Trapped by the seasons

As a Scout group, we have traditionally done 4 camps each year: 

• Fall camp is at the beginning of October (2 nights)
• Winter camp is at the beginning of February (2 nights)
• Spring camp is at the beginning of June (2 nights)
• Summer camp is in August at Halliburton Scout Reserve (7 nights).  Less Scouts tend to come to summer camp though because it is a big financial commitment for parents/guardians and is a week long so I hesitate to count it as a camp

I was skimming a report the other day from a University of Waterloo student titled Membership Retention in Scouts (Morland, 2007).  One of the recommendations that caught my eye was to have more activities and camps.  Morland proposes an outdoor activity each month including 6 camps throughout the year.

Why have we always stuck to 4 camps?  Maybe it's just because there happen to be 4 seasons so it's convenient to refer to them by the season they occur in.  This is reinforced by the fact that there are the 'Year-Round Camper' Badges divided by the seasons (though Fall/Spring is one badge).

Essentially what I'm getting at is that it's fairly arbitrary that we have 4 camps.  Why don't we do another Winter camp in December before the Winter break? Or in January shortly after we get back from the break.  Or maybe one in April to fill the gap between Winter and Spring camp.  Or how about a shorter camp earlier in the summer?  

One of the arguments against an additional camp is that it will require more planning time for leaders and another weekend lost.  I would argue that the Scouts should be doing the bulk of the planning and preparing anyways and the independence and confidence they gain from the process is much more valuable than the skill of learning to tie 4 different types of knots.  In terms of the time commitment for leaders, not every leader needs to come to every camp.  Too many leaders at camps has lead to a lack of Scout participation around camp which leads to a lack of them acquiring important camping and survival skills.  Too many leaders and it undermines the independence we are trying to foster among the Scouts.  An additional thing to consider is that camps could be 1 night instead of 2.

As head leader, I'm making it a Troop Goal for the program to follow Morland's suggestion of having at least 1 outing per month.  Also, we will have a 5th camp.  I think being outside as often as possible and fostering independence are 2 key ingredients in keeping Scouts year to year.  

Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown

As a teacher, it pays to be opportunistic.  At least in terms of student engagement.  Take Toronto transit planning for example (or more like a ridiculously embarrassing lack of transit planning in the GTA).  Some students are bound to know about the most recent craziness surrounding a subway line in Scarborough.  Bringing it up may get other students interested in current events.  Nothin' like a good ol' subway debate to get a class riled up and excited for some learnin'.

Anyways this week I came across this map:

When a construction company is tendering a job, an estimator (or intern) may need to do take-offs: a fancy way of saying figuring out how much stuff they need to buy so they can put a cost to a job.  Here's a good math question:

Using the map above, how much material will they need to remove to construct the tunnels in the underground section of the LRT?

You may say there's not enough information there, which is probably true unless you make some big assumptions.  You can find the length of the tunnel using Google Earth.  If you explore the Eglinton Crosstown website you can find this rendering of the tunnel boring machine launch site:

From the picture, it's apparent that there are 2 adjacent tunnels.  Based on the size of a person (maybe 1.6 or 1.7 metres), you can estimate the diameter of the tunnels.  Using the length of the tunnel and the diameter, you can calculate a volume (after some unit conversions most likely).

Real-World Problem Solving

There are many other ways to find out the size and lengths of the tunnels from reports and construction drawings.  That's the awesome thing about these kinds of questions.  Plenty of ways to an answer.  Also, the answers may vary depending on what assumptions are made!  You can have a good class debate to try to figure out who is closest and why.  

You could also put some numbers to it.  How much would it cost to remove the rock/dirt?  Where should it go?  How big would a pile of it be?  How do I make sure I cover my assumptions?  These are all questions an Estimator has to deal with when pricing a job.  And it all comes from some simple geometry!  Great for any math class.  A lot of Construction and Engineering problems can be boiled down to simple math.  

This is also a perfect opportunity for some Problem-Based Learning.  The Eglinton LRT could be a theme for a unit.  The problem would be to estimate the cost of the whole rail line.  Several math concepts could be brought in to help solve the problem: areas and volumes, slopes of lines, finance, scale, understanding and creating graphs.  It's a way to give a bunch of disparate and lonely math concepts some common context and interest.  There is also the human factor to consider: the impact on the communities and the environment.  Definitely some interdisciplinary potential there.

