teacher notes

Risk Management Information

Student Ownership: Prior to engaging with the TEEMSS on-line Project, I accessed student agreement for participation.

Commitment: As a class we used a Stair-Stepping graphic organiser to investigate what we would need to do throughout the each stage of the project to achieve quality outcomes.

Teams and Enterprise Traits: We explored the notion of what traits we would need to develop/show if we were enterprising people. We then unpacked those to help clarify our thinking. Students constructed posters showing Key Enterprise Information and displayed those around the room for on-going reference. These were used to help student assess their enterprise skills levels (Enterprise Wheels) and to form teams based on that information. The Enterprise Wheels also supported students with goal setting for further development.

Literacy and Science: Students investigated science concepts to help their understanding of those associated with the TEEMSS project. Explicit teaching of Report, Explanation, Procedural and Exposition genre assisted them in engaging at a more independent level and in formulating, rationalising and articulating ideas. A First Steps Self-Assessment proforma was developed to guide learning and assess outcomes.

Numeracy and Science: Through associated Science investigations, students developed mathematical language, collected data and put it to data tables and a range of graphs, then interpreted those. They also explored a range of formulae such as:

Working Scientifically: Through everyday activities that involved fair testing, construction of air-cart parts (battery holders, switches etc), development and use of science-specific language and so on, students developed their skills in working scientifically.

Access to On-line Learning: With at least 1/3 of our class comprising of students of ESL and another proportion of Successful Learners, we sought to ensure that the procedures that were published on-line were accessible to all. To achieve that, students developed strategic partnerships to navigate the web site. They then made recommendations for changes and they published clarifications.

Access to Learning Technologies: Through explicit teaching and exploration, students became familiar with the palm-held computers, software and peripherals. All tools of technology were stored in kits for easy access. Our class used 4 palm-held computers and associated tool-kits. Students explored in teams of 3 or 4, with half a class involved at a time in accessing the kits. Others engaged in related Science activities. After each full-rotation, the whole class regrouped to share outcomes, discuss problems and solutions and to prepare for the next lesson.

TEEMSS Pre and Post-Test: From the concept questions forwarded from Concord Consortium to ascertain outcomes, I constructed an on-line Pre and Post-Test proforma. Students completed these prior to engaging in the TEEMSS Project and again at the end.

Resource Development and Enterprise: To explore the self-maintenance and longevity of such a learning project, the class explored ways in which resources could be accessed and developed. Initially, most of the parts were purchased by me and/or via our ‘Class Budget’. Some of this was undertaken by the students and some by me. This unfolded into 5 main parts:

Each student undertook the responsibility of distributing and maintaining a given resource to ensure on-going access.

Safety: Students reworked safety warnings on the website, to construct safety action.

Example:
Tracker Safety: The fan that is mounted on the air-cart can hurt fingers when powered by the battery.
Students’ Solution: Make a cage for the fan, or a switch that connects the battery to the engine so that it can be switched on well away from the blades.

Other Safety Tips:
* Wear cloth gloves when using glue gun
* Have a lesson on cutter techniques
* Make sure that work space is clear

Lesson 1 Teacher Notes

Placed a copy of the TEEMSS Motions and Forces Challenge under each student’s name for individualised access, then put all names into a TEEMSS folder in ‘Group Shared’. Used an example ‘problem, answer, proof ‘ with class to clarify process.

Lesson 2 Teacher Notes

Enterprise Wheels were constructed using the following traits: Managing Risk, Confidence, Communication, Problem Solving, Organisation and Planning, Resourcefulness, Teamwork, Creativity, Determination, Initiative, Seeing Opportunities, Decision Making.

Peers pre-TEEMSS assessed each other’s enterprise levels, then students added their own self-assessments in another colour. Students completed the pre-assessment key. The class reviewed each enterprise trait & what they would need to do to achieve growth. (They completed enterprise indicators at the beginning of the year. These were used for reference). Students negotiated team formations based on these pre-assessments with the aim of starting out with a strong shared-skills balance in all teams.

Lesson 3 Teacher Notes

In teams students examined a commercially produced battery holder. They were then provided with a brass split pin, fine wire, film canister with hole in lid, 2 electrical wires, 2 AA batteries.

Lesson 4 Teacher Notes

Students were provided with some diagram explanations of switches & how they are used. To complete the task of constructing a switch, they had access to a pop-stick, foil, 2 drawing pins, 1 large paper clip, 2 electrical wires, battery holders from previous day and a motor.

Lesson 7 Teacher Notes

Students found that if their air carts had wobbly wheels etc, friction increased and caused the cart to slow down. They hypothesised that the carts that travelled the greatest distance had the least friction; that friction acted against the cart to slow it down to an eventual stop.
Students then came back to the ‘workshop’ to make improvements that they believed would reduce friction. Students explored variance in relation to outcomes, and looked for ways to obtain controlled conditions in their tests.

Lesson 8 Teacher Notes