2019 Education magazine

Page 12 2019 “Education making a difference” LINCOLN DAILY NEWS Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019 need to think creatively to uncover the clues, providing them an opportunity to work in small groups with others to reach an end goal under pressure. Most Break Outs are also designed to reinforce a topic being studied including DNA, flight, energy, and math concepts. The 3-D Printing and Design introduces students to the web-based program, Scratch, which allows people to design their own 3-D models that can then be rendered in one of the school’s two 3-D printers. Student designs are printed when the group determines which of the team’s designs will be the most effective. Classroom teachers have used the printer to make 3-D replicas of artifacts or structures that once were only viewed in an image. Design solutions that students are encouraged to create include a 3-D rendering Robots and Coding by using Ozobots, Spheros and Lego EV3s. The most complex of these is the Lego EV3 Robot, which is also used to compete in First Lego League Competitions. Graphic Design, in which students use Google Suite Apps (Docs, Slides, and Drawing) as well as other web-based design programs to create brochures, posters, flyers, banners with final products printed on a large format printers. Students use eight design principles to create professional presentations that convey their understanding of a topic. n Marketing, in which students will be taught some tips for marketing and design and use these tips to market a design solution their team creates. Coffey said LJHS eventually would like students to have a unit on marketing a product they personally have designed. n CSI investigations, in which middle school students will complete an interactive web-based unit on Forensic Science. The STEM teacher hopes to work with local law enforcement and scientists to simulate a crime scene that students will have to review clues to solve the mystery. It will be set up in a similar way as escape rooms. n Passion Projects, where students in some classes learn about what drives them. For instance, in Mrs. Ramlow’s class, students can pursue these areas of interest during their homeroom time each day. It motivates them to use class time wisely to complete work. Passion Projects are being used by Google to motivate their work force and foster creative thinking. The goal at LJHS is that students will begin to uncover their own passions and try to discover ways to pursue them in their future endeavors. Coffey said, all seventh and eighth grade students will also experience a unit on Coding and Robotics. Coffey noted that in the past, “We were noticing that students could not imagine a future career for themselves. While we will not CONTINUED