Mission to Mars! Cross-Curricular Exploration With Robotics

Purpose & objective

Participants will learn how the transformation of an elementary classroom into a STEAM lab / makerspace can help spark curiosity, investigation, and student ownership. The "Mission to Mars" unit is one example of finding cross-curricular connections with math, language arts, science, social studies, and computer science to help make learning come alive in the elementary classroom.

1. Overview of the "Mission to Mars"
- Lesson mapping and connecting principles
- Alignment to state/national standards
- Assessment tools
2. Introducing Computational Thinking Strategies and Vocabulary to Students
3. Student Engineering Logs
- Student journals for questions, notes, designs, schematics, and progress towards their team goals
- Documentation of the utilization of computational thinking strategies to solve problems
4. Classroom design and organization
5. Robots as tools for learning
6. Explicit instruction vs Learning Through Investigation
- Balance of state standards + pacing considerations with individual student passions and inquiry
- Which computer science concepts are taught explicitly?
- Which concepts are taught via investigation and are completely student-driven?

Supporting research

The Importance Of Being Curious - https://www.harvardbusiness.org/the-importance-of-being-curious/

Two Ways to Add 'Computational Thinking' to Middle School Science - http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/inside-school-research/2019/04/computational_thinking_middle_school_science_aera.html

"Metacognition: How Thinking About Thinking Can Help Kids" - https://childmind.org/article/how-metacognition-can-help-kids/

Lifelong Kindergarten: Cultivating Creativity through Projects, Passion, Peers, and Play

Not Just for Reading Class Anymore: 5 Tips for Teaching Literacy Across Multiple Subjects - https://www.edsurge.com/news/2017-10-17-not-just-for-reading-class-anymore-5-tips-for-teaching-literacy-across-multiple-subjects