STEPHANIE ERICKSON

STEPHANIE ERICKSON

M.S. Educational Technology

former geologist. blogger. freelance writer, researcher. educator. physical science teacher. technology integration specialist, science nerd. #sciencerebel

MUSINGS ON STEM, EDUCATION AND BEYOND

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Escape the Classroom

Escape the Classroom

I have become enthralled with Breakouts from BreakoutEDU and have so many ideas for creating some of my own. I love puzzles and the idea of gamification of the classroom. Students love games and creating games for learning allows them to learn without knowing they are learning. It makes school fun. However, the skills students gain from participating in gamed based lessons are not fully measurable. How do you measure critical thinking, creativity or cooperation skills? There

The Science of Back to the Future

The Science of Back to the Future

It's "Back to the Future Day"!. Even if you are not a fan or have never seen the movie, by now, you know today is the day Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel to in Back to the Future II, well 2015 was the exazct day. While we might not have flying cars or shoes that lace themselves. We do not rehydrate our food and fax machines have for the most part "gone the way of the dodo". The movie did get a few things correct. The Cubs are in the chase for the World Series, however down 3

Junior Girl Scout Robotics Badge 3

Junior Girl Scout Robotics Badge 3

The final badge in the set begins with the second part of the Engineering Design Process. The badges are set up so that they build on each other so you can not really complete badge 3 without first completing badges 1 and 2. Just as with the Brownie Robotics Badge 3, the Junior badge has girls share their robot designs with their peers. This could be done through an exhibition for just the troop or as our troop will do, we will invite families to arrive early for pick up and

Junior Girl Scout Robotics Badge 2

Junior Girl Scout Robotics Badge 2

One of the things I like about the "new" Girl Scout programming is the natural scaffolding the badge booklets and Journeys have built into them. This is something we naturally do in education and it is a pleasure to see in other disciplines as well and speaks to GSUSA's push for more in depth programming for girls as opposed to the individual skills sets of the "old" badges and patches. I call them the new programing even though the newer programming has been out for 10 year

Junior Robotics Badge 1: Programming Robots

Junior Robotics Badge 1: Programming Robots

The Junior robotics badge is similiar to the Brownie level badge. As this year is the first year the badges have been released, using similiar resources for both the Brownies and Juniors is not an issue. Several years from now, when those Brownies become Juniors and want to do the robotic badge as a Junior, that is another story! While using similar resources are fine between the age groups, it is important to scaffold the learning. Girls in grade 5 are vastly different than

Brownie Robotics Badge 3: Showcasing Robots

Brownie Robotics Badge 3: Showcasing Robots

Badge 3 begins with the final part of the Engineering Design Process, sharing your design. Now, that the girls have plans, designed, tested and improved their robot design it is time for them to share their final design with the troop through a presentation. They should take the time to create a presentation about their robot and about the program they created and the problem their robot is "solving". Steps 3 through 5 is about learning about robotics and robotic teams. This

Brownie Robotics Badge 2: Designing Robots

Brownie Robotics Badge 2: Designing Robots

The second robotics badge deepens the understanding of how robots work and introduces the girls to the Engineering Design Process. The badge starts with learning about biomimicry. So, biomimicry is when a machine, a robot in this case, mimics the actions of a living thing (human, plant, insect, animal, etc). Bio means life, mimicry means imitate. So, innovation inspired by nature. Da Vinci even stated “Those who are inspired by a model other than Nature, a mistress above all

Brownie Robotics Badge 1: Programming Robots

Brownie Robotics Badge 1: Programming Robots

The Brownie badge dives right into programing and the essence of the Code.org partnership. I am going to dedicate a post per badge. Badge 1: Programming Robots Step 1 - You should start by looking at how robots operate by taking a look at some simple machines. So, what is a simple machine you might ask? Wheels, Pulleys, Inclined Plane, Wedge, Screw or a Lever. They work independently or in conjunction with each other. I have access to Lego from robotics and engineering classe

Daisy Robotics Badges

Daisy Robotics Badges

I was really excited to see that the younger age level STEM badges were released first. We typically lose girls in science and math between 3rd and 4th grade. This is much earlier than ever anticipated. Introducing girls to engineering, technology and the processes of the engineering design process are essential to keep girls engaged in STEM. Daisy Robotics Badge 1 - What Robots Do. This badge is all about learning what robots are and some of the jobs robots complete in today

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