Movement is Everywhere

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Movement is Everywhere

• Playground Engineering
• in Kindergarten

Lisa Wujczyk Miller Elementary wujczykl_at_clps.org
This project is funded by the National Science
Foundation GSE/RES Award 0734091
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Engineering in Kindergarten?

• Convergence
• Education Foundation
• Igniting the creative
• potential of students
• toward engineering,
• science, and mathematics
• Initiated and funded a partnership between Miller
  Elementary and Purdue University INSPIRE.

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Engineering in Kindergarten?

• INSPIREs Mission To construct theory on
  engineering and learning and to inspire diverse
  students to pursue engineering and science for
  the benefit of humanity and the advancement of
  society.
• Why Miller?
• K-5 school with 359 students
• Located in Center Line, Michigan
• Racially and culturally diverse
• 74 of students qualify for free or reduced lunch

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Engineering in Kindergarten?
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What is an engineer?

• Students initial conceptions

a train engineer
a person who makes houses
a train
a car
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What is an Engineer?

• After the Inquiry

A person who designs things
A person who makes cool stuff
A person who can imagine
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What is an Engineer?

• Class Definition
• An engineer is a person who uses math, science,
  and the engineering design process to create
  things that people use.

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Engineering Design Process
Purdue INSPIRE
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Who is an engineer?
problem solvers collaborators
researchers writers artists
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Getting There

• Creating a unit of inquiry based on kindergarten
  GLCEs.
• Inquiry Process, Analysis, Reflection
• Physical Science Force and Motion
• Describing and comparing the motion of objects
• Gravity
• Pushes and Pulls
• Math Measurement

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Movement is Everywhere

• Central Idea Movement is everywhere.
• Essential Questions
• What moves?
• How do you know if something is moving?
• How and why do things move?
• What are different ways to move?
• How do an objects attributes affect its
  movement?
• How can we affect an objects movement?
• How can we change the speed and/or direction of
  motion?

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Keeping It Real

• A child-friendly context for learning.
• View the playground through a new lens to
  activate knowledge.
• Set a focus What moves
• on the playground?
• Everyone plays!
• Questions and ideas
• that arose from the exploration.

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Student Initial Observations
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Student Initial Observations
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Our Process of Inquiry

• Choose an area of interest.
• Research a related concept of force and motion,
  learn scientific vocabulary.
• Go out on the playground to try.
• Share questions and discoveries.
• Try a follow-up investigation in the classroom.

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Slide Investigations

• Students wanted to learn about slides.
• We read about different inclined planes.

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Slide Investigations

• We tried going down our
• playground slide in
• different ways.
• We discussed our experiences.

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Slide Investigations

• In class we built inclined planes and
  investigated how different objects move down the
  plane.

Conclusion The circle shapes will move down
faster. The square shapes will not move fast.
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More Playground Investigations

• Swings
• Pushes and Pulls
• Transfer of Energy
• Balls
• Gravity
• Teeter-Totters
• Weight and Leverage

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End with Engineering

• Ties the learning together.
• Students can apply what theyve learned in a
  meaningful way.
• Also exposes students
• to the career field of
• engineering.

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Engineering Design Process

• Professional Engineers Start with a meaningful
  question or problem to solve, usually from a
  client.
• Kid Engineers Teachers provide
• a meaningful purpose for
• student work.
• The Polly Pocket Challenge
• Swings, slides, and teeter-totters.

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Engineering Design Process

• Professional Engineers Use science, math, and
  creativity.
• Kid Engineers Allow ideas to flow freely in the
  Imagine stage.

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Engineering Design Process
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Engineering Design Process

• Professional Engineers Collaborate on detailed
  plans that may include writing, sketches, and
  computer models.
• Kid Engineers Collaborate with a team on
  detailed plans in words and pictures. Kids also
  plan for materials needed.
• This is the hardest stage for kids. They
  naturally want to skip from Imagine to
  Create.
• Planning teaches the skill of thinking ahead.

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Engineering Design Process

• Everyday Materials
• Inspires students to view everyday objects in new
  ways.

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Engineering Design Process

• Professional Engineers Follow plans and create a
  prototype
• Kid Engineers Follow their plans to create a
  prototype
• Another challenging step kids have to resist
  the temptation to make spontaneous improvements.

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Engineering Design Process
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Engineering Design Process
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Engineering Design Process
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Engineering Design Process

• Professional Engineers Evaluate their designs
  and make adjustments to improve.
• Kid Engineers Learn to look at their own work
  with a critical eye. They are always looking for
  ways to make something better.
• Improving does NOT mean starting all over!

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Engineering Design Process

• Problem
• Pollys hands can not hold tight.
• Improvement
• Added a seatbelt to keep Polly secure.

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Engineering Design Process

• Problem
• The people keep falling off.
• Improvement
• Added a molded clay seat to keep the people
  steady.

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Engineering Design Process

• Problem
• The ladder is in the way.
• Improvement
• Move the ladder to the middle.

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Engineering Extravaganza

• Professional Engineers Present their improved
  prototypes to their client and receive feedback.
• Kid Engineers Students present their work to an
  interested audience.
• An opportunity to share knowledge about movement
  and engineering.
• A chance to learn from other students, too.
• Opens the possibility of engineering as a career
  option.

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Engineering Extravaganza
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Not Just for Movement

• Engineering can be incorporated into a wide-range
  of lower el. science studies.
• Reframing Classic Activities
• Building marshmallow
• toothpick structures
• Other Complete Inquiry Units
• Grade 1 Matter ? Play-dough Engineering

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Lasting Impact

• Student talk about force and motion concepts on
  the playground long after the units end.
• A students 9 Ways to Cheer Up, September 2008.

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Lasting Impact