STEM: Leading the Way in Active Learning for Curious Young Minds Contact Information: Kenneth Wesson (408) 323-1498 (office) (408) 826-9595 (cell) San

STEM: Leading the Way in Active Learning for Curious Young Minds

Contact Information:Kenneth Wesson

(408) 323-1498 (office)(408) 826-9595 (cell)

San Jose, CA [email protected]

www.sciencemaster.com

Brain-STEM: Astonishing!

“Let me keep my mind on what matters,

which is my work, which is mostly standing

still and learning to be astonished.” -- “The Messenger” by Mary Oliver

Child development –

the Greatest Show On Earth!

…an excursion into the developing brain..

Wesson – ECE + STEM - 2014

Our students come in a variety of colors, but all brains are basically gray. It is only the

gray matter that truly matters in learning and neuroscience.

Boosting achievement and maximizing student potential hinges on educators developing a respectable knowledge reservoir for teaching STEM with the brain in mind.

Only the Gray Matter Matters in Learning


http://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/common_cents/f.html

• The astonishing young brain and how we can nurture its full development

• What are the causes of cognitive/academic under-development

• What are the preferred strategies by which we can incorporate STEM into our ECE curriculum? (p-s, making connections, and

interdisciplinarity)

Quick writes and table-talks

STEM: Active Learning for Curious Young Minds

The Knowledge Explosion

“The sum total of humankind’s knowledge doubled between 1750 and 1900. It doubled again between 1900 and 1950, again from 1950 to 1960, again from 1960 to 1965. It’s been estimated that the sum total of humankind’s knowledge has doubled at least every five years since then.

It’s been further projected that by the year 2020, knowledge or information will double every 73 days.”

Dr. James Appleberry - President, American Association of State Colleges and Universities


Children are born investigators

Understanding builds over time

Science and Engineering require both knowledge and practice

A Framework for K-12 Science Education


Expanding the Traditional Model of Thinking and Learning

Stimulus Response

S R

Teaching Learning

Thinking and learning are neurobiological processes that take place inside the brain, just as digestion is another biological event that takes place in the pancreas and the stomach.

Does the name “Pavlov” ring a bell?


Factors Influencing Stimulus Response

In addition to desires, tendencies, appetites, instincts, inclinations… Genetics +Epigenetics and early nutrition

+Pre-natal care +Age

+Early development (0-3) +Emotions/emotional state

+Parenting +Gender

+Physical history +Perception/expectations

+Neuro-physiology +Memory

+Prior learning (situated L’) +Diet

+Prior experiences +Self-esteem

+Need state +Disability

+Strengths +Neural circuitry/plasticity*

+Formal Education +Stress factors

Learning/Behavior

* Neural plasticity: The flexible nature of the brain to modify structures, alter its functioning and re-route neural circuitry as a response to new stimuli and ongoing learning experiences.


• The brain confers on us the ability to know things

today that we did not know yesterday and to do

things today that we could not do yesterday (With

time: a growing repertoire of knowledge and

cognitive skills)

• We improve the quality of our responses today

because of what we learned yesterday, when we said,

“Oh, I’ll never do that again!” (emotionally tagged

“avoid-in-the-future”)

Amazing: Connections


NeuronsThe brain cells we care about

most when discussing human learning

1. Sensory processing (learning)2. Storage (memory)3. Retrieval (application)The same neurons for a lifetime

Glia cells (glue)• Support – blood supply,

nutrients, oxygen, energy, remove waste

• More? Active in slower processing of information – consolidating memory?

• The “Mind”

Primarily Two Types of Cells in the Brain

Neurons and synapses.

The number of neurons (the information processing cells) inside your brain is approximately equivalent to

all of the trees found in the Amazon rain forest (100,000,000,000). The # of plausible permutations and combinations of brain activity > the # of elementary particles in the universe.

They operate by making connections with one another. The number of connections (synapses) inside your brain is comparable to all of the leaves on all of the trees in the Amazon rain forest (approx. 62 trillion connections among the 100 billion brain cells.)

Astonishing Potential for Learning and Processing


http://books.google.com/

yellow

ball

Brown

Making Connections

banana

Taxi

Tennis

round

fruits

coconut

Baseball

School bus

Egg yolk

basketball

pineapple

persimmon

Orange

Apple

pearTrain


Maintaining and Strengthening Memory

Bridge Build Extend

10% 80% 10%

Past content New information Preview


Thinking back on our “tennis ball” network model, what are the typical causes of these “failures to connect”?

