NDGT in Toronto

On Friday night, I attended a UofT lecture by Neil DeGrasse Tyson.  I really didn't know what to expect going in but I ended up really enjoying it.  I have been a fan of NDGT for a while but didn't know he would be nearly that funny and entertaining giving a lecture. 

Neil discussed his take on Science through a cultural lens.  Some of the things that stood out for me were:

• He showed us his collection of the banknotes of different nations with scientists on them and discussed how this can set a standard for the population of that country. Especially interesting was Germany's 10 Deutschmark note with Gauss on it.  There is even a bell curve on it!
• He discussed how discovery of something leads to the naming of that thing using the periodic table and the planets as examples.  Google 'periodic table country of discovery' and 'year of discovery'.  It's pretty neat to connect the dots with what was going on in those nations at that time.  
• He also touched on more controversial topics such as technology and GMO's and the place of Social "Sciences" and arts compared to Science (his quotations around Sciences not mine).

The most impressive thing about the lecture was that even if you did not have any background in Science, you would still probably have understood most of the lecture and probably would have enjoyed it.  Neil actually touched on this during the question period.  He talked about how a lot of the skepticism toward Science comes from Scientists generally not letting the public into their 'club'. They use fancy words to maintain group exclusivity.  This is the exact opposite of what education should be.  
Knowledge Construction on the other hand occurs when you start with what the student knows and build their understanding from there as opposed to just throwing a bunch of facts and words at them.  Neil did a great job of this during the lecture.  He made a ton of jokes, kept the tone conversational, didn't use any fancy words and even tweeted during the talk!  He did as well as you can do with Knowledge Construction in a lecture scenario.

For me, it basically it boils down to this:
To get people excited about Science (and Math), get rid of the unnecessary pretense and subject-specific lingo and don't be afraid to show your passion for the subject.  

Lastly, Neil insisted he show us the following videos (even though the talk went way later than it was supposed to). Somebody had slowed down his Big Think talk (regular speed and slow motion videos below).  It's pretty funny and it was even more funny to watch Neil's reaction to the slowed down one.

Regular speed video:

Slow motion video:

Oh, and checked the Toronto Star yesterday and today and NO mention of the talk.  Hopefully there will be something in the Monday paper.  It's absolutely nuts what they prioritize over Science and education.

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

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.

Day 15 - Road Trip!

The Problem...

What do you need to know to plan for a road trip?

Why? 

• Bring together many skills from the Grade 9 Essentials Math Curriculum
• Have students learn skills that are directly applicable outside school
• Interdisciplinary opportunities (business and geography)

I'm starting this entry in a van on the way home from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin  This past weekend I was on a road trip with @emnose and her family to pick up her brother from university.  Long, long drive but great trip!  Their highway bridges are a lot nicer looking than ours (these are the things you notice when you are a Civil Engineer).  Maybe we should start tolling more of our highways... another discussion for another day.

View Larger Map

The curriculum...

@emnose had the the idea to do an entry based on the road trip so I started to think about some of the things that you need to research when you are planning a road trip. I quickly realized that planning a road trip brings together many of the skills in the Locally Developed Essentials Math courses.  I actually taught a Grade 9 Essentials Math course with my AT during one of my practica. I actually think the road trip activity would be an excellent culminating activity for the course.

The Essentials course has a heavy focus on real-world, concrete skills. The Grade 9 course for example had 3 units: money sense, measurement and proportional reasoning.  Really, the activity could be modified to fit into any math course but I thought this was a practical activity for the Essentials students.

In the classroom...

I would start the activity by asking the class what kind of things you would need to research before going on a road trip (I may specify USA because it provides the opportunity to discuss exchange rates and different taxes). Most of the following things should come up in a class discussion:

• Shortest travel time
• Shortest travel distance
• Lowest travel cost
• Exchange rate
• Cost of gas (conversions of volume and currency units)
• Taxes and tipping practices
• Time zone/daylight savings
• Hotel bookings and availability
• Driving rules and other laws
• Vehicle needed and packing allowances

Students could then get in groups, choose their destination and start working on what was discussed.  Deliverables should be based around Skilled Communication of their findings and could take the form of an itinerary sheet, a budget sheet including a total cost of trip, a custom google earth map and/or a travel booklet/infographic with all the info in it.

