$15
weeklyFractalFinders: Find a Fractal, Do Science, Make a Difference!
Completed by 22 learners
Ages 10-14
Live Group Class
Live video meetings
1x per week
3-6 learners per class
45 min
What's included
1 live meeting
45 mins in-class hours per weekHomework
1 hour per week. Learners will be asked to keep thinking all the time and find materials and resources to share with the group.Assessment
Learners will assess each other's presentations, using positive feedback on what they liked, and what could make the presentation more effective.Class Experience
US Grade 5 - 8
In this class, students will get the opportunity to present their own research to the group, in preparation for communicating what they find to their communities, or even the Outschool Science Fair! This can be a scientific presentation, a demonstration of an invention, an art project, a play, a quiz or game, a song, a video, a website... whatever you can think of! Show up to class, and get on the schedule to present! (Learners from all my classes are welcome to present here). *************************************************Ground rules for Presentations: ************************************************* Present the results of your own work (you can be part of a group that works together or work autonomously or add to something that was started by others, but contribute your own efforts!) Include some form of *Direct* observation (you can mostly use satellite data from NASA, but include something you personally observed, outside or in an experiment you did, and link your own experience in scale to your project!) ONE or BOTH of THESE: Include some quantitative data (you can say it was green in the description, but you need an objective way, such as a color scale, to say how green, and how it changed over time, for example. If you chose a quiz format, some of your questions need to include answers that are numbers, such as "how many times do you breath out CO2 per minute?" that you checked yourself!) AND/OR Include some repeatable reference (a sketch or drawing, a dance element, a part of a story that allows others to use what you communicated to carry on that communication to others) *************************************************************************************************************************************************** Example Goals for the Group: Really use math, to answer interesting questions Encourage learners to delve into data together. Explore satellite imagery and plot our own observations about biodiversity in our own communities (and on trips away from home, too!) . Use our own soundscapes as an ongoing reference point, as well as making observations of the species we encounter on iNaturalist, using pencil and paper, smart-phones or tablets. Consider El Nino, Coral Bleaching, great Pacific Garbage patch, pollution solutions, biodiversity... we will take a topic for a few weeks, and then use what we learn as a jumping off point for the next topic. Talk about how species we observe near home connect to species far away... are spiders and dolphins connected? Learners think up questions for the group to research together, and find materials to share on each topic. Explore graphing and charting, spreadsheets, and computer programming (e.g. Scratch). Finding quantitative approaches (How many X, How much Y, How fast is Z) to inform qualitative questions (What is X, Does Y matter, Did Z change ?) Exploring effective ways to communicate what we find, to our own group, and our communities. Complete projects with peer support: website, posters, art projects, etc.
Learning Goals
Students will learn to think critically, ask scientific questions, use data to answer those questions, and find creative ways to communicate what they find to the world.
Other Details
Parental Guidance
Students will be asked to contribute to citizen science projects, use iNaturalist.org to submit observations of the biodiversity around them, and share their results in their communities when the opportunities arise.
Supply List
A smartphone, iDevice or tablet for making observations will be very helpful. We will encourage use of NASA, NOAA, and other scientific data repositories for inspiration.
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Meet the teacher
Teacher expertise and credentials
Doctoral Degree in Science from Cornell University
I am an Oceangrapher-Mom with a PhD from Cornell University who switched to soundscape ecology when my kids were young and we moved to Montreal. Now we are living in France for the year, still collecting data on our soundscape. My kids and I started recording with a hydrophone in the lake and a recorder on a floating dock at the University of Montreal's Biological research station, and kept on listening in our backyard and the roof of their school. I have worked with marine biologists, fishermen, fisheries managers, ship captains, environmentalists, and all sorts of oceanographers (physical, chemical, biological, geological). As a team, we have looked at how plankton dynamics are affected by ocean currents, how fisheries respond to climactic changes in circulation, and how whales and dolphins respond to our research efforts in their homes. I am teaching these classes because the world needs citizen scientists who can think critically about how our world is changing, and find new ways to communicate, innovate, and compensate.
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