STEM Lab 23_24 Round 6

As you have no doubt come to expect, the penultimate round of STEM lab for the year was awesome, just as its predecessors were. There was a great deal of programming going on this time. Kindergarten and 1st grade returned to their Code.org courses, while 2nd grade took their first steps in the full version of Scratch. The third graders had their first experiences coding the micro:bit microcontroller. Meanwhile, our 4th and 5th graders extended their micro:bit skills by incorporating the device into creative projects.

Kindergarten & 1st Grade

You may recall that the Kindergarten and 1st grade students begin the year in Code.org. The puzzle-based nature of the activities help the students develop their algorithmic thinking skills while also giving them valuable practice with programming concepts like loops and events. Most of the programming activities we do later in the year, such as Scratch Jr and Robo-mouse, have a more creative lean to them. I try to strike a balance between formal coding instruction and creative coding projects so that students not only learn the programming concepts, but also see programming as a tool they can use to express themselves and share their learning. This round was not all Code.org however, as we also did a day of Scratch Jr and completed a building challenge.

2nd Grade

The end of the year is always one of my favorite times with 2nd grade. That is when I introduce them to the full version of the Scratch programming language. Scratch was designed to have a "low floor", so even students who have not programmed before can get started with relative ease. Most of our students have been programming since Kindergarten and are very excited to start using "real" Scratch. I start each class with a code-a-long activity in which I show them some of the similarities and differences between Scratch and Scratch Jr. Following that guided tour, students have some time to explore the new coding environment and to try things out. They very quickly find that there is a lot more to Scratch than there was in Scratch Jr, and this discovery leads to some productive struggle as they work to understand how to create the movements, effects, and sounds they want for their projects. For the rest of the week students work through a set of tutorials embedded within Scratch that teaches them how to use the most common events and commands. I encourage them to put their own creative spins on the tutorials as they go. In rounds 7 the students will complete their first multi-day Scratch project and I cannot wait to see how they do.

3rd Grade

This round the 3rd grade was introduced to the wonderful world of microcontrollers with the BBC micro:bit. They learned that a microcontroller is the perfect device for when you need a computer that will only have one job, such as turning street lights on at night and off in the morning, or opening the doors at the grocery store as someone approaches them. The micro:bit has a number of inputs including buttons, an accelerometer, and sensors for light, sound, and temperature. All of these can be used to generate outputs like images or animations on the LED screen or sounds from the speaker. We spent the first few days of the week practicing with the various inputs and outputs. Thursday and Friday the students were challenged to build a model animal and to use the micro:bit to make their model interactive. The results of the Micro:pet project are always outstanding. Some groups used the device as their animal's mouth and others as its whole face. One group used animations on the micro:bit's screen as the tail of their model cat. 

4th Grade

Fourth grade used the micro:bit earlier in the year in a unit that was a kind of "next steps" continuation of the unit the 3rd graders did. They learned to use the micro:bit's input/output pins, more of the device's sensors, and generally created more complex programs. In this round the students used the micro:bit in conjunction with a breakout board kit called Crazy Circuits from Brown Dog Gadgets. The breakout board gives one easy access to the full array of pins on the micro:bit. The kit includes additional hardware like LEDs that students can connect and program. This is the first time we have used these kits in the lab so there was a bit of trail and error as we worked out the best ways to employ them. We worked it out though and at the end of the week the students used the a selection of Legos to build a scene from a story of their choosing which they then animated with the micro:bit and the breakout board components. While there was a bit of frustration at the limited Lego resources the students were given, that constraint by and large inspired creative work arounds.

5th Grade

In keeping with this round's micro:bit theme, 5th grade used a different breakout board and handful of components to create "moving masterpieces" or "animated artworks". We started the week by learning to wire LEDs and a servo motor to a breadboard. Most of the students used breadboards last year and were familiar enough with them to assist those who are new to Sinclair this year. Once the wires were all in place, students coded the LEDs to blink and the servo to rotate on a button press. They used this program as a starting point for their projects later in the week. I showed them one example project, my personal riff on Van Gogh's Sunflowers with a couple blinking LEDs and a moving butterfly, and then instructed the students to think of what they wanted to create. I made a few suggestions like book covers, scenes from movies, or some random silliness, but left the final decision to them. (I do not like to give the students too much direction for fear of stifling their creative process.) Over the next few days the students, some working independently, others with a partner created their image, mounted it to a file folder, added the LEDs, servo, and wires to the breadboard. They tweaked the original program to incorporate more LEDs or multiple servos, and to make the lights and motion fit with their vision. I was not disappointed with their work... so much impressive creativity!