I do foresee a problem however.  If I was ever to do this activity with a class I'd probably get so excited I'd end up talking about tunnel boring machines for an hour and put everyone to sleep.  The woes of being a Civil Engineer... not everyone cares about dirt as much as you do.  Vince understands.

Root 2

The other day, I posted this Vine:  

[Note: I just started using Vine last week.  I know I'm late to the party with Vine but it's not too late to state that it's an awesome way for students to document and share their ideas and creations.  Doesn't require any video editing skills.  Just a steady(ish) hand and a smartphone or tablet]

Root 2

You can figure out the relationships between the green, white, yellow, red and grey rods from the Vine using a bit of geometry.  Its a nice exercise that really makes you realize how smart the inventors of K'NEX were.  It also becomes obvious why I titled the Vine 'Root 2'.

There are actually hundreds of math questions that you can generate from the Vine.  Questions involving shapes, proportion, angles, colours, similarity, scale, pattern recognition, length, measurement, area, parallel and perpendicular lines, special triangles, manipulating root expressions, polar coordinates and more.  These topics cover every grade and even some university stuff.  K'NEX is a great tool for teaching a wide variety of math to students of any level or ability.  I can't believe I didn't use it for one of my lesson or unit planning assignments for OISE.

Extend...

Once you figure out the relationships between the lengths of the rods, you can start to ask some more interesting questions.  For example:

• What lengths can be made by combining the pieces and what lengths can't be made
• Is it possible to construct a 3-4-5 triangle with K'NEX?  The math gets interesting because you have to mix rational and irrational numbers.  
• How about this question: Is there a piece or combination of pieces that will perfectly join two opposite corners of this cube (below)?  Prove it.  With math.  Even if you had a piece that was the correct length, would you be able to connect it? 

Answers and more K'NEX to come...

Internship Debrief

This internship with the TCDSB 21C/AICT team was the last piece of my OISE education.  The 5 short weeks flew by!  Throughout the internship, I met whole bunch of interesting, inspirational and fearless people that taught me so much in such a short amount of time.  It's super refreshing to see positive change happening in education, even if it is one teacher at a time.  It is only a matter of time before momentum takes care of the rest.

When I started the blog, I knew that you should always plan lessons with your specific students in mind but what I realized is that it is also really hard do do if you don't actually have any class your doing it for.  I thought the freedom of not having a specific class or course would enable me to generate tons of ideas but I actually think that made it more challenging.  Ideas were broad and I didn't really know where to cut off each entry.  I think my more successful entries were the ones that were less general and I tailored more specifically to one course or unit.  Despite that, I think it was a great exercise for me to really learn the neXt Lesson Framework and start thinking about what my future classroom would look like.  I was able to complete entries on 20 lesson ideas (although I was actually there for 23 days).  

The most valuable lessons I learned come from hearing the stories of teachers' challenges and successes of implementing 21st Century Learning.  Here's just one example that stands out for me:  At a workshop, one teacher talked about how she used Minecraft in her class to teach her Grade 6 students about surface area and volume.  The idea actually came from one of her usually disengaged students.  He and the rest of the class loved it and didn't believe it when the teacher told them that they were doing math. 

As my education at OISE comes to an end, I see one big challenge (in addition to just getting a teaching job):  professional development.  How in the world do I keep up with new and ever-changing pedagogical research, educational policy, and all that lingo?  This might find its way into future blog entries.  For now, I will continue to surround myself with people who care about education and hope to learn from them. 

Thanks to the TCDSB 21C/AICT team for having me as their intern!  It was a dream internship.  Way more than I ever could have hoped for.  I hope to be attending your workshops as a teacher someday soon!

Day 20 - To Scale...

The Problem...

Create an ICT artifact that expresses the scale of the really big and really small.

Why?

• Keep things in perspective!
• Creative expression in Science class
• Facilitate self-regulation
• Facilitate a more intuitive understanding of scale of things discussed in Science

Scale Misconceptions

There are a bunch of Science misconceptions that come from a lack of understanding of scale.  Here is a video about one of these by Misconception Specialist Derrick Muller of the YouTube Channel Veritasium.

The scale of really big stuff and really small stuff can be really hard to comprehend.  Here are some ways that people have tried making it easier:

1. Original Powers of 10 Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0
Old school, but effective!  There is also a good Simpsons couch gag parody of the Powers of 10.

2. Scale of the Universe 2 App - http://htwins.net/scale2/
Interactive scale app.  The Planck Length, the Universe, and everything in between.