Equity and 21C...

To be a better example of 21st century learning and for the Knowledge Construction to be authentic, the road trip should actually happen. I know this isn't plausible for most high-schools or affordable by many parents but what if there happened to be a school team going on a road trip to a tournament? The class could help with the preparation of that (including creating a budget and booking the hotel). 

Because of the equity issues involved, I would probably only do this activity if there were a school trip actually planned that the students that were planning it were able to attend!  I think the activity is only worth it (from a 21C perspective) if they actually use the knowledge they construct and the products they create.  For a lot of 21st Century Learning (as well as Critical Pedagogy and Global Citizenship Education), I think it is necessary for a teacher to be highly opportunistic based on what is going on in the school and school community.  That's one of the reasons why I keep these entries fairly vague and open-ended.  I'll post a quick blog entry about this in a bit...

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

Day 13 - String Tension

The Problem...

How much force is there on the neck of a guitar?

Why?

• Illustrate relationships between science, math and music
• Students learn to research and collect experimental data in a procedural way
• Connect the Forces unit to the Waves and Sound Unit of Grade 11 Physics

This is an activity I have done with some of my more science-inclined guitar students.  I simplified the problem for them however because I didn't want to take up too much lesson time.  We collected the data over several lessons and I put it in a spreadsheet that tallied the values and gave an answer for all the strings.  The sheet I gave my students looked like this:

In a Science Class...

If I was using this in a classroom, I would let the students come up with ways they could find out the tension in the strings.  I would give each group of students a different stringed instrument (based on what I had available or the music department would be able to provide): guitar, ukelele, bass guitar, mandolin, banjo etc.  Student's could even bring in their own instruments to analyze.  

First, I would have students write down an estimate of what they think the total tension would be.  Again, in problems such as these, its always a good idea to have some idea of what the answer will be before actually calculating it.

They would then work Collaboratively to figure out how they are going to measure the tension.  It's hard to measure string tension directly when the string is on an instrument but there are ways to indirectly find it (see picture above).  If they discover that formula, they will have to think about how are they going to collect data on:

• the length of the string - can be directly measured
• the fundamental pitch of the string - there are many free mobile device apps that will tell you the pitch of a string
• the unit weight of the string (kg/m) - could use the diameter of the string and the density of the string material.  Alternatively, could put a length of string on a scale.
• the diameter of the string - can be directly measured using callipers (diameters also tend to appear on string packages)
• the density of the string material - most likely this would be looked up on the internet

For some of the variables, internet research will suffice and for others, they will need to measure themselves.  They will have to decide themselves what is appropriate for their situation.

Alternatively, they may start by looking at a package of strings, which usually lists the tensions on the back of the pack.  But then they have to think about what they are presented with and read the fine print.  What assumptions are made?  Do those assumptions apply to their instrument?  Probably not.  Also, they may not actually know exactly what brand of strings are on the instrument.

Let them decide...

An important part of Knowledge Construction is to let the students decide how they are going to meet the success criteria.  Although some groups may end up doing more work than others, all groups can present their results back to the class so (hopefully) a variety of creative and innovative ways to measure the tension are covered.

Apply it...

Now that students would have an understanding of how string pitch, length, diameter and density are related, they could apply it by creating their own string instruments.  This could be turned into an interdisciplinary project between science and music or art.  They would have to answer some of the following questions (and more) before starting to build.

• How many strings?
• Will it have frets and will it be based on the Western 12-Tone Equal-Temperament scale like a guitar or a piano?
• What material will the strings be?
• How strong will the support of the strings have to be? (ie. what would the tension in the strings be)

Extend...