1. Lack of adequate brain “wiring”a. Poorly “wired” brain (a delayed development

issue, no prior experience, no relevance, no emotional connections)

b. An injury to the brainc. Teaching a developmentally inappropriate concept

to young children (a lack of brain “Readiness”)

“Failure To Connect”

Lack of adequate brain “wiring” (poorly “wired” brains)

1. No emotional connections

2. Little or no prior experience

3. Delayed development

4. An injury to the brain

5. Teaching a developmentally-inappropriate concept to young children (a lack of brain “Readiness”)

6. Cannot find meaning (“sense-making” or “meaning-making”)


Learning requires effort, and one of the best predictor's of students’ effort and engagement in school is the

relationships that they have with their teachers (Osterman, 2000.) Students function more effectively when they feel respected and valued and function poorly when they feel disrespected or marginalized (National Research Council, 2004)

1. No emotional connections


We Learn Student Survey

(Grades 6-12)217,596 student voices

We Teach Instructional Staff Survey 21,028 voices

Participants’ Poll

T – I make learning exciting for my students.

86%

S – My teachers make learning fun.

41%

Teacher – Student Comparisons

T – I make learning exciting for my students.

86%

S – My teachers make learning fun.

41%

T – I know what my students are passionate about.

76%

S – My teachers know what I love to do outside of school.

27%

Participants’ Poll

T – I know what my students are passionate about.

76%

S – My teachers know what I love to do outside of school.

27%

Teacher – Student Comparisons

1. Students find that what they care about becomes the easiest to learn; they remember best what they understand.

Emotions and Learning

2. Students don’t care what you know,

until they know that you care.

3. “Students learn as much for a teacher as they do from a teacher.”

Linda Darling-Hammond Stanford University Wesson – ECE + STEM - 2014

Afraid to “fail” “Failure is not an Option”Performance avoidance

Failure is nearly always a prerequisite for future learning and success in science. Most initial learning

occurs via trial-and-error.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1412979234/ref=sib_dp_pt

Jonathan Plucker (Indiana U): Creativity (“CQ”)

was three times+ more accurate as a basis for

predicting an individual’s lifetime creative

accomplishments than IQ.

“If you're not prepared to be wrong, you will

never come up with anything original."--Sir Ken Robinson


http://brainworldmagazine.com/the-aha-moment/

The best way to engage students in STEM is to

introduce one or more scientific “FUNomena”

(a focus question, a discrepant event

demonstration, etc.), where we make science

intriguing, personal and relevant (the catalysts

for further research) – now, students want to

investigate.

STEM: Emotions, Engagement, and Curious Young Minds


Will this bulb light if the connection is in water?

• Is water a conductor of electricity?

• Plasma Light

• Electricity→ Magnetism→ Electromagnetism → Light

• Electromagnetism 1 of the 4 fundamental forces in our universe (gravity, E-M, S/W nuclear forces)

Electromagnetism


Is CCSS+NGSS

A Mixture or Solution?

A mixture is the results of 2 or more materials distributed evenly after being mixed together, but each maintains its own identity (visible).

A solution is the combination of two or more substances where the original parts become homogenized and indistinguishable.

If we try to combine oil and water… What do you predict will happen?


Instead of saying: Use MINDFUL LANGUAGE by saying:

“Let’s look at these two pictures.” “Let’s COMPARE these two pictures.”

“What do you think will happen when…?” “What do you PREDICT will happen when…?”

“How can you put those into groups?” “How can you CLASSIFY…?”

“Let’s work this problem.” “Let’s ANALYZE this problem.”

“What do you think would have happened “What do you SPECULATE would have happened if…?” if…?

“What did you think of this story?” “What CONCLUSIONS can you draw about this story?”

“How can you explain……?” “What HYPOTHESES do you have that might explain...?”

“How do you know that’s true?” “What EVIDENCE do you have to support…….?”

“How else could you use this…..? “How could you APPLY this ……..?”

The Science of Learning


Making a Lava Lamp

Materials:• Oil• Water• Colored dye• Alka-Seltzer• Flashlight

Procedure:

Pour 1 part water 4 parts oil into a container. Let the mixture settle. Pour 2-3 drops of colored dye into the container. Add ½ tablet of Alka-Seltzer.

ECE + STEM = more of a solution than a mixtureWesson – ECE + STEM - 2014

The concepts at the heart of STEM—

curiosity, creativity, collaboration, and

critical thinking - are in demand. They

also happen to be innate in young

children.

STEM Education Must Start in Early Childhood -- JD Chesloff

2. Little or no prior experience



In which direction is bus going?