3. This pic from I F______ Love Science

from https://www.facebook.com/IFeakingLoveScience

4. Khan Academy Video: Scale of the Large: Attempting to comprehend the scale of the large

In a Class...

Most of the Grade 9 Science course revolves around the very small (atoms and electricity) and the very large (astronomy) and this activity would be perfect for that class.  

I would present the above examples to a class and have them create their own artifact to illustrate scale with objects from throughout the course.  It could be a long-term project that is introduced at the beginning of the course.  The students collect the data throughout.  As an ICT Artifact, students could continue to contribute as they move through the grades.  It would serve as a good anchor point for some big concepts throughout the Science Curriculum.

There are tons of different ways students could present the data: infographics, videos, images, apps and more.  I would keep the project relatively open to facilitate Self-Regulation.  As the teacher, I would provide them with feedback as they build their artifact over the course as well as providing students to critique others.

21C...

2. Knowledge Construction: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation
4. Skilled Communication: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation
5. Self-Regulation: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation
6. Use of ICT for Learning: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation


Future Lesson Ideas...

• Create a directory of unit equivalencies (ie. 1 Newton is approximately the weight of an apple on Earth)

Day 19 - Saving at the Pump?

The Problem...

The price of gas is going up tomorrow.  Should I go fill up my tank?

Why?

• Illustrate the human factor that complicates apparently simple math problems
• Discussion of sustainability in transportation
• Practical application of linear relations, unit conversions
• Facilitates critical thinking

This is the dilemma: 

You are at home in the evening and you hear on the news that the price in gas is going up 5 cents over night.  You know you will need to fill up soon anyways.  You are faced with a choice:  Go out now to fill up or just go on the way into school/work tomorrow morning.  You know if you go now, there will probably be a line at the pumps.  How much will you save if you go tonight?  Is it worth the inconvenience?

from:http://www.energyblogs.com/blackswanblog/index.cfm/2013/5/14/The-Black-Swan-Blog-No-soft-landing-for-the-PV-Solar-Industry 

I know most high school students don't drive so it might not be a great question for them.    Or maybe its a calculation they can share with their parents.  Regardless, it's a question I have wondered whenever I hear gas prices are going up and I see line ups of cars at gas stations.

From my calculations, I would save about $2.00 to fill up 50L by driving out to the gas station.  Assumptions listed below and will vary by model of car and other factors:

• Fuel Efficiency = 10L/100km (from the dashboard display on my parents' car)
• Distance to Gas Station = 1.5 km
• Idling consumption = 0.1 L /10 minutes (I found this on one site. Very unsure about the accuracy)
• Assume a 10 minute line up for gas (idling) before the price goes up
• Assume a fill up is 50 L

In a class...

Because most likely a lot of students won't have vehicles of their own, I would probably present them with the above scenario and results.  Really, the point of this would be to start a deeper discussion about how we often oversimplify decisions like this.  This activity could really be done in any Science class.  It's a valuable lesson on how complicated Real-World Problem Solving and decision making can be.

I would pose this question to them:

Given the fact that you will save $2.00 if you fill up tonight (instead of tomorrow), will you go fill up?The first instinct may be to be purely economical and say yes of course.  Maybe students could look at trends in gas prices over the year and see how often big price drops/increases occur to try to predict how much they would save over a whole year.

Challenge the Assumptions

I would expect students to inquire about how I got the $2.00.  I would then explain my method to them and they could further critically analyze the assumptions I used to arrive at the answer.  Something that may come up is the gas consumption unit of L/100 km (or MPG in the States).  Where does that measure break down? Idling!  When you are idling, the gas consumption should theoretically be infinity L/100 km because you aren't going anywhere but are still using gas but most cars that report 'instantaneous' fuel consumption in the console will show 0 L/100 km.  If you calculate the average fuel consumption using the instantaneous values, the average will be biased downwards because of this.  So what do car companies report when they advertise efficiency?  I don't know.  Something to discuss!

Time is Money

I would then challenge them a bit and ask how much them how much their time is worth to them.  This is something they would not think about if they don't have a job.  Say it takes 25 minutes to drive to the station, wait in line, fill up, and return home.  Is it still worth it?  Quantifying how much a persons time is worth is an interesting topic (engineers use it when optimizing public transit routes and schedules).  For a high school student, would they consider minimum wage ($10.25) to be how much their time is worth? If so, the 25 minutes it takes is not worth it!  It also depends on how busy they are.  Do they have an exam coming up the next day?  Or are they not doing anything anyways?  The Human Factor can complicate things.

