PEDAGOGY IN PRACTICE

2023 Fresh Start sponsored by HP, NSBE, and Rice STEM

December 9, 2023   

Students plan, design, and build a Rube Goldberg Machine.

Lunar Rocks & Meteorite Samples disk

Week of December 5-9, 2022

Authentic learning experiences for students. Bringing NASA Lunar Rocks & Meteorite Sample disks into the classroom gives students an opportunity to hold "The Moon" in their hands.

https://www.springbranchisd.com/news/read-more/~board/sbisd-post-board/post/space-exploration-takes-bendwood-students-out-of-this-world

Engineering Design Process

Incorporating the Engineering Design Process allows students to plan, problem-solve, and critical think.  Students Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, and Improve.  The Improve part is critical for students to assess what works and what does not work.  Students used the Engineering Design Process to design a mousetrap race car and race their cars with a classmate.  Students used math skills to measure the SPEED of the car.


Arts in STEM:  STEAM

Arts in STEM: STEAM.  Why is Art important?  Arts engagement activities promote interpersonal relationships, pro-sociality, and empathy, and thus the social-emotional needs of students are fostered and nurtured in the classroom (Van de Vyver et al., 2019).

Students used creativity to design the class mission patch after a space science lesson.

Van de Vyver, J., Abrams, D., Spinner, L., Pelletier, J., Ali, S. Y., & Kapantai, I. (2019). Participatory arts  interventions promote interpersonal and intergroup prosocial intentions in middle childhood. Journal of   Applied Developmental Psychology, 65, 101069. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2019.101069

Rice Noyce Leadership Initiative in Inquiry Science Teaching (NLIIST) Fellow in ZOOM class summer 2021.

Students' own Trashy Virus.

Coronavirus Models are from two 3rd grade students in the gifted & talented program in Spring Branch ISD.

During Year 2 Summer, NLIIST fellows/educators took a two week content lesson in Biology.  Fellows investigated the the various ways Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can be transmitted through a population and the structure and function of the virus.  Dr. Yousif Shamoo, Vice Provost for Research at Rice University, was the guest speaker on COVID 19 Series Talk 1.  
Students researched the virus:  Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2  (SARS-COV-2).  Students in the 3rd grade Gifted & Talented program in Spring Branch ISD  identified the structure of the virus.  Students were given the task to find items around their home (not dig in the trash or dumpster) to create a model of the novel virus highlighting its external & internal structures.