Walk into a science classroom and ask a group of fifth graders what comes after “Construct a Hypothesis” in the scientific method? You’ll get some blank stares and maybe a couple of reluctant hands from the usual suspects. Alternatively, walk into the auditorium at Pittsburgh Public School’s Sunnyside Elementary School on a day that Attack Theatre is teaching the music class, and you’ll hear shouts of answers.
I observed Attack Theatre working with third and fifth grade students at Sunnyside Elementary. They partnered with the science teachers to create kinesthetic exercises that support the science curriculum.
When science is presented through theatre, students aren’t as afraid of getting things wrong and feel free to shout out, or even dance, answers. By integrating the safe and friendly space that is the theatre with the scary science world, we can help make bounds and leaps in trying to diversify the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, helping the general public stay educated and up to date on science research.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, or even use Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for MakeCode, CircuitPython, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell with Google Hangouts On-Air is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