Internalize the Externalities

What about the environmental implications of going out to fill up?  How much carbon dioxide is released during the trip and while idling?  Idling is actually very inefficient on gas and produces a relatively large amount of CO2 for not moving anywhere.  This is a good way to get into discussions about the impacts of elevated greenhouse gases and the carbon tax debate.  We pay for water, electricity and gas.  If we are using up clean air by polluting it, why aren't we paying for that as well?


According to Wikipedia, the Energy Density of Gasoline is 36 MJ/L.  I calculated 0.4 L of gas for the trip to the gas station and back.  Thats 14.4 MJ or 4 kWh - the equivalent of leaving a 40 W lightbulb on for about 4 days.  In terms of energy used, it's not insignificant (though it would only cost about 40 cents of electricity because our electricity is ridiculously cheap).  This highlights how much energy transportation actually uses.  Remember, that the 14.4 MJ is only for driving 3 km and idling for 10 minutes. 

21C...

Students could weigh all these options and come to conclusions which they can share with the class or discuss in a discussion board.  The topic can be used as a jumping off point for a whole host of STSE issues as well.

Okay so maybe this is a bit of a mundane way to illustrate the complexity of problem-solving and decision making that doesn't demonstrate 21C all that well.  There are probably much better examples of cost-benefit analysis (such as the Exploding Ford Pinto Debacle), but I was curious about filling up the tank before the price goes up so that's what I decided to write about.

2. Knowledge Construction: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation
3. Real-World Problem Solving & Innovation: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation

Future lesson topics...

• Ethics in Engineering and problem solving/decision making
• Optimal vehicle speed for fuel efficiency/GHG emissions

Day 18 - 4 Pics 1 Word

Problem...

Create a Science/Math 4 Pics 1 Word puzzle for your classmates

Why?

• 4 Pics 1 Word is engaging.  Harness that!
• Students demonstrate a deep conceptual understanding of concepts

What is 4 Pics 1 Word?

It is a popular puzzle game available on mobile platforms (iOS version here).  This is a screencap of a question (the level I was stuck on at the time of writing this):

On my Practicum...

In my Grade 9 Applied Math Class on my practicum, I often caught students playing 4 Pics 1 Word on their phones when they were supposed to be working together on a question.  Instead of telling them to put their phones away, I would walk up behind them and tell them the answer to the level they were struggling with.  This would often result in groans of "Sirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  Why did you give it away???" at which point they would get the picture and get back to work on their math.  They really, really wanted to come to the answers themselves and their faces lit up when they found it.   

The strange thing about this is that it's generally the COMPLETE opposite of what students are like when doing a math/science problem.  Usually they want you to give them the answer or tell them exactly how its done and there isn't that same satisfaction of coming to a conclusion as there was with 4 Pics 1 Word.

This tells me that 

a) there is something wrong with the way we teach and 

b) there is something huge we can learn about student engagement from casual games like 4 Pics one Word.  

In Blooms Taxonomy lingo, my Grade 9 Applied Students were using Higher Order Thinking Skills  (Analyzing and Evaluating) when playing 4 Pics 1 Word.  And it is self-directed and collaborative!  I hardly ever saw a student working on the game alone.  Making the word associations in 4 Pics 1 Word are highly dependant on prior knowledge and experiences so certain answers come easy to some people and are more difficult for others.  I have been stuck staring at questions for a loooong time and then somebody comes by and gets it instantly.  Thus, the nature of the game makes it conducive to  collaborative.  Education should be the same.  It shouldn't be a chore to work together.  It should be necessary and fun and embedded in the task!

As a teacher, this would be an excellent activity for a unit review:  Have groups of students Collaboratively come up with a 4 Pics 1 Word question for their classmates.  This pushes 4 Pics 1 Word to the highest level of Bloom's Taxonomy: Creating.  Students have to synthesize their understanding of the units concepts and be creative to make their problem tricky for other students.  They can take pride in making their question hard for others to figure out.  I think this is a form of Skilled Communication.  They have to express their understanding of a concept in an indirect, yet targeted way.

I'll come up with a physics/math example and post it here SOON.  It's late and sleep is good.

Students decide!

