Doing, Learning and Thinking with STEAM on Line, Great Time Exploring Science with Kids

Doing, Learning and Thinking with STEAM on Line,

Great Time Exploring Science with Kids

Small worries about online learning

When studying at home, children worry mostly about the what to do without a partner and a teacher by their side? …What parents worry about the mostly is what to do if their children are addicted to the Internet and the sudden loss of children’s eye sight?The teacher is most worried about how to make every student in the class enthusiastically participate in online learning? How to solve experiments and material problems?

Solid teaching core, carefully designed projects

Our school’s STEAM is a school-based curriculum constructed with subject core concepts and interdisciplinary core concepts under the guidance of themes. Since online teaching started, we have made full use of the situational materials readily available in real life as curriculum resources, and carefully designed project-based theme activities: The first grade “Changeable Weather”; the second grade “Various Plants”; the third grade “Silkworm Baby Observation Diary”; the fourth grade “Wonderful Light”; the fifth grade “Our Earth”. Guided by core problems, we help students solve problems in real situations in an interactive way, guide students to explore the unknown like scientists, advocate PBL learning methods based on projects and problems, promote students’ understanding and application of concepts, and improve students’ understanding thinking and creativity.

Small Changes in Online Teaching Ideas and Strategies

1.Changes in teaching ideas – suddenly enlightened

There will be many restrictions with online teaching, so first of all, the teaching ideas must be changed, and the linear teaching process in scientific inquiry will be changed into modular teaching of unit knowledge.For example, the first grade’s theme unit “Changeable Weather” was originally designed to distinguish the influence of weather on human survival and the dependence of people on the weather, and then progressed layer by layer, and finally formed a complete set of various phenomena in the weather. After entering the online class stage, the teacher guided the children to carry out “cloud, rain, wind and temperature” activities according to the actual weather conditions in combination with the home learning environment. Taking this as an entry point, unit knowledge is integrated into observation, experience, and recording activities, discovering laws, summarizing experiences, forming new cognitions, and finally refining them into knowledge frameworks and competencies.

2.Activity Design Changes – Participate Together

Activities require venues and materials, especially our STEAM disciplines, which requires us to design various activities to be more suitable for home learning environments, making full use of common household items and waste materials (such as water cups, straws, waste paper, paint, bottles, Water, etc.), teachers give more guidance on details and provide multiple options, so that students can have alternatives and choose independently.

For example, in the production of “air balance”, when knowing whether the air has quality, if there are no balloons at home, you can use two plastic bags instead, you can also use pencils instead of sticks, etc., so that every child can participate in our activities that be implemented smoothly.

3.Changes in the form of inquiry – publicizing individualityThe extended inquiry after class is to encourage children to think more and innovate more. There are various forms, such as painting, making, games, and experiments. Students can choose what they like, and at the same time, they have materials at home to expand the classroom and publicize their performance in a way that suits them.

For example, in the fifth grade, when exploring the causes of terrain changes, using simple materials that are common in life to do experiments will help stimulate students’ “interest in inquiry” and feel the relationship between science and daily life.

More fun and gains from learning

1.In the class
Communicate more, show confidenceWhen a child faces the screen alone and lacks a partner, will he be lonely? Look at our teachers using Classin’s “raise hand to speak”, “communication on stage”, “group discussion” and other functions, they can still organize children to interact: group communication, group PK, pair-wise cooperation and other forms. In front of the small screen, the children showed smiles, their eyes were more focused, and they also enjoyed the moments of communication with their peers. Express their opinions freely.

2.Presuppose first, then do experiment

Experimentation, comparison, operation, communication and reflection are indispensable to scientific learning, and in the process of scientific inquiry, the process of experimentation is inseparable. Online teaching poses big challenge to the implementation of scientific experimental activities. But this is not difficult for us who love to explore science. In the classroom, we pre-suppose the results of the experiments, and then confirm them through scientific experiments.

Look, in the study of “changes after water boils”, the fourth-grade students completed the experiment under the limited conditions of home learning by relying on the design of the comparative experiment, and at the same time using the online virtual experiment and data collection and comparison.

Pre-supposed result:1

Virtual Lab：

3.Enjoyed communicating and sharing

After online learning, online platforms provide children with an opportunity to fully display and share. Use the small videos or photos you take to be a small teacher and demonstrate your own work. Full of confidence.

To this end, we have launched the “Home Science Experiment”, which is intended for students to participate more, explore the world around them, and feel the mystery of science! At the same time, the resources of these videos are also important resources for us to share and communicate in the classroom, so that more children can achieve success and joy.

Through this activity, the distance between students, family members and teachers has been shortened, and it has provided a stage for more people to show themselves. It has also infiltrated our hearts with science and created emotional resonance.

Home science videos

4. After class，Learning by doing, understanding by learningIn the face of long-time computer learning, in order to protect children’s eyesight, we changed STEAM course time to 20 minutes online, and the rest is extended independent exploration time after class. The teacher carefully designed offline exploration tasks, and provided timely guidance. Children are freed from the screen and have plenty of time to get out of the room, to the balcony and outdoors, to show their playful nature and to delve into their learning at the same time.

Look, first grade children are exploring and making “suspended balls” based on the principle that air can occupy space and airflow pressure. The teacher observes carefully in front of the screen, ready to answer questions or offer help at any time. The learning time in front of the screen is shortened, the time for independent exploration and experience is extended, and the fun is also improved.

Look at the silkworm breeding journey of third-year students. The students used the knowledge learned in the class to raise silkworms, observe silkworms, and discuss their experience in silkworm breeding.Under the careful care, the little silkworms finally begin to spin their cocoons. When the cocooning process was completed, the shape of the little silkworms would change dramatically, representing their transition from larvae to pupa stage. Of course, after a while, the pupae will go through the process of emerging into moths.

5.Careful recording and comparison

Doing research with a scientific attitude and rigorous note-taking is a basic learning strategy and skill. Students who love science are not only limited to simple repetitive records, they pursue comparative and general records after understanding scientific knowledge, which can better reflect the depth of knowledge understanding.

Look, this is the extended study for second-year students – “dissecting a flower”. The students studied the structure of the flower and knew the complete flower and the incomplete flower. They picked up the experimental record sheet and tweezers and dissected a flower by themselves, combined classroom knowledge with life practice.

Your affirmation, our motivation

天气一天天在变暖，生活也充满了阳光与希望。居家学习一个多月的时间，我们STEAM组的努力收获了欢声笑语，也得到了广大家长和孩子们的肯定，这也是我们的动力源泉！

The weather is getting warmer day by day, and life is full of sunshine and hope. For more than a month of studying at home, the efforts of our STEAM team have won the joy and happiness, and have also been affirmed by parents and children. This is also our source of motivation!

outside the window

The breeze is gentle, the birds are singing and the flowers are fragrant.inside the house

Isolation and anti-epidemic, wait for it.

on-line

Seek science, seek truth and be pragmatic.

offline

Exploring with enthusiasm

The epidemic is raging, and the three-foot podium has to be turned into a screen, but our educational core and enthusiasm have never changed! Looking forward to seeing you all in the campus soon!