Looking for ways to keep your students engaged from a distance? We’re happy to help.
Connect to outside expertise: We can tap our network to connect you/your students to outside expertise to provide input and guidance on student projects.
Project ideas: Over the past four years, our Collab Lab participants have generated a number of project ideas. While there isn’t a lot of time to ramp up a new project before the end of the school year, we can help you craft experiments or exercises for students that can give you a better sense of what you might want to do on a larger scale next year.
Materials: Over the course of our experiments in up-cycling, we’ve assembled a small inventory of materials students might use to develop physical prototypes. If we don’t have what you need, we can help find it and pull together kits for you to get to your students.
If you’d like help with any of these, or would like to tap us for something else, just let us know what you need here.
On Wednesday we kicked off our Learn Deep Lunch series with a discussion about the challenges educators face with coronavirus driven distance learning. Participants shared their experiences and ideas on a Zoom session and captured their thoughts on a shared Google Jam Board.
The common struggles were keeping kids both connected and engaged. It’s not enough for students to simply to have access to technology. If they have not used the tools deployed for distance learning, have adults or siblings at home that can help troubleshoot, or simply compete for time on the device with another sibling, they are much less likely to participate. For educators that had not used distance learning tools in the past, or where district or building standards or expectations about how distance learning ought to run, the need to figure all this out creates an additional burden.
In spite of these challenges, participants had developed a number of strategies to adjust to the current situation. A number of educators recognized that their students are looking for ways to feel connected to their classmates, and had found lightweight ways to do so– from Instagram challenges to virtual lunch tables. The recognition that students need intrinsic motivation to stay engaged has a number of educators using the last weeks of the school year to help students identify and pursue passion projects.
Learn Deep Lunches run from 11:45 to 12:30 on Wednesdays. Our next session is April 29th. Details and registration info are here.
From the beginning, our approach has been to give educators and folks from the broader community the chance to come together to explore and move forward ideas about how to engage students in meaningful collaborative work that builds connections across Milwaukee’s many silos. We also recognized that the best way to build the relationships and trust that allows effective collaboration is for people to have the chance to meet and work together in person.
Unfortunately, this in-person, network focused approach to the spread of ideas is just what we don’t want in this time of cornoavirus. We’re making a number of adjustments to keep things moving forward while keeping our network and the students they work with safe.
Review sessions at the UWM and Marquette’s 3D visualization labs, as well as the the session scheduled with Operating Engineers Local 420 have been cancelled.
The final design review scheduled for April 28th at MSOE has also been cancelled. We will work with the Milwaukee County Zoo and participating schools to explore alternatives for students to share their designs to rework the coal handling process for the Zoo’s steam locomotives.
Fabrication of a new water tower for the Zoo’s steam locomotives based on the designs from last year’s challenge has been postponed until fall.
MPS STEM Studio
The STEM Studio sessions with MPS teachers working to design real world projects that engage students in computational thinking are on hold until teachers return to work.
Making use of this time
We’re exploring opportunities to help keep things moving for you. Let us know what challenges you see ahead and let’s see if we can’t find some new opportunities out of the present chaos, in our one question survey here.
In our work with schools over the past 4 years we’ve noted some key gaps in experiences and skills that limit what students are able to accomplish on K-12 engineering projects. We’ve also noticed that pulling in the resources that can support students as they take on more complex work is much easier when there’s a chance to see students do great things.
There are systems in place that allow kids coming out of high school to perform at a very high level in music or sports.
What if we did the same for engineering?
At Learn Deep we see the potential for a great K-12 farm system to develop diverse engineering talent in Milwaukee and want to get that moving as a collaborative effort. On Tuesday, we took the first step by convening a working session that included K-12 educators, engineering faculty, industry mentors, and organizations with STEM/engineering programming for K-12 students. As a group we used that session to identify the gaps in skills and experiences that slow their development of talents useful in engineering.
educators, engineers and academics discuss gaps in developing great engineering talent.
What makes for an effective problem solver?
We put together the diagram here a few years ago as we pondered this question. Effective problem solvers draw on each of these 4 areas:
Experiences What does this problem remind me of?
How I felt
How people reacted
What worked
What didn’t work
etc…
Knowledge What knowledge can I bring?
Math
Technology
Design
Psychology
History
Tools are appropriate for a problem like this,
etc…
Relationships Who do I know that can:
Support me
Provide guidance/advice
Connect me to others
Act as a mentor
etc…?
Skills What skills can I bring?
