What Do We Know/Wonder About Aeronautics?

 Designing an Aeronautics Curriculum

  1. The introduction
  2. After the topic is chosen
  3. Wind tunnels
  4. Recruiting an Expert
  5. Preliminary plans for hosting a paper airplane contest 
  6. Next Generation Science Standards that align with this aeronautics curriculum. 
  7. Mini-lesson 1 - What do we know/wonder about aeronautics?
  8. Activity 1 - Frisbees and boomerangs
What Do We Know/Wonder About Aeronautics?

On the first day of the unit, each group will participate in an introduction lesson. I use the KWL strategy to access student knowledge and facilitate inquiry. Each class has its own chart. My classroom/makerspace is full, so posting 6 physical charts is difficult. I like using Google Slides to display notes specific to each class. Here's a link to a clean copy of my KWL slides.

The KWL chart is made as a master slide. It's not necessary to create the table as a slide theme but I find it easier to use this way.

I color-coded the backgrounds to each slide. This is a classroom strategy I use to keep my days straight. I used our school colors (red, white, and blue) to represent each group/day. For example, I will see the same groups of fifth, fourth, and third-grade students on a red day. My calendar is also color-coded. It can get really messy when there are snow days because the rotation changes days. (If anyone has a better way to keep groups straight, I would appreciate the advice.)

This chart will be displayed on my classroom TV. My computer is connected to the TV through an HDMI cable. I purchased a Bluetooth keyboard to use so I remain mobile in the classroom. I add information to the display as the group progresses through the lesson. 

Let me be a little more specific. Every day a class enters my STEAM classroom, they will see the KWL chart displayed on the classroom TV. When I begin the mini-lesson I will point to some of the knows or wonders entries to signal that we will be discussing parts of those topics. I will then transition to a different slide on the document that has the information I plan to present. (I'm not sure if this is making sense to you. If I remember, I will share a copy of this document in mid-progress, maybe sometime in September.) After we clean up, but before we leave students will have a chance to add to the learned column of the chart. 

STEAM lasts for 50 minutes. The time is organized like this;
        10-15 minutes on the mini-lesson
        30 minutes on the activity
        5-10 minutes on the clean-up and review

30 Best Aviation Quotes


 

 


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