• American school bus entrances are always on the right side of the bus near the curb, which must be on the other side of this picture (the right side facing forward), which underscores the importance of prior knowledge, experience, and recognizing cues to make pictorial inferences (logic).

• Regular experience (reinforcement): Since school children have more frequent experiences riding buses, they are much better at answering this

question than teachers; and teachers are better than non-educators.

Play and Piagetian Theory of Conservation

Piaget: the pre-operational stage → children perform in characteristic ways on conservation tests. Piaget: conserving = to preserve an mental internal representation (ages 5 - 7).

The Conservation of Liquid Quantity: 1. Shown two short beakers each with a wide radius → filled

with 100 ml water → child watches → child is asked “…more or the same?”(the 2 beakers have = amounts of water) → the child agrees

2. Shown a tall narrow beaker with small radius → water is poured from one of the short-wide beakers into the tall narrow beaker → child asked, "Which contains more, or do they contain the same amount?" children ↓ 6 → “the tall beaker has more” (swayed by perceptual cue of height)


The Conservation of Mass:

Was Piaget correct? Yes, but only for children with ↓ experience playing with water.

• Children in Thailand and Brazil who live along rivers → correct answers well before age 6.

• Piaget’s Conservation of Mass experiments?Children in Central/South America, Mexico

and Africa who grow up in pottery-making cultures → correct answers

considerably earlier in their development


http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=LEvAA89LaT5LPM&tbnid=X4urSzsu9Cw6wM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tilKwQshWVI&ei=sPaoUvejKIb1oASvz4LoDg&psig=AFQjCNHW_5QK0sw62VaeuU7-FQjUllaO2w&ust=1386891300780328

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=Tw-vjarQZQ8uXM&tbnid=bXk_Cw5GCD5VCM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http://frontiers-of-anthropology.blogspot.com/2012/01/more-on-mayans-and-mississippians.html&ei=DfioUv3aOMb5oASm04LYCw&psig=AFQjCNHUcQ0ZehHT-PazbUYCdW1tm2mgaA&ust=1386891650062745

No land = No frogDuring this sensitive period, tadpoles slow down the process of metamorphosis if there are no signs of nearby land. Development is environmentally-dependent.

3. Delayed development:Development is Never Guaranteed


Cleft Palate, Brain Circuitry and Language

• Young children can only mimic the language sounds that reach the auditory cortex, which is where they actually “hear” the sounds (not with his/her ears, just through the ears.

• The problem is not that he/she cannot understand language; the problem is that the child has not clearly heard language yet, and therefore cannot reproduce language articulately (can comprehend gestures).


Factors leading to cognitive deficits, as well as mild to profound brain damage include the following:

• inadequate prenatal care

• poor perinatal nutrition

• smoking during pregnancy

• second-hand smoke

• lead poisoning from lead pipes and lead-based paints

• premature births

• babies with low birth weights

• prenatal substance exposure

Poverty and Brain Development


Neuroplasticity: experiences determine…

• which brain cells communicate with which other cells

• which structures link together and to what degree

• which cells release which neurotransmitters, when, and under what specific conditions they are released

• the precise calibration of structure-function correlations inside the brain.


Optimal windowSecondary

Window Extent of Future Developmental Possibilities

Vision0 – 6 months 6 – 24 months The lack of visual stimuli entering the eyes will eventually cause

permanent blindness in a perfectly healthy eye. (Primary visual cortex must process incoming visual information.)

Motor develop-

ment

0 – 24 months 2 – 4 years

Capabilities rapidly decrease with advancing age. (Functionality of the cerebellum/motor cortex for balance/coordination can be lost).

Auditory develop-

ment

0 – 6 months

6 – 18 months

Severe learning and language problems will result from CAPDs based on the lack of stimuli processed by the auditory cortex. Problems occur from the absence of any sounds to handle and/or distinguish.

Language skills

0 – 24 months 2 – 5 years With the onset of puberty, “new language” mastery begins a sharp and typically uninterrupted decline.

Reading skills

4 – 5 years old (girls)6 – 8 years (boys)

7 – 12 years old (puberty)

Learning to process symbolic language can occur throughout one’s lifetime. It becomes more difficult (1) with time, and (2) if there are only modest opportunities for auditory processing of the rich usages and varieties of ideas. Early drawing provides a foundation for languaging.

Emotional develop-

ment

0 – 24 months 2 – 4 years Screening events through one’s emotional filter becomes difficult; personal relationships are characterized by weak attachments that are easily terminated. (Similar to limbectomized mammals)

A second language

0 – 5 years old 7 – 12 years old

Learning a second language after puberty is far more challenging than language learning at any other prepubescent period. The “second” language will almost invariably be accompanied by an accent.