Analytical
Creative
Communication
Collaboration
Prototyping
etc…
Dispositions I bring:
Curiosity
Grit
Growth mindset
Openness
etc…
We have been using this insight in the development of many of our projects to date, including our unique Zoo Train Engineering project.
What would we like to see as students develop talents that are valued in engineers?
Not surprisingly, this structure works pretty well for talking through what we heard from the group.
Experiences
Building things
Working with tools
Working with materials and other resources
Designing solutions for real world problems
Using mathematical reasoning to flesh out and evaluate design options
Working as part of a team
Problem solving in a context that emphasizes process over results
Working alongside a college student or professional to understand how they approach engineering challenges
Presenting their work to an authentic audience
Knowledge
Comfort with introductory statistics
“Calculus ready” math knowledge by high school graduation
Physics
Understanding of how materials go together
Relationships
Knowing an engineer that “looks like me”
Feeling part of a team
Skills
Spatial thinking
Effective time management
Able to listen to and understand a customer’s needs
Able to use empathy and observation to identify or understand a problem someone else has.
Able to build a solid understanding of a problem before jumping to solutions
Able to effectively communicate one’s ideas
Dispositions
Able to self direct learning
Willingness to explore “risky” options
Having a sense of ownership of one’s work
Resourcefulness — willing to seek out help or other resources to gain understanding
Willingness to accept “failure”– e.g. recognize that a solution does not work and learn from that.
Willingness to recognize that the first, last, or their own idea for a possible solution may not be the best approach
Problem seeking — willingness to see out problems that might be interesting to solve
What do effective farm systems in other domains look like?
In preparation for the session we pulled together the following table, which sketches out the formal and informal opportunities students have to develop their talents in sports and music. As one ponders what a farm system for engineering talent might look like, one question that jumps out to us is where are the opportunities for play, and are they available to students who’s families may not have the resources to provide materials which can allow that to happen.
Setting
Sports
Music
Informal play
Pick up games with friends/family, might include a mix of ages; no requirement for full field or team–e.g. play with what and who you have availableNo emphasis on practice, but one might get some informal coaching/feedback from other participants during play (“nice pass”, “next time you are doing that, look for…”)
Play alone or with friends/family. Might include a mix of ages; no requirement for specific combination of instruments–e.g. play with what and who you have available.No emphasis on practice, but one might get some informal coaching/feedback from other participants during play (“nice lick”, “next time you are doing that, look for…”)
Informal practice
Practice skills on one’s own or with friends/family
Practice skills on one’s own or with band mates
School class: play + practice
Major focus is on play, with some practice of skills
Major focus is on play, with some practice of skills
School team/group or development program: focused practice + play
regular practice aimed at skill development regular play as an opportunity to exercise skills strong social component with an opportunity to learn from more skilled peers
regular practice aimed at skill developmentregular play as an opportunity to exercise skillsstrong social component with an opportunity to learn from more skilled peers
Private lessons: focused practice
regular practice and feedback aimed at skill development
regular practice and feedback aimed at skill development
Master Class
Feedback from outside professionals with emphasis on skill development
Performances/games; competitions/tournaments
demonstration play with chance to test skills against peers
demonstration play; chance to test skills against peers
Opportunities to guide younger participants:
youth coach or ref
?
Opportunities to observe others:
Games played by peersProfessional gamesYou tube videos of games and skills
Music played by peers Professional concertsYou tube videos of concerts and skills
So what might an effective farm system for engineering talent look like?
Key ideas that came out of our discussion include:
Programming/curriculum is aligned across grade levels so that students have a chance to build on skills they’ve begun to develop;
Students and teachers are able to engage with industry expertise in the context of authentic projects. The easiest way for industry to participate is to have a clear ask– what expertise do you need when to do what. Having something concrete to respond to makes it much easier for a firm to see how well that effort aligns with their own goals for community engagement or talent development.
Students are given the opportunity to practice in context. Students need multiple opportunities to run through the engineering design cycle on projects that matter to them.
Students have a chance to prototype and work with materials throughout the design process and use that experience to refine their thinking about both the problem at hand and potential solutions.
Projects are structured with a strong emphasis on process to help students resist the temptation to jump to a solution before understanding the problem, be willing to explore “riskier” ideas, and to aim for knowledge gain over “the right solution”.
Students have informal opportunities to play with engineering in the same ways they might with music or sports.
Students build technical skills in math and physics in concert with engineering design. PLTW is not a substitute for a math or physics class, but a complement to it.
There is a community of practitioners working together to develop engineering talent. That community includes K-12 educators, university faculty, organizations that provide STEM programming, and industry expertise willing to work with students. Through ongoing collaboration, this community can build and strengthen the relationships that allow its members to find new opportunities for students.