This is a cool video that I think would be good for a follow-up on exactly what a string does when it is plucked.  How come they look like that in the video?  Do they see that when they regularly pluck a string?

The curriculum...

This activity would be appropriate for a Grade 11 Physics class because it bridges between the Forces unit and the Waves and Sound unit.  Because of this, I think it would make an interesting culminating project for the course.

More critical...

My self-criticism for this idea is that although it may engage students and contains elements of the 21st Lesson Framework, I think it lacks any real critical analysis or underlying STSE issue; which I believe to be necessary for transformative pedagogy.    Maybe the instruments the students build could be made entirely of recycled materials to draw attention to the incredibly complex life cycle of manufactured goods we take for granted.  Anyways, it's something for me to think about for future entries.

21C...

1. Collaboration: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation
2. Knowledge Construction: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation
6. Use of ICT for Learning: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation

Day 12 - Infinities

The Problem...

How big is infinity?

Why?

• Opportunity for Math/English interdisciplinary study of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• Address the common mathematical misconception that you can treat infinity like any other number in an equation
• Present the mind-boggling idea that an infinite series can have a finite sum
• Illustrate the idea that there are unanswerable questions in math.

The other day, I asked @emnose what I should write an entry about and she had the idea to use the novel The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  

Today I finished the book.  Great read. Crazy sad but crazy good.  I was already a huge fan of John Green's YouTube channels (VlogBrothers, mental_floss and his brother Hank's channel SciShow) but hadn't read any of his books.  @emnose highly recommended I read The Fault in Our Stars.  Her rationale for using the book in a lesson idea was that a recurring theme is infinity. She's a smart one.  I don't want to give away any of the book so I'm mostly keeping details out of this entry.

Mathematical Infinity...

"Some infinities are bigger than other infinities," a character in The Fault in Our Stars states after explaining Zeno's Paradox.  I thought it would be interesting for students to explore what infinity exactly means in math, and compare it to how it is used (literally and metaphorically) in literature.  

In math, infinity gets messy.  In physics, its where black holes (singularities) appear.  Grade 11 and 12 students discover some of these difficulties when they are trying to plot rational functions or taking limits in calculus.  Some of the most interesting examples of these problems are found when trying to solve the indeterminate forms.  There are subtleties with infinity in math as illustrated by this TED-Ed video (and in Fault in Our Stars):

Interdisciplinary Infinity...

After a student had explored some of these mathematical problems with infinity, they could start to explore how the word is used outside of math.  The Fault in Our Stars is an interesting investigation because it bridges the gap between infinity being used metaphorically and mathematically.  Using The Fault in Our Stars as a starting point, students can explore other places infinity is used in literature.  

Interdisciplinary investigations are critical to 21st Century Learning.  According to the 21C framework, Knowledge Construction must be interdisciplinary to be Transformative. To bring it more into the 21st Century, the investigations can be done Collaboratively in groups (maybe pair up a Grade 12 Calculus student with a Grade 12 English Lit student) and the results Communicated in a variety of forms (writing, video, infographic, art).

To Infinity, and Beyond...

Infinity isn't the only interesting math/science connection in the book.  Here's one of my favourite quotes:

“I believe the universe wants to be noticed. I think the universe is inprobably biased toward the consciousness, that it rewards intelligence in part because the universe enjoys its elegance being observed. And who am I, living in the middle of history, to tell the universe that it-or my observation of it-is temporary?” 

This could be the jumping off point for some interesting philosophical conversations about why we do science and math (or really any other subject).  Along with my Number Bases blog entry, this idea helps students see the more human-created foundations of the way we understand Math.  

The TED-Ed video above also exposes a highly important fact:  It has been mathematically proven that there are questions in math that are unanswerable.  I believe this has huge implications for how we should think about math.  To come back around to infinity, I'll leave you with the awesomely beautiful and mathematically interesting quote from the TED-Ed video, 

"Someone one said the rationals (fractions) are like the stars in the night sky.  Then the irrationals are like the blackness."

