Boston, MA
July 14-19, 2019
Conference Website
Join colleagues from around the world who care deeply about bringing the best innovative and practical learning resources to our students. The 20th BLC 2019 education conference will provide you with inspiration and practical skills and expand your professional network with educators from around the world!
Wednesday, July 17
Precipitating Change
Carolyn Staudt, Nathan Kimball
10:20 – 11:25 AM, Studio 2, Boston Park Plaza
Few phenomena have the salience of weather in our daily lives. Meteorologists must deeply understand data quality and sampling trade-offs, speak the “grammar” of computational models, and able to characterize the uncertainty of model predictions. Weather and weather forecasting offer an ideal medium for the integration of science, mathematics, and computational thinking, and a prime opportunity for powerful, engaging approaches that promote middle school students’ ability to apply computational thinking practices and understandings in the context of weather and weather prediction. We will accomplish this using a novel, highly inquiry-based approach, placing students inside simulated weather phenomena and enabling them to play the role of scientific experts.
Sensing Science Through Modeling Matter
Carolyn Staudt, Nathan Kimball
1:10 – 2:15 PM, Studio 2, Boston Park Plaza
Explore dynamic technology-based visualizations and model-based inquiry tools to help demonstrate opportunities for kids to learn about fundamental science concepts at an early age with six free apps. With the use of models embedded in online stories kindergarten students start to develop a conceptual understanding of matter and its changes.
SimCity in the Real World
2:35 – 3:40 PM, Studio 2, Boston Park Plaza
Model My Watershed gives students access to real data in real places so they can make informed decisions about their environment. In this data-rich world students need to develop systems thinking skills in order to make informed decisions about environmental sustainability. Middle and high school students can problem solve through modeling and hands-on data collection activities based on their local watershed data and use STEM practices to model their environment.