What’s next?
Our next two Collab Labs provide opportunities to explore some of the ideas raised in this session. The March 12th session is focused on our Career Interviews project. We’re working with UWM and area high schools to prototype a process where students interview folks engaged in interesting work in Milwaukee. Beyond giving students a broader sense of what’s possible to do, we see this collaborative effort as an easy way for students to make an initial connection with folks in industry.
Our April Collab Lab will focus on tapping industry expertise. This will be an opportunity to take a deeper look at the types of engagements most valuable to educators and students, what makes that engagement worthwhile for both individuals and their employers, and what could help reduce the friction around matching expertise with educators who want to leverage it.
Join us for either or both sessions to share your perspective and ideas.
As we continue to digest what we heard at the session and in conversations that have continued afterwards, we have a couple of other ideas we’re exploring. Stay tuned or let us know if you’d like to get involved!
One more thing…
One of the folks I connected with as we planned Tuesday’s session was Shannon Smyth, the Youth Technical Director for the North Shore United Soccer Club. Shannon trains youth coaches in the methods recently adopted by US Soccer not just as a way to help students more rapidly develop technical skills, but to build broader participation and the creative talent of players coming up through the system. Shannon sees a lot of parallels between efforts to keep girls engaged in sport and those to keep them engaged in STEM. We shared an overview of the Play-Practice-Play model Shannon uses in advance of the session. You can find that here.
Last spring, with funding from Northwestern Mutual, we conducted interviews with teachers and mentors involved with MPS’s efforts to introduce Project GUTS, SHARP Literacy’s Design Through Code (DTC) program, TEALS, and First Robotics. The goal was to understand how we might expand opportunities to develop computational thinking outside of computer science classes, by listening to what drew teachers and mentors already engaged in that type of activity to take on the task. We provided a recap of that work here.
One of the ideas that came out of that effort was to work with teams of teachers and expertise from the broader community to create and pilot real world projects that provide solid opportunities to engage students in computational thinking. We call that the STEM Studio, and are happy to report that Northwestern Mutual has provided funding to design and pilot the first projects with MPS.
Since environmental science is a spring semester focus for MPS middle schools, we used our November Collab Lab on Green Infrastructure to generate ideas for potential projects. One of those is the Southeastern Wisconsin Watershed’s Trust’s (Sweetwater) Adopt a Storm Drain Program. As we talked about what that might look like as a STEM Studio project, Sweetwater pointed us to the Smart City Reverse RFP offered by Caravela IoT. That initiative seeks to demonstrate the potential to leverage a network of sensors that detect environmental data. Winning submissions would receive both equipment and technical support to pilot a project. We partnered with MPS, Sweetwater and Reflo to put in a joint proposal which uses STEM Studio pilot projects to both deploy sensors and expose students to the technology. We were selected as one of the winners and are happy to now have Caravela IoT engaged with us in the STEM Studio effort.
Over the next few weeks we’ll be pulling our teams of teachers together with community partners to design and pilot the experiences we want students to have as they take on the STEM Studio projects. Collab Lab attendees will know that one of our criteria for projects we get involved in is the ability to scale across schools with network effects. As part of the STEM Studio pilots, we’ll work with the teams to reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and what the next cohort of teachers will want to have in place to take on or extend the challenge in their schools.
Last Thursday’s Collab Lab explored what teacher-centric professional development might look like. We had participants introduce themselves by sharing their best and worst PD experiences. As we listened to those conversations, one thing that stood out was the number of times the physical setting of the PD session came into play– an offsite location offered an opportunity to shift thinking, a session which had teachers sitting on cafeteria benches for two hours conveyed that those planning the session had not considered what the experience would be like for participants.
With those experiences as background, the first task for attendees was to inventory what they hope to gain/provide through PD. Those ideas fell into several broad categories:
Enthusiasm & Inspiration:
Excitement to replicate and extend
Inspiration
Enthusiasm
Enhancement of skills
Excitement — I want to leave and keep on working on it
Gain Knowledge about specific tech subjects– AI, VR, etc.
Learn to engage students in new technologies purposefully
See great pedagogy modeled and be able to practice it
Rich content
Increase knowledge…
student relationships
engaging students
Knowledge that pertains to me!