I think one of the biggest reasons I saw so many students play 4 Pics 1 Word is that it is not teacher-mandated or evaluated.  Students hear about it from friends and online.  It is self-directed!  They have a choice to play the game and there are no time limits for each level.  Also, there is no penalty for asking a friend to help, unlike a test or assignment.  

Because I think the reason so many students play it is because they have a choice to play it or not, asking your students to create a 4 Pics 1 Word problem for fellow students would potentially undermine some of its appeal.  This why giving students choices and letting them decide how they want to study/present material is so important.

21C...

This activity doesn't do so well on the neXt Lesson continuum.  I think its strength is in conceptual thinking though and is worth giving students as an option for a review exercise.


1. Collaboration: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation
4. Skilled Communication: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation

Day 17 - Canoe Trip Physics

The Problem...

How can you use an understanding of physics to make a canoe trip more enjoyable and less work?

Why?

• Opportunity for students to use physics concepts to help plan for a canoe trip
• Opportunity to bring sustainability discussions into a Physics class
• Interdisciplinary math, science, biology, physics, ecology, geography

Check out this blog entry from a few years ago by @emnose.  Canoe tripping is awesome.  The planning, driving, paddling and portaging all pay off when your alone on a lake in the middle of Ontario enjoying the silence and the stars.

In a class...

I would only use this activity in a class if right opportunity presented itself:  if students were actually going on a canoe trip (I know a bunch of high schools that regular do canoe trips). Students working on their Duke of Edinburgh are actually required to do a trip so it would be a good opportunity for them to earn some of the requirements.  

The Physics...

Believe it or not, there is actually a ton of physics that can be found in canoe tripping.  Here are some examples:

1. Buoyancy and hydrodynamics

• What canoe shape, size, depth is appropriate for the trip.  Can study the drag/friction of the canoe in the water.
• Optimal weight and number of people per canoe.  Too heavy and the canoe will sit too low in the water and be inefficient to paddle!
• Number of canoes needed for the trip.
• Optimal paddle length and shape.  There is some statics involved in the best paddle length.  The shape has to do with hydrodynamics.
• This site has a whole bunch of canoe recommendations and images including the one below.  A good question may be which one would be most appropriate canoe profile for the trip.

2. Distance-time relationships

• Best route to a destination (connections to contours in geography and optimization in math).  Students would have to develop some criteria for what 'best' route entails.  Easiest? Quickest? Shortest travel time?  In the picture below, what would be the best route from the Three Legged Lake Access Point to Clear Lake? 

Map is of Massassauga Provincial Park.

Clear Lake is a route we've done a few times.

3. Statics

• What is the best way to pack a hiking pack in terms of physics.  Would it be better to pack the heavier stuff closer or further away from your body?  This can be interpreted as a simple statics problem (see below).  How does your body adapt if the centre of gravity of your pack is further away from your back.

Drawn in Penultimate

• Carrying a canoe - In terms of statics, is it better to carry a canoe with two people or one?  What are some advantages and disadvantages of each.  I've never had a problem with 1 person...

Canoes are designed to be carried by one

 person but at first it doesn't seem to make 

sense from a physics standpoint.

These are just a few examples of how to look at canoe tripping through a physics lens.  I'm sure there are plenty more though.

Transformative Environmental Education

As a Scout leader, I have the opportunity to fairly regularly organize and participate in trips with groups of Scouts.  It's something I think every high school student in Toronto should have a chance to experience.  We talk about Environmental Sustainability but sometimes we forget what we're actually trying to sustain.  Living in the city all year, I sometimes forget about my connection and dependance on nature.  

In an article I read at OISE for my cohort class (Global Citizenship and Sustainable Development), Julie Johnston stresses the importance of stepping outside the curriculum box by practicing Transformative Environmental Education.  She presents education as the primary source of social reproduction and thus where we must start the cycle of understanding, caring for and protecting our environment.  Two examples of Transformative Environmental Education she provides (that I could utilized in this Canoe Tripping activity) are:

• Sky Awareness - promoting the importance of just looking up! Talking about how the sun tracks across the sky and how you could navigate by the stars.  This is easily tied to physics (astronomy).
• Bioregion-Based Education - understanding your connection to your immediate environment.  Understanding the ecosystem in which you live.  This ties nicely into biology and ecology concepts.

21st Century...

Students will be using Real-World Problem Solving and Innovation to help them plan their trip.  Concepts from Physics and other courses can help make an actual trip more enjoyable and less laborious.  

