STEAM/Integration

Students need skills in coding and computational thinking to be active participants in a digital world. Now that coding has been included in the revised Ontario Mathematics curriculum, these topics are even more timely. STAO has developed STEAM curriculum activities for elementary coding and robotics. These hands-on resource materials support inquiry-based activities that cover the fundamentals of coding and programming. Discover innovative pedagogies for teaching and learning in the 21st century.

238 teams from coast to coast participated in the CyberTitan competition this year. Ontario is under represented and we’re here to change that! Tim is a 3x national finalist coach who teaches in Fergus, Ontario. Krista was a rookie coach this year, but led her middle school CyberLions to a 2nd place finish nationally. We will explain how you can get in on this exciting contest. Your students will love it and you'll discover a competition that is both engaging and has many real world benefits.

The Pinnguaq Association provides S.T.E.A.M education opportunities to rural and remote communities across Canada focused on sustainability and a modular approach to combining S.T.E.A.M learning principles into every subject matter. This workshop presentation will focus on the incredible depth of resources available to educators looking to bring science, technology, engineering, arts and math into the any classroom. No matter your experience, grade level, background or age, you can teach coding! This presentation will be coupled with an optional guided workshop focused on the arts and computational thinking as a demonstration of this concept.

The move to online learning has uncovered some excellent resources, including alternatives to physical animal dissection in Science. In this session you will learn about the most effective virtual and hands-on 3D models to replace physical dissection. You will learn why these tools: - are easily compatible with online learning; - are more effective in terms of student learning, environmental protection, and cost savings; - uphold the principles of equity and inclusion within our schools.

Join us as we use Lynx to create an interactive tribute to the 40th Anniversary of Terry Fox’s Marathon of Hope. Students will explore a cross-curricular project by using a micro:bit to keep track of steps they run and will then compare their data to Fox’s 1980 run. Activities will connect directly to the new ON Math curriculum for grades 4-8; and will incorporate expectations from the Language curriculum’s Media Literacy strands. Get free resources at: CanCodeToLearn.ca Lynx is a free, Canadian-made, text-based coding app that is available in English, French, Ojibwe and is MOE approved.

In this workshop, participants will collaborate through a series of interactive design thinking challenges learning how iterative design frameworks are a well-suited model to enrich virtual instruction. After successfully pivoting to adapt to the virtual learning reality (i.e, SOAR Summer Innovation Camp), SOAR Entrepreneurship's director and founder, Henry Greenberg will share tips and tricks on how entrepreneurship education can be brought to life in the virtual classroom.

Want to have your students solve a problem and build a solution remotely? Learn how I used the software design cycle / engineering cycle / design thinking to have my students collaboratively identify user needs, concept test, build prototypes, make decisions, plan a final solution, create a solution, and test their solutions remotely. My students ended up creating a wellness app to support their peers during the challenges of the pandemic, but this process could be used to solve many problems. My students were very engaged to see their ideas turn into a working solution that was shared with the school community. The technologies I used were Google Jamboard, Google slides, Glide Apps, and Brightspace but this project could be altered to use a variety of technologies.

Ocean School is a free, inquiry-based, online learning experience for students aged 11 to 15 meant to strengthen learners’ personal connection to the ocean. We create bilingual materials for science and technology, social science, language arts, and math. Learn how educators are using our interactive media to support inquiry at a distance, with group work and individual options. Explore our free assets, including 360° videos, virtual and augmented reality, and more. Hope to see you there!

