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Micro:greens! Place-Based Learning With Micro:bit

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Colorado Convention Center, Mile High Ballroom 3A

Explore and create: Exploratory Creation lab
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Presenters

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Lead Program Coordinator
SuperNOVA at Dalhousie University
Jarman is the lead program developer at SuperNOVA at Dalhousie University, a non-profit organization focused on bringing STEM education to students across eastern Canada. He coordinates the ATlantic Academy of Space (ATLAS) program, which provides aerospace engineering education to students in grades 10-12. His other projects include the Atlantic branch of the NASA Space Apps hackathon, and a deaf STEM program in partnership with APSEA. The latter program is delivered entirely in American Sign Language and continues to serve the deaf community today. In 2023, he visited Guatemala alongside Team Canada Healing Hands to bring STEM education to deaf students.
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Program Coordinator
SuperNOVA at Dalhousie University
@miraatsupernova
@supernovaatdal
Mira is a program coordinator at SuperNOVA at Dalhousie University, a non-profit organization focused on bringing STEM education to students across eastern Canada. She is SuperNOVA’s computer science programming lead. Her focus is on in-school workshops, and all-girls computer science programming. She has been teaching computer science since 2015 and she has provided teacher technology training to teachers across Nova Scotia. Most recently she was invited to speak at the Nova Scotia Technology Education Association (NSTEA) 2023 conference.

Session description

This session will give teachers the tools to meet students at all levels of knowledge, incorporating tech with place-based learning. Participants will learn how to foster stronger connections with students via the environments of their local community. This session draws from the established model of two-eyed seeing.

Purpose & objective

The goal of this presentation is for educators to get their hands on the Micro:bit and learn all the various ways that it can be integrated into their curriculum. In particular, this session focuses on land-based learning, guiding teachers on how they can connect with the environment around their schools to make ecology curriculum more immersive for their students. Educators will leave having reflected on how the technology and the natural resources that they have access to can be combined in the classroom.

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Outline

1) Introduction: Connecting technology to the natural world (15 minutes)
1a) Who we are
1b) What is land-based learning?
2) Introduction to the Micro:bit and its sensors (10 minutes)
3) Activity: Tracking plant growth with Micro:bit (15 minutes)
3a) Coding the Micro:bit
3b) Experiment with the Micro:bit’s temperature and light sensors
3c) How can we take this activity further?
4) Reflection: How can you bring land-based learning into your classroom? (10 minutes)
5) Resources (5 minutes)
6) Questions (5 minutes)

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Supporting research

Micro:bit resources:
- Makecode: https://makecode.microbit.org/
- Classroom: https://classroom.microbit.org/
- Lessons: https://microbit.org/teach/lessons/
- Do Your Bit: https://microbit.org/teach/do-your-bit/
- Research: https://microbit.org/impact/research/

Supporting research:
- https://etfofnmi.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Book_Land-Acknowledgement.pdf
- https://www.edcan.ca/articles/land-based-learning/
- https://en.ccunesco.ca/idealab/indigenous-land-based-education
- https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/76954/1/Cole_Lisa_201706_MT_MTRP.pdf
- https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2593968.2610449
- https://microbit.org/teach/lessons/helping-plants-grow/
- https://microbit.org/projects/make-it-code-it/environment-data-logger/

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Session specifications

Topic:
Innovative learning environments
Grade level:
6-12
Skill level:
Beginner
Audience:
Curriculum/district specialists, Teachers, Teacher education/higher ed faculty
Attendee devices:
Devices required
Attendee device specification:
Laptop: Chromebook, Mac, PC
Tablet: Android, iOS, Windows
Participant accounts, software and other materials:
Laptop with USB port recommended, though you can program the Micro:bit on a tablet.
Subject area:
Computer science, STEM/STEAM
ISTE Standards:
For Educators:
Leader
  • Model for colleagues the identification, exploration, evaluation, curation and adoption of new digital resources and tools for learning.
Designer
  • Design authentic learning activities that align with content area standards and use digital tools and resources to maximize active, deep learning.
Facilitator
  • Create learning opportunities that challenge students to use a design process and computational thinking to innovate and solve problems.