The activity also has the potential to be fairly long term and Self-Regulated by students, culminating in the actual trip.  Journals kept by students during the trip could be used to self-assess the effectiveness of their plans.

Lastly, there would be few more interdependent activities than a canoe trip, which basically forces everyone to do their part in order for the group to get to a destination.  It's an excellent opportunity to demonstrate Collaboration.

1. Collaboration: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation
3. Real-World Problem Solving & Innovation: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation
5. Self-Regulation: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation

Falling Behind

I'm falling behind!  Right now I'm in the middle of an entry on canoe tripping that was supposed to be for yesterday but I will probably end up posting tomorrow.  I'll be catching up on the weekend.

The Civil Engineer in me just felt like posting some stuff on subways (that may or may not have to do with education).

**I have decided to blog in Helvetica for this entry because it's famous for being the typeface of New York's  subway system (usually, my blog is in Trebuchet).  Actually, I do like the Toronto Subway Font, which according to Wikipedia is based on Futura.  Note to self: do an entry on fonts.

1. Here is a gif from a blogTO article depicting the history of Toronto's subway system using TTC Station Buttons (that can be ordered from the Spacing Store).

http://www.photosapience.com/index.php?showimage=448

2. This next site has line drawings of subway systems from all over the world to scale. Toronto actually isn't as small comparitively as I thought...

http://fakeisthenewreal.org/subway/

3. Antonio Jorge Goncalves, a guy who sketches people on public transit all over the world.  Interesting pastime.  I should try it sometime.  Here's the link: http://www.subway-life.com/

There are also a bunch of sites that have collections of sketches of people on subways in Toronto.  Is it sad if I was looking for myself in one of them?  I caught a guy sketching me on a bus once.

4. The awesomeness of this image speaks for itself.  I think subway maps are an interesting way of presenting relationships between concepts visually as an alternative to mind maps or concept maps.  There's a lesson in that.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/smoy/4413987999/

Speaking of lessons, maybe a good idea would be to model Toronto in Minecraft and design an ideal subway system for it.  That would be cool.  Actually, I might go do that myself.  See you in 3 months...

While your waiting for my return, heres a link to a Super Mario Brothers 3 version of the Toronto Subway Map: http://davesgeekyideas.com/2012/06/12/toronto-ttc-subwayrt-map-super-mario-3-style/

Day 16 - Lab Safety

The problem...

What is the safest layout for a Science lab/classroom?

Why?

• Cover the Science Lab-Safety curriculum expectations in an engaging way
• Utilize Third Teacher principles (environment as third teacher) that enables students to take more ownership of their classroom environment (while considering safety)

Minecraft Classroom Image from:

http://dbatty.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/minecraft-brings-about-so-many-opportunities/

Each science course has a lab safety component to the curriculum.  It makes sense.  Lab activities use dangerous chemicals and apparatus.  There needs to be procedures in place to ensure safety that the students are aware of.  Usually, lab safety is taught over a day or two followed by a quiz. Why not make the way they learn about safety engaging?  

Minecraft!

What I propose is give the choice for students to model the classroom/lab in Minecraft and then experiment to determine the safest way to arrange the classroom would be.  They could also figure out procedures for dispensing and collecting dangerous chemicals and the best way to store apparatus.  I probably wouldn't force them to use Minecraft.  It would be one way they could attempt to solve the problem.

The Lesson...

First, to facilitate Self-Regulation, I would discuss with the class what would make a successful classroom layout and have them establish some success criteria.  They would then come up with some sort of method for carrying out the task.  It may look something like this:

1. Organize! Students determine roles for constructing the model.
2. Model the classroom - including desks, lab desks, teachers desk, windows, doors, intercom, materials storage and anything else of note.  
3. Label the safety equipment in the model - fume hood, eye wash station, sinks, fire blanket, sprinkler, fire extinguisher and anything else.  Students will really know where all the safety equipment is after this!
4. Layout - In groups, students discuss how to improve safety by rearranging and experimenting with the layout.  Not all safety items are movable but desks and storage of equipment are.  This is where students can take ownership of their classroom environment.  Different layouts can be discussed and actually implemented in the class.
5. Material Distribution Procedure - What is the best way to distribute lab materials/chemicals - come up with a plan!
6. Emergency plan - Plan for an emergency and try it out! With everyone sitting at their desks (in the model) re-enact the procedure.  
7. Make a video.  Groups create videos of the student's avatars interacting with their models acting out safety procedures (what to do when there is an acid spill, chemical distribution, etc). Each group could choose a different procedure to demonstrate. They can post their videos on YouTube to share with the rest of the class.  