STEM Lab 23-24 Round 5

It feels a bit repetitive to say so, but it was another awesome round of programming, building, and making in the STEM Lab! From origami to retro arcade games, our Sinclair Superstars created some amazing things over the last few weeks.

Kindergarten & 1st Grade

After completing a couple of units on computer programming with Robo-mouse and then Scratch Jr, we went unplugged for this round and learned some origami. I made sure to highlight the algorithmic nature of folding origami models and connected this process to the writing of programs for computers to run. Each grade level made 3 different models. Kindergarten folded cats, dogs, and flowers while 1st grade folded rabbits, fish, and frogs. In addition to the origami models, the students also learned to create 2 frame animations. These are not origami, but they are so much fun to make and the students always blow me away with their creativity. 

2nd Grade

Building with cardboard is one of the central skills required in the STEM lab, and in this round the 2nd graders began learning the carboard construction techniques in earnest. We started by looking at some different mazes and discussing what made for a good maze. Next students designed and built Lego marble mazes to challenge their classmates. Before planning and building their cardboard mazes, students were introduced to the concept of the L-brace. For this project students used single ply cardboard to make L-brace shaped walls and attached these to a base of corrugated cardboard. There was a good bit of trial and error as students discovered issues like walls being too close together and insufficiently L shaped walls. I am really proud of the perseverance the students displayed as they worked through the difficulties.

3rd Grade

The cardboard construction continued in 3rd grade this round. Students designed and built keyboards that they used along with the Makey Makey to operate Scratch projects. In the previous round students made interactive posters. In that set up, the user acted as the switch by holding the ground wire and touching the wires connected to the key presses. The keyboards we made this round used a shared ground wire running under the keys which were also made of cardboard wired and connected to the Makey Makey inputs. Pressing the cardboard key down connects the two wires and triggers the key press. I wanted the students to develop and understanding of a type of switch they could use with the Makey Makey, and they certainly did that. The best part of this project however was seeing the creative decorations they made for their keyboards. Though the projects all work the same way, each one is different, reflecting the personality and interests of the maker.

4th Grade

This round had 4th grade combining computer coding, music, and cardboard construction skills. First they created a Scratch project that used key presses to play different notes and/or percussions. Scratch has a special event block for the Makey Makey that allows a specific sequence of arrow key presses to be used as additional inputs. We called it the "cheat code block". Next students designed a musical instrument in their journals and used that plan to guide their building. When construction was complete, they connected their instrument to their Scratch project with our old friend Makey Makey. As I have come to expect, there was a dazzling array of creative expression on view. At the end of the week each class shared their work with a visiting class from 1st grade or Kindergarten, teachers, and administrators. 

5th Grade

I tried something entirely new with 5th grade in this round. Late last school year I learned about something called MakeCode Arcade. MakeCode is a free computer programming environment from Microsoft that we use to code the micro:bit. MakeCode Arcade allows students to create retro style video games in a block based code editor. I played around with it a bit over the summer and discovered that MakeCode Arcade games can be added to a variety of hardware. Thanks to the support of our Sinclair PTO and families generously buying from my Amazon wish list I was able to get a dozen of these game consoles, which brings us to this unit. The MakeCode platform has a variety of getting started tutorials that the students used to start designing their games. Within the guides students have a lot of creative freedom to alter the look and play of their games, so even started with the same tutorial end up being quite unique. As with most new units there was a bit of a learning curve to optimize the pacing and sequencing, but the end products were truly wonderful. Each 5th grade group got to share their work with a visiting group of 2nd graders who were a delighted and inquisitive audience.

STEM Lab 23_24 Round 4

 We have been having a wonderful time in the STEM lab during this rotation. There is a lot of computer programming going on these days. Kindergarten and 1st grade have been using Scratch Jr, while 2nd grade has been working on the more advanced lessons in Code.org. The third grade classes finished their interactive poster project and shared it with a visiting Kindergarten class. (One 3rd grade class will actually do this during the next round thanks to the unfortunate alignment of ice storm cancelations and me having to be out for 2 days.) Fourth grade learned to use more of the micro:bit's inputs and outputs to create programs, and 5th grade used Scratch to create "hacked" fine art images.

