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3rd NGSS STEM Conference Workshop Sessions
All participants in the 3rd Annual NGSS STEM Conference attended the day's plenary session—The Science of Sound, with Music, presented by Exploratorium Senior Scientist Paul Doherty—as well as three of the following hands-on workshop sessions.
Plenary Session: The Science of Sound, with Music*
Presented by Paul Doherty
Get ready to make some noise! This session illustrates how easy it is to bring art into the science curriculum by using musical instruments. Join us as we create musical instruments and then explore the science behind the sounds they create.
*Please note that all conference participants are expected to attend the plenary session. Choose three (3) additional hands-on workshop sessions to attend based on the descriptions below.
Session 1
The Art and Math of Curved Mirrors
Presented by Julie Yu
Reflect on the potential of cylindrical and conical mirrors to create an array of anamorphic art that is transformed through the looking glass. From simple shapes to complex pictures, these drawings and activities reveal the math embedded in the simple physical principles of light and reflection.
Download Session PDF
Session 2
Lights, Camera, Motion!
Presented by Bree Barnett Dreyfuss and Sebastian Martin
Using special LED lights that blink hundreds of times a second in a darkened room, you can model motion in a way that will engage and motivate students at all levels. These photos of projectile motion, circular motion, constant velocity, acceleration, and more are easy to take, high-impact, and entrancing. The activities covered in this session can be done qualitatively from elementary to high school—older students can also use the photos they create to calculate speed and acceleration.
Session 3
The Science of Dance
Presented by Zeke Kossover
Dancers turn, jump, lift, and balance. Their art form involves physical forces, rotational momentum, torques, and the semi-circular canals in the inner ear. Learn through demonstrations and activities how the principles of science help dancers achieve grace and athleticism. Create tools for finding out what dancers do that’s special and try your hand at activities to help your class learn through dance.
Session 4
Engineer a Musical Instrument
Presented by Bryce Johnson
Come explore the fundamental nature of sound, which is vibration. In this session, you’ll learn how to make, tune, and create harmonies with a membranophone, a musical instrument that produces sound via a vibrating membrane. It's an instrument all students can play regardless of age or skill level.
Session 5
Drawing with Circuits
Presented by Tammy Cook-Endres and Meg Escudé
In this workshop, you’ll build paper circuits while learning how to integrate inquiry-based learning, science concepts, and engineering practices into your science class. Through the conception and construction of these expressive art pieces, students will explore the complexity of circuitry and how it can serve their design. The process also encourages problem solving, collaboration, and the deepening of students’ understanding of electrical circuits. We’ll also discuss ideas for teacher facilitation, additional short lessons about electrical circuits, and project management in classroom and after-school settings, as well as ways to extend these activities into long-term projects.
Session 6
The Science, Math, and Perception of Reflections
Presented by Modesto Tamez
Learn to double your money instantly, make people and things disappear, create beautifully intricate designs that would be the envy of Moorish architects in medieval Spain, and design and build your own kaleidoscopes. In this workshop, you’ll do all this and more while also learning about the math, science, and perception of reflections.
Session 7
Hue Are You? Color, Light, and the Human Eye
Presented by Eric Muller
Investigate how we perceive color using hands-on (and eyes-on) activities. We’ll use simple and cheap materials to explore properties of light and the physiology of the eye. Enlighten your art and science teaching!
Session 8
Bio-Prints: Making Art with Ocean Organisms
Presented by Lori Lambertson and guest artist Julie Whitcomb
See how compatible art and biology can be by studying and making prints of readily available marine organisms. We’ll partner with educators from the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary to study the anatomy and physiology of marine organisms as we prepare to make art out of them. You'll learn printing techniques from printmaker Julie Whitcomb and strategies for doing these projects in the classroom. You'll also get to take home the beautiful prints you create.
2nd NGSS STEM Education Conference: Sessions Descriptions
Check out the great workshops we did in Spring 2014.