Musical abilities

0 – 6 years old 7 – 12 years old

Research suggests that early musical exposure enhances the development of spatial and mathematical skills. Beyond puberty, learning a musical instrument (particularly learning to read musical notation) is frequently as complicated as learning a new oral language. Wesson – ECE + STEM - 2014

Author Joseph Epstein said, "We are what we read." Neuroscientists would modify that statement to say that “We are what we experience.”

The human brain is the only organ that depends on experience to determine its development (how, where, when and if it develops)

"Open Architecture"


Avoid Dangerous Play:• “…want him to learn teamwork.”• Cortical Damage from Contact Sports

ECE “Teamwork” experiences Orchestra/band Maker’s Club Creativity Club STEM Club


4. An injury to the brain

“Cognitively-appropriate" is defined as

presenting students with content, concepts,

and skills all within a context where we do not

exceed a child's expected cognitive capacities.

5. Teaching a developmentally-inappropriate concept to young children (a lack of brain “Readiness”)


Attention Span:

Ages 2-3 - Have attention span 3 - 4 minutes

Ages 4-5 - between 5 - 10 minutes

Ages 6-8 - 15 - 20 minutes

Ages 9-12 – 22 - 35 minutes


Which is Not Like the Others?

Large - horse

Has 2 legs – Duck

Can swim - Duck

Soft to pet – eliminate the pig

The only one people can ride - horse

The only one we don’t eat – horse

Digs with its nose - pig

Can fly - duck

Has webbed feet - Duck

Lives underground - Rabbit

Hibernates - Rabbit

Delivers singlet babies - horse

Doesn’t have visible ears - Duck Wears shoes - horse

Has a beak - Duck


Which is Not Like the Others?

Based on biological taxonomy:• All of these animals are vertebrates, but the horse, pig

and sheep are classified as part of the order Mammalia.

• The duck is of the order Aves.• The “grownup” and “right answer” (aves) is not an

answer based on a child’s developmentally-appropriate thinking.


If I Can… Then I am Able To…

1. Experience it first-hand Discuss it orally (“Hands-on, minds-on, heart’s-in” “Wow! experiences)

2. Discuss it orally Understand what others mean, when they talk about it

3. Understand when I discuss it Communicate it in written form and when and others discuss it

4. Communicate it in written form Read my own writing

5. Do it, see it, discuss it, hear Explain it to others coherently/intelligently about it and write about it

6. Explain it to others Ready to read other’s writing

7. Understand the writings of Begin reading (the writing of others) within

others on the subject general content area

The Neural Foundation for Concept Development

Excerpted from Memory and the Brain: How Teaching Leads to Learning. Wesson, K. The Independent School, Volume 63, Spring 2002

A newspaper is better than a magazine. A seashore is better place

than the street. At first it is better to run than to walk. You may have

to try several times. It takes some skill, but it is easy to learn. Even

young children can enjoy it. Once successful, complications are

minimal. Birds seldom get too close. Rain, however soaks in very

fast. Too many people doing the same thing can also cause

problems. One needs lots of room. If there are no complications, it

can be very peaceful. A rock will serve as an anchor. If things break

loose from it, however, you will not get a second chance.

On Being Certain: Believing You Are Right Even When You're NotRobert A. Burton, M.D.

6. Cannot find meaning (“sense-making” or “meaning-making”)

Cognitive Rehearsals

When playing with objects, learners are simultaneously manipulating and playing with ideas (using internal dialogues to attach words and meaning to actions) and building the brain’s fundamental circuitry

Exploring and experimenting involve examining relationships, interactions and systems, where learners formulate their own personal “theories” (mental constructs)

Thinking is a rehearsal for discourse

Discourse is a rehearsal for writingWesson – ECE + STEM - 2014

Cognitive Rehearsals

Playing with objects and ideas, exploring and experimenting, thinking, talking, and writing become rehearsals (background knowledge) for reading.

Writing and reading clarify one’s thoughts, generate coherent thinking, and cultivate precision in expressing one’s inner thoughts

Discourse and writing become rehearsals for assessment

Source: Kenneth Wesson (2011). Education for the Real World: six great ideas for parents and teachers.Brain World, Issue 2, Volume 2.


2. How can we plan ECE experiences to meet the goals of STEM?

STEM: Leading the Way in Active Learning for Curious Young Minds


Scientists, Mathematicians and Engineers

“Reading and writing comprise

over half of the work of

scientists and engineers.”