Kindergarten & 1st Grade

Our youngest students started the year in Code.org completing tutorials meant to introduce them to the basic concepts of computer programming. These tutorials of developing students' algorithmic thinking skills, but they are generally lacking in opportunities for creativity. The Code.org puzzle tells the students what the objective is, and while there are frequently multiple correct solutions, there is only one correct thing to do with the program. 

This is where Scratch Jr comes in. This programming language is perfect for introducing students to the idea of creative computing. In Scratch Jr, the students have the ability to choose their characters, their backgrounds, and to decide what they want their program to do. We start each day with a code along activity where I teach the students to use one or more of the command blocks. Next students are given a short independent practice task. Once they share their solution to the prompt with me, they are released to what we call "creative time". This is an opportunity for them to explore, experiment, and create personally meaningful projects.

2nd Grade

This rotation had 2nd grade return to the Code.org courses they started at the beginning of the year. Rather than having them pick up where they left off however, I selected a number of lessons to prepare them for the transition from Scratch Jr to the full version of Scratch. One of the selected lessons focused on using loops effectively, but the others had more of a focus on creative expression. My goal is for students to understand that as they work on the types of projects they will be doing in the STEM lab in the coming years that they are not just they are not just allowed to personalize their projects, but are encouraged to do so. Students too often internalize the message from their teachers that there is one right answer and one right way to get to that answer. There are of course times when is just the one correct answer, but it is important that students have classroom experiences of creative freedom. Experiences in which they have to decide what they want to make, have to figure out how to overcome the difficulties that will inevitably arise, and have to assess how well their finished product aligns with what they were attempting. 

3rd Grade

In round 3 the third graders researched an arctic animal of their choosing. They took that research and incorporated it into a Scratch project that shared what they had learned. (Studio of projects here.) The program used key press events to change background pictures and to present the facts associated with the pictures. The main goal of this project to for students to use computer programming as a tool for expressing their ideas and sharing their learning. The other part of this project is to introduce the students to physical computing, connecting a computer program to physical objects. In this case, the physical element is a poster. 

First students were introduced to the Makey Makey, a device that allows one to turn any conductive substance into a switch capable of sending commands to the computer. After learning to set up, operate, and pack the Makey Makey, students got to work creating their arctic animal poster. With that complete, they added metal fasteners as "buttons" and copper foil tape "wires" to the poster. Paired with the Makey Makey, the poster was used to trigger the key press events that control the different parts of the Scratch program. At the end of the week the students presented their interactive poster projects to a visiting class of Kindergartners. (Presenting to a visiting class of younger students is an important part of the STEM lab program. The older students have an authentic audience to share their work with, and the younger students get to see what the skills they are learning will lead them to.)

4th Grade

The BBC micro:bit is a microcontroller (like a computer, but only capable of storing and running one program at a time) with an array of inputs and output. Students were introduced to the micro:bit in 3rd grade and learned the basics of using the input event handlers to generate different outputs. We started with a review lesson which also served as an introduction for the students who are new to Sinclair this year. The we moved on to using some of the micro:bit's more advanced functions. First students constructed circuits with LEDs and wires which were then connected to the i/o pins (input/output) on the micro:bit. Next we used the light and sound sensors along with conditional statements to make the micro:bit react to loud noises and low light conditions. Students also used the micro:bit's accelerometer to play different musical notes when tilted different directions. They then had to play the tune Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star on the micro:bit. (One group impressed me by moving on from Twinkle to playing the opening notes of Smoke on the Water!) We wrapped up the week with a free choice coding activity in which students chose any 5 inputs and combined them with any 5 outputs. 

5th Grade

The "hacked art" project has become a favorite of mine the last few years. The project itself is fairly straightforward. Students select a famous painting from a selection of a dozen or so. An image of the painting is uploaded into Scratch as a background. Then the same image is added as a sprite and students erase all of the painting except one element to make interactive. This sprite blends into the background, but is programmed to react when it is clicked. Students repeat the process until they have several interactive elements along with a bit of artist biography in the project. What I love about the project is the boundless creativity the students display in their creations. No two projects are ever the same, even when the starting point is the same still image. Below are a few examples. The full studio of projects is here.