STEM

Google Drive freebie: scientific method digital workbook

It seems everybody loves a freebie! The Google Slides free writing jFREE Google Drive scientific method digital workbook for STEMournal with picture prompts from a few weeks back has been a big hit. Hopefully it’s being used, shared and modified in classrooms around the world.

For this freebie, I thought I’d move beyond language arts and in to STEM (science technology engineering maths). Once again using Google Slides, I have created an interactive, digital workbook based on the scientific method. I like the flexibility of layout in Google Slides which is why it’s probably my most used app.

STEM activities lend themselves to multimedia, as do Google Slides. The workbook has been set up to encourage the inclusion of multimedia. This can either be audio, video and images found online or those created by students as they research and complete their experiment.

The digital workbook can be used as a digitised version of a traditional workbook or can be used as the springboard for a hyperdoc. A hyperdoc is a:

…carefully crafted digital lesson plan…[that is a] visually engaging and packaged learning experience…[for students to] create, collaborate, think critically and connect.

http://hyperdocs.co/about_hyperdocs

I highly recommend the above website for more ideas on utilising hyperdocs in the Google Classroom and for lots more great freebies!

What’s included in the FREE digital workbook

  • Created in Google Slides so you can create your own copy to modify and share
  • An interactive menu to navigate the workbook
  • A slide for each of the following areas:
    • Problem
    • Background research
    • Hypothesis
    • Health and safety
    • Experiment
    • Results
    • Conclusion
  • Instructions on what to include in each section
  • Links to more detailed explanations in the speaker’s notes
  • Placeholders for multimedia and links

The screenshot below illustrates the typical structure of each slide:

FREE Scientific method digital workbook screenshot

Scientific method digital workbook screenshot

Accessing the FREE digital workbook

The link below to the template is VIEW ONLY. This means you will need to create a copy IN YOUR OWN GOOGLE DRIVE to be able to edit the file and share the file with your students. To do this use the following menu path:

File > Make a copy…

FREE Google Slides scientific method digital workbook:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Z8g3bqRH7hSZ4h8BTHPvfX8Fcj2_4ILEQyHSIPZlEO4/edit?usp=sharing

Ideas for using the workbook in the classroom

  • Can be used with any STEM activity.
  • Best suited to middle to high school students but can be adapted to all ability and age levels  – for example, for student requiring more support, create and add your own mini-YouTube video explanation.
  • Can be used individually or as part of collaborative projects.
  • Can be used across platforms including Chromebooks, iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. (Not all features available on all platforms).
  • Use with Google Slides tablet and smartphone apps so students can capture video and photos of their own work into the digital workbook.
  • Take photos of experiment setups using Google Slides  on tablet or smartphone and label using the desktop version (including on Chromebooks).
  • Encourage students to personalise the workbooks to match their own style.
  • Record results data in Google Sheets and insert charts into the Results page.
  • Use the Doctopus add-in to create a copy of the workbook for each student.
  • Provide teacher or peer feedback using comments.
  • Distribute the workbook to students via Google Classroom.
  • Can support science fair projects.
  • Can be used as evidence of learning as part of project based learning (PBL).
  • Embed finished workbooks in your school website to share with parents, carers and the community.

References

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_scientific_method.shtml

https://18670-presscdn-pagely.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/scientific-method-graphic-organizer.pdf?sfvrsn=0

http://barnett.nebo.edu/sites/barnett.nebo.edu/files/Scientific%20Method%20Graphic%20Organizer.pdf

 

Google My Maps rules!

Recently, I had the privilege of presenting a school project at the AIS NSW STEM Symposium with two Google My Maps, more than just geography!of my wonderful Year 10 students at the University of NSW in Sydney. Our project is called ‘Journeys through Wombool’. This project is an interactive map of our local river incorporating cultural, historical, geographical and ecological perspectives. It links to Australian and NSW Stage 5 curriculum outcomes in Science, Geography and History.

Originally I was planning to use augmented reality to place virtual Easter eggs in different locations. Unfortunately, the technology seemed buggy and difficult to access and the conventions of geo-caching and geo-tagging did not seem to support what I was hoping we could do.

Luckily, Google introduced My Maps to the Drive apps. Problem solved! As a Google Apps for Education school, My Maps was easy to access and for students and staff to collaborate on a single project. My Maps allowed us to incorporate information and multimedia and attach it to a geographical location. We could do this by roughly finding a location on the map or by using exact coordinates when we had them. The technology was simple to use, freeing us to concentrate on the content and exploration.

The presentation below gives an overview of the project:

I hope that our students can continue to add to the map over coming years as we explore more of the Macquarie River. One delegate at the Symposium suggested we create an ‘open’ version for the whole community. An idea worth exploring…

Below is our project. Click on a point on the map for information and media. One of my favourite elements is the Tracker Riley Bike Track: Soundscape.