Chance to learn from everyone in the room [recognize the experience in the room]
Develop a different perspective regarding those around us
Resources
Realistic or tangible outcomes
Share researched based best practices
Access to new information
Knowledge
Current best practices
New perspectives
Authentic experiences
Actionable skills, knowledge, connections
Collaboration
A space to collaborate & innovate
Ideas surrounding achieving classroom equity at the college and eventually university level
Follow up/accountability
Engagement through action and collaboration
Applicable/relevant
Processing time
Opportunities to reflect
Group of similar professionals for
encouragement
support
common passion
A tribe
Connections
Connections for students
Authentic experiences
Excitement, passion, purpose
Exposure to other experts, mentors, coaches
Real access to tools, tech, mindset of others in an interest area
Contacts/networking
Fellow, passionate learners
Teacher to teacher PD
Respect as a capable adult learner
Opportunities to share my expertise
Form a supportive community
Increase collaboration among staff on working with students
Growing a community of learners.
Stretch & dive deep
Be forced to struggle and stretch
A desire to want more — go deeper
Stretch
Deeper investment in your work
Student PD — if you could learn anything at school what would it be?
Domain specific PD
Become better/more effective at what you want to do
Opportunities for students to grow, motivate their self in learning
Visions of what PD could be
With this broad set of goals in hand, we allowed a bit more time for conversation about how one might realize one more of those. From there we asked attendees to pair up and create a vision of what PD that aims to meet some of those goals might look like. Here’s some of what was shared.
Implementation of a school wide-initiative
Focus
One big goal or vision for whole school
It is not
A lecture
Cookie cutter
Participants
all stakeholders [in strategic teams that make sense]
It happens
Off site, neutral territory
As a 3-5 year plan with set SMART goals and monthly check in intervals
I’m able to leverage it
Because all other PD is filtered through this vision
As a realistic shared vision — teams set goals aligned with vision
Community
Focus
Supporting persistence & community
It does not
Have a top-down structure
Feel contrived
Participants
A group of people with a shared goal
It happens
In varied settings, especially getting people out of their everyday environment
Settings where everyday pressures are less pressing (leave town?)
Includes both structured and unstructured time
I’m able to leverage it
By having the flexibility to allow good things to happen
Let participants lead
A specific helpful computer program (one of many)
Focused on
Benefits & “how tos” of a new program
It is not
Condescending
Just a lecture
A one one and done or passing trend
It includes for participants
Hands on exploration
QA, comments, input from participants
Brainstorming, how could you use this?
Builds enthusiasm
Offers + schedule of follow up support for participants at all levels
Time for follow up
Research based, relevant
Of value — time saving/increased effectiveness
Team Cohesion
Focused on
Creating a more collaborative and safe team environment by establishing norms and committing to action
It does not
Provide space for admiring the problem and creating blame
It includes as participants
The entire team
It happens
At a retreat
I’m able to leverage it
By creating a commitment to change and holding myself accountable for it.
Mindful moments
Focus
Transitions when students enter class. Being present and acknowledging current mental state/capacity for learning.
Self compassion, self awareness, self efficacy
It does not
Have lectures or assignments
Mandate the rules of how to apply or engage
Participants
Teachers/faculty
It happens
45-50 minutes initial time of session demonstrating strategies for teachers to learn and practice
Follow up email with people who are practicing/to share with others
I’m able to leverage it
At the end of the session we build an accountability partnership with other session goers. Email each other to check in once a week for three weeks. After that the partnership will re-assess
Power of Data – GIS
Focus
Scientific inquiry using GIS technology
Create individual lesson plans
Argue from evidence
It is not
A lecture
Participants
Educators– formal & informal
It happens
As active learning over a 35 hour block
I’m able to leverage
Software
Career stories
Data collection
Varied context
Differentiation
Focus
Differentiation
access
accountability
learner needs, not roll out of programs
It does not
Disrespect the learner. Rather, it encourages choice, voice of participants
Participants
Leaders
Experts
Learners
It happens
During regular employee hours but can continue after ours or on vacations
Deidre Roemer — Director of Leadership and Learning, West Allis West Milwaukee School District
Resources
Our participants shared a number of resources. Here’s the list:
Code for Milwaukee Internship ProgramCode for Milwaukee is a civic technology non-profit that builds out projects that serve the greater Milwaukee community and beyond. They are starting an internship program that is open to middle and high school students who will help build out a technology based solution to solve a problem our community faces
UWM Power of Data Workshops: 35 hour paid professional development program that enables st secondary teachers to increase students’ content knowledge, 21 Century Skills and awareness of geospatial technology careers through Geospatial Inquiry and data analysis. June 2020
Wisconsin ArcGIS Map Contest The 2020 Wisconsin map contest is part of the Esri national student ArcGIS Online competition. It is open to all Wisconsin middle and high school students.
