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ERIC Number: EJ1114769
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Sep
Pages: 8
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0036-8148
EISSN: N/A
Bringing the Maker Movement to School. Fourth Grade Students Create Projects to Illustrate the Transfer and Transformation of Energy
Smith, Wendy; Smith, Brian C.
Science and Children, v54 n1 p30-37 Sep 2016
The Maker Movement allows students to strengthen humanistic values through projects and experiences that require the use of their heads, hearts, and hands. Students are introduced to creative technologies that bridge the digital and physical worlds. Through whimsical projects, students take an interest in the concepts and ideas that might normally be offered through a textbook or worksheet. The Maker Movement also emphasizes the necessity of problem-finding, problem-solving, and the power of social learning through sharing and collaborative work to solve issues small and large. Working with unfamiliar materials in novel ways provides authentic experiences for students to deepen their understanding of energy and energy transfer. This became evident during rich, informal conversations with children about their learning. Based on student learning and feedback from both students and teachers, the Maker Showcase project--a celebration of student projects that epitomize the intersections of science, technology, engineering, and creativity--continues to grow and develop. This article shows how experiences with circuits were ordered and scaffolded to blend fabrication and inquiry. After the foundational circuitry experiences, fourth-grade students were challenged to create a project for the Maker Showcase to show the transfer and transformation of energy.
National Science Teachers Association. 1840 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201-3000. Tel: 800-722-6782; Fax: 703-243-3924; e-mail: membership@nsta.org; Web site: http://www.nsta.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Grade 4; Intermediate Grades; Elementary Education
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A