21C...

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

Future Lesson Ideas...

• The Philosophy of Math - see this Numberphile video called Do Numbers EXIST?
• Other cool interdisciplinary combos like the Evolutionary Biology in Galapagos (a novel by Kurt Vonnegut)

Day 11 - Hockey Stats

The Problem...

• How are all those hockey stats collected and what do people do with them?

Why?

• Engage students with the data collection and management behind sports
• Expose students to the real-world application of statistics
• Entry point to talking about the cultural impact of hockey in Canada

This entry is coming a day late because I was too upset to write one after the Leafs loss to the Bruins in overtime in Game 7 yesterday.  It's fresh on the minds of Leafs fans so I decided I would blog about it and somehow tie it to math.  Below is an nhl.com screenshot of the top 10 players from the 2012-2013 NHL regular season:

http://www.nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm?season=20122013&gameType=2&team=&position=S&country=&status=&viewName=summary#?navid=nav-sts-indiv

That is a lot of stats to collect for each player!  In addition to analyzing the data on the site in a Grade 12 Data Management class, the question of how and why they collect these stats at all would be an interesting way of pulling the topic into the 21st Century Classroom.  

Close to home...

I think an awesome activity would be for a class to organize in order to collect an array of statistics of a team's season.  Ideally it would be a season played by their own high-school team so small groups of students could go out to collect stats for each game.  The class could consult with the coach/team at the beginning of the year in order to Collaboratively decide what statistics would be most beneficial for the team. They could analyze the stats over the course of the year and create reports to the coach who could ideally use them to improve the team's performance, supporting both Real-World Problem Solving and Skilled Communication.

In addition to potentially providing the coach with tools for improving the team's performance, the purpose of this activity would be to expose students to the process for the collection of data and some of the complications that may arise.  This Knowledge Construction would not occur if students were just studying stats taken from nhl.com.

Note: this obviously doesn't have to be a for a hockey team.  It could be any sport. Hockey is just what I had on my mind at the time of writing.

Digging deeper...

Once they have collected the data, they could start asking the deeper questions about collecting data in sports.  For example: in what ways are the data collected in hockey games are used?  Below are some things that may come up:

• Help teams improve their performance:  find ways to improve their team or find weaknesses in other teams
• Scouting for the NHL: the site behindthenet has a comprehensive report on how junior player's stats are projected to estimate what their performance in the NHL would be
• Fans love stats!  Stats get fans more engaged.  It is a source of revenue for the teams and leagues.
• Provide research for medical studies (for example: the concussion epidemic)

Here are some other questions that may be good discussion starters: 

• How much money is spent to collect stats in the NHL?
• Is it worth all the money to collect the stats?
• How many people does it take to collect stats for one NHL game?
• How might projecting a Junior players stats into the NHL be problematic?

21C...

1. Collaboration: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation
2. Knowledge Construction: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation
3. Real-World Problem Solving & Innovation: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation
4. Skilled Communication: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation

Future lesson ideas...

• Along the same lines but for Baseball: the math behind Moneyball (the movie)

Day 10 - Chris Hadfield - ISS (Is Somebody Singing)

The Problem...

How does the song I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing) illustrate physics concepts and how has Chris Hadfield's stay on the ISS impact the way the public thinks about Canada's contribution to Science? 

Why?

• Exposure to seldom heard Canadian point of view on space exploration
• Illustrates how Science can directly impact Society
• Deepen understanding of physics concepts and address misconceptions

Chris Hadfield is a Canadian astronaut and has been the commander of the International Space Station (ISS) for the past few months.  From orbit, he has been taking stunning pictures of the Earth and tweeting them.  