Shape It, Move It, Code It With the unknown of continued online learning and implementation of the new Math curriculum, our proposal is to share a previously piloted project incorporating math, coding and dance. Our project is cross-curricular (Dance, Math, Coding) and spans across grade bands. Although we worked with Kindergarten and Grade 4 students, this project could be adapted to any grade level. We combined Kindergarten students in collaboration with their Grade 4 buddies to build an understanding of coding concepts, geometric and mathematical concepts and dance/movement skills. The project involves: Students exploring mathematics concepts with their moving bodies (i.e. making geometric shapes with one or more people) Students exploring symmetry and asymmetry; Students constructing patterns using gross-motor movements; Working with their teachers and peers to develop an understanding of spatial awareness and angles; Using mathematical language to describe their body movements in space (i.e. move forward and turn 90 degrees); Combine their understanding of coding to demonstrate the ability of their bodies to move through space. (i.e. Starting “GO” command, if/then sequences and ending “STOP” command.) With the culminating goal of our collaborative project being to: Create a choreographed dance that is developed using their understanding of mathematical concepts and the elements of dance. Extension: Using their understanding of coding, Students write their choreographed dance in code or code their movements to represent their creations using a variety of coding programs (i.e. Scratch, Lynx and MicroWorlds JR) We feel that combining coding, mathematical concepts and dance can positively engage and create meaningful cross-curricular connections for students.

This investigative journey will spark curiosity by allowing participants the opportunity to participate in inquiry based, cross curricular activities. Participants will follow a process to generate questions and explanations based on exciting scientific observations. We will discuss how designs could be tested and compared to others, using tools that work both in person and in remote settings, thus valuing collaboration, communication and innovation.

STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) has become a staple of the education system, however, do we really know what STEM is? Although many educators are familiar with the acronym of STEM, it is essential to move beyond the words themselves and dive into what STEM is and how it looks in education. This keynote focuses on strategies towards implementing the STEM mindset in a classroom/school and moving beyond the moments we call STEM and realizing that it is much more than an event but a way of learning. Through low tech and high tech implementation, STEM can transform the learning from consuming to discovering information. Join me for a journey from the basics to the elaborate of how a STEM mindset can help revolutionize learning.

Just when the momentum of our new Makerspace was building, Covid-19 arrived. How do we avoid losing that excitement and recapture the desire to Make, when it’s clear that come September, we will not be building robots or decorating cupcakes together? We go online, of course! Regardless of what school looks like in the fall, we'll need an online component to our Maker world. This session will explain how we are using Google Sites, WeVideo, Jamboard and other resources to encourage more Making and creating a digital companion to our school's physical Maker Culture.

This presentation will show how to access free CanCodeToLearn resources to link math, coding, art, social studies & global competencies in culturally responsive cross-curricular projects. PBL forms the structure—you decide the support you need! Ready to use lesson plans or virtual visits led by educators. Lynx is a text-based coding environment made in Canada by Seymour Papert's company. It is available in Canadian English, French, Ojibwe, & Mi'kmaw. It is Ontario Ministry of Education approved!

This workshop will support teachers in planning cross-curricular unit plans that approach learning with a STEM/Social Justice lens. Participants will learn to explore big ideas in the curriculum and use a backwards design model. We will explore two unit plans and guide participants in creating units and lessons that address current social justice and equity issues. Participants will leave with a digital unit plan template, resources and strategies they can implement in their classrooms. The goal is to create units that encourage students to become change makers for the future using 21st century skills, while addressing the curriculum expectations.

The ability for rapid precision cutting of a variety of materials is no longer limited to those schools that can afford a laser cutter. Using a Cricut Maker, students can cut materials such as 2 mm chipboard and balsa wood in addition to a wide range of heavy cardstocks and foils. This opens a wide range of building options for student prototyping. This session will look at strategies to introduce students to the use of design software and using this tool to cut their designs. Specific focus will be on a Grade 8 Structures and Mechanisms co-teaching example.

Desmos may be primarily known as a free online graphing calculator, however, with the free Desmos Activity Builder teachers can do more than just graphing with their students. They can use premade or create their own interactive slideshows to help students learn math concepts in face to face classes or virtually. Even though this was developed to be used within the live classroom, with the ability to see student work in real time and communicate directly with students within the activities, this becomes a great tool to use virtually with students as well. In this session we will introduce you to some sample activities, give a tour of the teacher.desmos.com site and show features of the teacher dashboard. Come with a device prepared to try some activities out.