(NRC 2011)


Science

Technology

Engineering

Mathematics

Reading/Language Arts (Standards)

Art

Drawing/diagramming, visual spatial thinking, imagery, inferential

thinking, 2/3-dimensional modeling, symbolic models, interpreting visual evidence, visual representations -

illustrations, charts, etc.

Visual Literacy

S.T2.R.E.A.M.

Reading, writing, discourse, argumentation, vocabulary development, comprehension, journals, note-booking,

lab reports, summaries, oral presentations, recording interpreting and

critiquing data and information

Convergent/Integrative STEM T’ & L’Wesson – ECE + STEM - 2014

• Enrichment studies: Examine the effects of enrichment or deprivation on brain development, neurogenesis, neuronal growth and synaptogenesis.

• While neurons generally grew in size, measures of (a) increased dendritic density(b) increases in the number of glial cells(c) myelination of the axons (d) changes in brain weight and overall brain volume

• No toys or playmates all growth measures (impoverished)

• Playmates + a change of toys every other day (Enriched environments)

• Changing toys every hour: → similar neural connections in brain growth and development (your school day??)

Learning: When “More” Becomes “Less”


CONCRETE Visual represen-

tation (VST)

SYMBOLIC/ABSTRACT

APPLE

The brain moves best from meaning-to-print, rather than from print-to-meaning

1st hand 3rd hand2nd hand

difficult means of learning for the young developing brain


STEM education…

The easiest way to incorporate play and STEM

into your curriculum is to identify the STEM in

the content and activities that you are already

teaching.

Some content is “STEM,” but not labeled as such,

while other content lends itself towards STEM

and play with just a few modest modifications.


STEM + Physics and Child Safety

Rock-a-bye baby, on the treetop (gravity)When the wind blows (weather and climate)

the cradle will rock (Energy and Forces, Motion and stability - wind blows = cradle rocks – Newton’s laws of motion: To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction)

Play/STEM!

STEM: Newtonian Physics and Child Safety

When the bough breaks, (not “if” = structural engineering – predictable structural failure based on known properties of materials, fracture mechanics, and fatigue; Defining engineering problems; Cause-and-effect) the cradle will fall (potential energy→ motion).

And down will come baby, cradle and all (forces; systems and system models).Predicting the strength and behavior of engineered structures important?

STEM!

NGSS:“…develop a simple sketch, drawing or physical model to illustrate how you would solve this problem.” (Achieve, Inc., 2013)

Re-engineering: The Three Little Pigs

Problem/situation: You have received an urgent text

message from the Three Little Pigs, who are exasperated

with “little pig-provocation” by their neighbor the Big Bad

Wolf. You have been asked to engineer two safeguards to

prevent further persecution from the Big Bad Wolf.

What design and engineering solution can you propose?


1. A house with an aluminum rooftop.

2. Replace the chimney with a central heating system

3. Wolves are afraid of snakes, so around the house…

4. Wolves are afraid of water, so install a motion-sensitive automatic water sprinkling system.

5. Build a solar-powered environmentally friendly fan that blows air away from the house, when the wolf blows air towards the house

6. Build a house with a 35° angle rooftop (too steep).

7. Wolves are afraid of water, so build a houseboat and position it 20 yards from the shore.

Re-engineering: The Three Little Pigs


Only Your Imagination Can Set a Limit on Your Creative Thinking

Houseboat Solutions for the Three Little Pigs


• What was the most valuable piece of information that

you learned this morning?

• How did our conversation change some of your thinking

about merging STEM and ECE?

• Write down two “I will” statements from this

experience. (What will you look at differently and what

will you plan to do differently in your ECE program?)


3. Compose an “I will” reflection on this morning’s experience.

NGSS + ECE = STEM

Students and Teachers Enjoying every Minute

of the school day,

because it is finally connected and

learning suddenly makes sense!


Forecasting Independent Education to 2025-- NAIS

Each year, new findings in cognitive psychology and neuroscience will be infused into teacher preparation, curriculum, instruction, student assessment, and the classroom environment. The works of Howard Gardner (“Multiple Intelligences”), Daniel Goleman (“Emotional Intelligence”), Kenneth Wesson (“Brain-considerate Learning”), and others have already been influential in reshaping the independent school classroom, while programs like Mel Levine’s Schools Attuned are assisting educators in using neurodevelopmental content in their classrooms to create success at learning and to provide hope and satisfaction for all students.

http://www.dls.ym.edu.tw/chudler/sc4.jpg

Documents

STEM: Leading the Way in Active Learning for Curious Young Minds Contact Information: Kenneth Wesson (408) 323-1498 (office) (408) 826-9595 (cell) San