Nice pic of Toronto in this tweet:

Tonight's Finale: Toronto, Ontario. Interesting the different things that become more visible at night. twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/…

— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) April 16, 2013

Hadfield has drawn tons of media attention for the tweets and videos he has created.  This entry is inspired by the completion of Chris Hadfield's stay on the ISS (he returns to Earth tomorrow evening).  Have a safe journey home Chris!

The Song...

While on the ISS, Chris Hadfield co-wrote a song with Barenaked Lady Ed Robertson (who was on Earth).  The media attention has been surprising (I have heard the song on several different radio stations over the past week).  

I think it would be interesting to have a Science class examine some of the lyrics in the song to pick out and examine some of the concepts presented.  This blog entry contains some background information on the writing of the song as well as the lyrics and sheet music complete with guitar chords.   

To turn this into an in-class activity, I would flip the video to the class for homework and provide them with some questions to prompt them thinking about the physics concepts mentioned.  I would then provide them with the lyrics in class and would task groups of students with making the connections and checking the claims (and see how much creative license Hadrield and Robertson take!).  They could then present their results to the rest of the class to start discussions on the topic.  

This activity requires student-directed Knowledge Construction because essentially they have to generate their own questions and figure out how to solve them.  

Below I have identified some of the lyrics that may be used in class discussions:

"Pushed back in my seat/Look out my window/There goes home"

• At what point in the mission is Hadfield 'pushed back in his seat'?  What is he experiencing?  What is the physics behind that feeling? (an illustration of inertia and acceleration)
• What would he feel this while orbiting in the ISS?
• There is a common misconception about the lack of gravity an orbiting astronaut would experience.  Really there is gravity, the weightlessness is attributed to the fact that the ISS is actually in free-fall around the earth.

"I can hear your voices bouncing off the moon"

• This is more than just a metaphor! What is he referring to? 

 "All black and white just fades to grey/Where the sun rises sixteen times a day"

• Why does the sun rise 'sixteen times a day'?
• Why does the ISS not fall to earth?
• This is a good way to introduce the concept escape velocity
• This site contains interesting facts on the orbit of the ISS.

"Eighteen thousand miles an hour/fueled by science and solar power"

• This also relates to escape velocity and can be used to calculate kinetic energy of the ISS (see below)

"At half a thousand tons/Ninety minutes Moon to Sun/A bullet can't go half this fast"

• Check the validity of this statement! How fast do bullets generally travel?
• How much kinetic energy does the ISS have compared to a bullet?
• The ISS started a pieces on Earth.  How did we get the kinetic energy of the ISS to that value?

"What once was fueled by fear/Now has fifteen Nations orbiting together here" 

and...

"You can't make out borders from up here/Just a spinning ball within a tiny atmosphere"

• These quotes give us some perspective and are an opportunity to explore deeper questions about our place on the planet and in the universe and the role of science in our society

Curriculum...

This lesson is flexible because of the student-constructed knowledge aspect.  They ask the questions that they will answer.  Because of this, it could potentially be appropriate in any high school Science/Physics class.

There's some interdisciplinary opportunity here too.  Hatfield's Twitter pictures would be awesome to study in a physical geography class.  It could also potentially be an appropriate topic of discussion for a civics class.  The obvious connection is to a music class...

21st Century...

Students will have to use internet resources to answer their questions about the lyrics.  The fact that the material is presented as a song (and video) will appeal to a broad range of high school students.  It also models another possible medium that they can use to present material for assignments: through song! 

1. Collaboration: entry - adoption - adaptation - infusion - transformation
2. Knowledge Construction: 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 Lessons...

• Other internationally funded Science projects (Ex. The Large Hadron Collider)

More material...

Here's another Ed Robertson blog entry on Science and Songwriting. Awesome quote: "If you want to improve your songwriting, work on your math and science."  
Some trivia: the Barenaked Ladies do the theme song to Science-laden TV comedy Big Bang Theory.

This is another cool Hadfield video where he talks about how he takes the pictures from the ISS.