesses the characteristics, expertise, and work ethic of a highly effective teacher. I would personally choose to take [her] into the trenches with me on any endeavor! Her practices and procedures are beyond reproach.”
View Deepa Iyer’s PowerPoint presentation
District XVI
Jose Rivas
Science Teacher
Lennox Math, Science and Technology Academy
Inglewood, CA
While working as an engineer, Jose Rivas mentored students at Lennox Middle School. The students were engaged and excited, so Rivas wanted to bring resources and opportunities to students. Rivas won a seat on the Lennox Board of Education and created a high school that focused on science and engineering. Rivas left the engineering world, began his journey as an educator, and expanded Lennox Math, Science and Technology Academy’s engineering program into an engineering career pathway program. Rivas challenges students’ misconceptions with thought-provoking activities that encourage curiosity and dialogue. He inspires students to reach beyond what they think they are capable of. Rivas has supported teachers at all levels: at Lennox Academy as STEAM department chair and instructional coach, through his collaboration with Loyola Marymount University, and Teach for America, among other positions. At the state level he served on the Committee on Accreditation and at the national level with the National Academies of Science Teacher Advisory Council. Timothy J. Allen, Executive Director, Carlston Family Foundation, says, “Throughout his career … Mr. Rivas has consistently demonstrated a professional demeanor, an inquisitive and curious mind, a joy for ongoing learning, the skill to be a highly motivational and life changing science teacher, as well as an exceptional leader and trainer of colleagues and prospective teachers. There is not a more qualified or exemplary science teacher. Mr. Rivas is the premier example of a teacher who exemplifies ‘excellence and innovation’ in the promotion and teaching of science.”
The Robert E. Yager Exemplary Teaching Award recognizes six full-time K–12 teachers of science who successfully use innovation and excellence in their classroom.
District II
None awarded
District IV
James Brown
Science Teacher
Sand Creek Middle School
Albany, NY