Students could continue to modify the model throughout the year if a layout isn't working or if there is a more unconventional lab that will happen.

Why Minecraft?

Whenever tempted to use some form of ICT I think it is important to ask yourself if that is the best way to deliver a lesson or you are just using the tech for the sake of using the tech. If you can't rationalize the tech actually enhancing the learning experience for the students, don't do it. In this case I chose Minecraft for a few reasons:

• It provides a Collaborative environment for groups of students to experiment with designs
• Students can try different designs in a short amount of time.  It's a good platform to support Real-World Problem Solving.
• The first person perspective is more personal and engaging for students
• The digital environment may be more comfortable to students who would not normally contribute in group discussions
• Really, I'm just excited about the idea of using Minecraft in a class

There are limitations to what furniture/equipment you can build in Minecraft but if students are creative enough, they would probably be able to model anything they need for this exercise.  

One criticism of this may be that students wouldn't take lab safety seriously but I am fairly confident a student is more likely to remember the procedure from a classmate made video about what to do if there is a chemical fire in the class than from a teacher-directed lecture.

Ultimately, I students should decide how they want to come up with their ideal (safe) classroom.  They could use Minecraft if they wanted to.  For example, an alternative to Minecraft would be Trimble Sketchup (formerly Google Sketchup) or other 3D modeling software. The downside to that would be a loss of the collaboration and first-person immersion within their environment.  Experimenting with the classroom in real life may not be practical but is another option.


1. Collaboration: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation
3. Real-World Problem Solving & Innovation: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation
5. Self-Regulation: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation
6. Use of ICT for Learning: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation

Future lesson ideas

• Retrofit school to accommodate classes in portables (can be tied into math: measurement, etc)
• Classroom layout using magic plan or other app to get dimensions

Minecraft and Education

At the Connect 2013 conference I attended a few weeks ago, I saw a group of middle-school aged kids walking around.  The conference was mostly attended by teachers, administration and salespeople so I was a bit confused as to why they were there.  Turns out they were a group of Grade 7 students from a school in Hamilton that were there with their teacher hosting a poster session on a really cool project they worked on: redesigning Hamilton's West Harbour... using Minecraft.  Apparently, they presented their design to city officials.  This CBC article has a slideshow of the creation process.  Unfortunately, I missed the poster session and found out about it from my supervisor later (she was super excited about it).

What is Minecraft?

In case you haven't hear of it, Minecraft is an extremely popular 'sandbox survival' game.  What does that mean?  You build stuff out of blocks and try not to die.  There are 2 main modes to play in: creative and survival.  In creative mode you don't have to worry about the dying part so you can just create. Further explanation here if needed.

Minecraft and Education...

I am a gamer.  I love video games. I think they are a largely untapped source of educational potential so when I hear video games + education I get really excited.  As a  player of Minecraft, I can see tons of ways the game can provide fun and entertaining ways of teaching math and science.  

Just to be clear, Minecraft and Education is not a new idea.

In fact, there is a version of the game called Minecraft EDU that is specifically tailored to education.  Teachers have more flexibility with the environments their students create in.  Here's a video about the growing Minecraft EDU community:

As mentioned in the video, the creator of Minecraft EDU is Joel Levin, the Minecraft Teacher.  Most of his work is directed at elementary level students.  Check out some gameplay footage from his YouTube Channel.

Playing in the Sandbox...

In the documentary Minecraft: The Story of Mojang. Peter Molyneux (famous and sometimes controversial ex-Microsoft game developer) compares the evolution of video games to the evolution of Lego.  

Lego used to be a bunch of blocks that you dump on the floor and build whatever you want with.  Now, it is a kit made up of a bunch of specialized pieces that you follow the instructions to build.  After you finish building it, you put it on a shelf and leave it there to collect dust.

Similarly, Molyneux states the best selling video-games have overwhelmingly become linear, polished products.  Though they serve their own purpose as a form of interactive media, they generally leave little room for real creativity or creation.  When your done playing it, you put the game it in its case and put the case on the shelf to collect dust.  

