Welcome to the new Shaker Middle School Innovation Spaces

Simulations Center

Mark Kaercher has been a learner, teacher, and maker of math since 1994. After beginning his career as a middle school math teacher in New Hampshire, he returned to his hometown in 2003 to teach mathematics at his alma mater of Shaker High School.

Since the Fall, 2021, Mark has served as the teacher in charge of the Simulations Center. Simulations are a form of experiential learning. These student-centered experiences will utilize a variety of analog and digital tools. In the Sim Center, students will explore how simulations can be used to develop skills and to create experiences, that will imitate real-world activities and processes, in a engaging and safe environment.

The Simulations Center Curriculum includes units in:

Data & Probability Simulations
Folding and Building In 3D
Exploring Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality
Coding & Flying Simulations Using Drones

Mark is a regular presenter at local, regional, and statewide conferences and workshops. He is a recipient of a 2001 Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award, he was the 2011 SEMI Foundation Educator of the Year, and he is a NYS Master Teacher Emeritus. Most recently, Mark was named a STEM Leadership Associate Emeritus at the University of Albany, where he teaches a course in Teaching Mathematics in the Secondary School.

For a view into Mark’s world of interests, look him up on Twitter @shskaercher

For the full Simulations Center website, please visit HERE.

Activities & Challenges

Dice Simulator in the Desmos Graphing Calculator

Students build the code in this graphing calculator to create a dice simulator. To see the code, open any of the folders in the sidebar. To try the Emoji Die, click on the circle in row number 6 in the sidebar. To roll the die, simply click on the die!

Borel Dice Simulation

Students explore coin, card, and dice simulations, using both analog and digital tools, including spreadsheets. Borel is a game in which students build simulations to explore the probability of certain outcomes. In the example below, students built a spreadsheet using conditional formatting, logic statements, and data graphing to determine the likeliness of the following:

"Roll a 6d four times. Will some number appear at least 2 times in a row?"

Borel 6d 4x in-a-row

Origami Simulation

In Unit 2, students explore a variety of Origami models. After folding the model, valley (blue) and mountain (red) folds are identified. Then the model is constructed in GeoGebra, and then exported to an Origami Simulator. This is the simulation for folding a Masu Box.

Nets of a Cube

In their grade 6 math curriculum, students learn about and explore nets of geometric solids. After creating a variety of Origami Cubes, students use the Mathigon Polypad below to try to find the 11 nets of a cube. Give it a try for yourself, by highlighting the net and then clicking on the "Fold Net" button at the bottom of the app.

Exploring in Virtual Reality

The students in the Simulation Center explored virtual reality. First, they used their Chromebooks to view a variety of panoramic photospheres and 360° videos from locations around the world. Then, students used their own devices along with Google Cardboard and VR Headsets for a fully immersive VR experience.

VID_20210923_094044819.mp4

DB Mission Juliana & Ava.mp4

Droneblocks

Drones are used a growing number of industries. Students worked both independently and collaboratively to create drone missions. Students are using the Tello Talent TT drones. Using their Chromeboks, the missions were first coded and run on a simulator, before flying the actual drones. Here a sample mission from Julianna and Ava.

Droneblocks Blog

Mark Kaercher was invited to write a blog post for Droneblocks, explaining the geometry behind one of the code blocks. This will help students better understand the performance of the code, as they explore simulations with drones in the lab.

Drone Camp

In the Summer of 2022, Mark hosted a five day Drone Camp at Shaker Middle School.

During the camp, students used the Droneblocks Simulators to fly drone missions in a City and on Mars. Then the students flew a variety of missions which showed how drones are used in our world. Missions included using drones to help fight wildfires, and using drones to patrol beaches for sharks.

The week culminated with navigating their drones around obstacles and drone racing.

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