On the other hand, there is Minecraft.  Notch (the creator of Minecraft) has done the exact opposite.  There are essentially no set goals or creative limits (other than gravity).  Minecraft has brought gaming back to the original lego bricks; back to playing in the sandbox. 

I like to think this analogy applies to education as well.  We generally have courses with predetermined outcomes and use the same lessons year after year for different students.  So much of what students learn feels useless to them after they pass the exam.  Instead, we should be providing students with the tools and environment to create and continue to learn by themselves.  Minecraft is one such environment and toolbox that enables students to set their own goals to create without limits in a highly collaborative environment.  

Teaching with Minecraft in High School...

The Hamilton West Harbour and Joel Levin's classroom are examples of elementary school Minecraft projects.  Would the game be able to engage high school students in the same way?  I think so.  Because the game is so open-ended, I believe a teacher could potentially come up with projects that addresses the curriculum from any course.  Some projects having to do with physics and math that immediately come to mind are:

Physics

• Find gravity in the game by experimenting with falling objects.  How does it compare to gravity on earth?
• Measuring momentum and velocity of a mine cart
• Measuring friction on a mine cart track
• Study circuit operation using redstone
• Examine gravitational and potential and kinetic energy and use it to design and build a roller coaster track

Math

• Find optimal ways to mine for diamonds (related to maximizing surface area)
• Cost to build different numbers of things (related rates)
• Surface area/volume relationships of structures
• Analysis of how the random world is spawned based on a seed (ties into Computer Science)

I'll try to explore these ideas and others in coming entries.

Why Minecraft?

The creation of a product is an integral part of the 21st Century Learning framework, especially for Knowledge Construction, Real-World Problem Solving and Use of ICT to be authentic and transformative.  If this is the case, why use Minecraft at all?  Why not physically build something?  Having a physical product isn't always practical.  Time, money, material and size constraints limit what is possible in the physical world.   

Resources and space are practically infinite in Minecraft.  Fairly complicated works can be built fairly quickly, especially when there is effective Collaboration.  In addition the game itself is cheap, user friendly and is available on almost any platform.  Its accesibility makes it appealing from an equity standpoint. In addition, students on the same server are accountable for their actions and interdependent on the cooperation of all players.  After all, there is nothing stopping from one student from completely destroying the work of the rest of a class.

Minecraft has potential for awesome Self-Regulation as well.  The game responds to the players actions as opposed to telling the user what to do.  Students can challenge themselves with goals they collaboratively set with the each other and the teacher.  

Basically, Minecraft is able to tie in all the neXt Lesson competencies.

Learning from Minecraft...

In addition to using Minecraft to teach, educators can learn from the game's success in engaging players and inspiring creativity.  This article from teachthought.com called '5 Lessons to Learn from Minecraft in Education' highlights some of them.  I would add 'Be Collaborative' as number 6 the list.  Though Minecraft does not have to be played collaboratively, some of the world's largest and most intricate Minecraft constructions are a result of the combined efforts of groups of people.  

Education should be about providing students with the tools to create and share their creations.  What those Grade 7 students in Hamilton accomplished is an example of how transformative 21st Century Learning can be.  Minecraft is just one platform that makes this kind of creation and collaboration possible but it sets a new standard on the possibilities of education.

Vague Entries

Just a general point about my work so far: I have been keeping them very vague and conceptual (and unpolished) for a few reasons explained below.

1. It's impossible to know whether many of these lesson ideas would actually work with a class until I have a class in front of me and get to know the students    Culturally Relevant Pedagogy is critical for student engagement so I wouldn't force any of these lesson ideas on a class unless I thought it would be successful for that group. Keeping it vague gives me the flexibility to change the lesson based on the students in the class and the actual course it would happen in.
2. One of the reasons I'm doing this blog is to better understand how 21st century learning would potentially look in a high-school math/science class.  As well as helping me understand the neXt Lesson Framework for my internship.  To me, the hardest part of doing this is generating some really good ideas to get started, which is the purpose of this blog. 
3. Time! To get down all the details of a lesson for each one would take forever. During my internship I don't have that kind if time! (what I'm doing right now takes enough time as it is)

One more point about the levels I have highlighted for each competency at the end of each entry: They reflect the potential of each lesson idea. Where they will actually fall is highly dependent on exactly how the activities are presented to students as well as grade level and course. For example, I have keft Self-Regulation out of many entries but it could end up being a huge part of the activity depending on how the success criteria and project timeline is established.