This past Friday, UWM’s College of Engineering hosted the conceptual design review for students in this year’s Zoo Train Challenge. Teams from 10 area schools presented their ideas to re-work the coal handling process for the Zoo’s steam locomotives.
The Zoo’s current process has train staff manually sift coal into 17 gallon buckets that may weigh 80 to 90 pounds when full. These are then carried over an often slippery, uneven surface where they are staged for use later in the day. When the train stops at the depot to take on passengers, the train crew will hoist and dump these bucket’s into the train’s coal bin, which is close to four feet above ground level. The train team is also concerned with the deteriorating condition of the coal bin and a retaining wall against which coal ash and fines are stored prior to removal.
New Berlin Eisenhower students present their design concepts. (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)
At this point in the process, most teams focused on the design of a new coal bin that could keep the coal sheltered from rain, and automating or augmenting the process of sifting and loading coal. Teams presented their designs to review panels that included zoo train operators, staff from We Energies coal handing facility, students and faculty from industrial engineering programs at UWM and MSOE, and engineers with GZA Environmental and Komatsu.
Elmbrook Launch
Pathways High School
Golda Meir
Dottke High School
New Berlin Eisenhower
New Berlin West
Wauwatosa East
Following each presentation, teams responded to questions and feedback from both panelists and peers from other teams. Both panelists and students in the audience for other presentations also provide written feedback for each team.
Golda Meir students provide feedback on presentation by their peers . (UWM Photo/Elora Hennessey)
Students will use the feedback and ideas they gained from this session to finalize their designs. The final design review for the project will be hosted by MSOE at the end of April.
Nothing interesting happens in a classroom without a teacher willing to say yes, so we are extremely grateful to the teachers who stepped up to get their students involved. Thanks also to all those who helped pull both the project and review session together, and of course, the students who have taken on the challenge!
Our December Collab Lab focused on student run enterprises. We were interested in the kinds of experiences participants hoped students might gain through participation in a student run enterprise.
Our process for the session took a slightly different approach, starting with how we wanted to students to talk about their experience. Our goal was statements that demonstrate a high level of engagement, but are also evocative enough that we could start to imagine how a student run enterprise might foster such an experience.
The initial brainstorming process generated a long list of experience statements, including:
“I worked really hard because the results really mattered”
“This program helped me find my passion.”
“The work here is important to me personally.”
“I’m glad I can be myself, express my mind freely.”
“I got to know myself better.”
“I grew as a person.”
“It was my favorite class ever.”
“I never thought I could do this.”
(with pride) “This is my project!”
“I chose to stay because of this.”
“I was able to make decisions that allowed me to take risks and learn from mistakes to help our business be more successful.”
“I learned how to fail.”
“There are real consequences for my actions in this enterprises.”
“I felt more empowered than ever.”
“This experience allowed me to really own my learning and let me take something I am interested in to a level I couldn’t have done without this experience.”
“I have a voice and I have value.”
“I understand my role.”
“I am proud of what exists here.”
“I am valuable to this business.”
“This experience helped me see how a business could not only help me but help the community.”
“The experiences I’ve had make me think about what I can do to help my community.”
“This experience allowed me to grow as a student leader and collaborate with others.”
“I have a better understanding of money, how it is created, and whether or not it has value.”
“I used the skills I acquired to further my knowledge and abilities.”
“I remembered doing this activity in class and could apply the technique learned to help myself.”
“This helped me learn how to apply my skills in the real world.”
“As a person, it made me make better decisions. As a member of my community it made me open my eyes and grow up.”
“It helped me figure out what I want to do with my life.”
With that list in hand, we asked participants to form small teams to talk through ideas for how a student run enterprise might help students have one or more of those experiences. Our second process change was to have these ideas expressed as “What if we…” questions. We wanted to see if that led to more expansive thinking. Here’s what they came up with:
Individuality Initiative
We hope students might say…
“I learned to fail”
“This program helped me find my passion”
“I have a voice. I have value.”
What if we…
created an environment where students weren’t as fearful of failing, but instead were encouraged to learn from their failures ;
created a survey or interview process to identify appropriate enterprises and their roles within them;
encouraged an education system that catered to helping students find their passion instead of telling them what they should be?
Failing with Open Minds
We hope students might say…
“I learned to fail”
“I found my passion”
What if we…
allowed kids to fail;
allowed kids to pursue their passion and explore themselves;
sourced innovation from kids?
encouraged all to fail of front of an authentic, receptive audience with an open mind while pursuing a curiosity which can become a passion after taking a risk?
Sustainable Futures/Business with an Impact
We hope students might say…
“This experience connects passion to community and allows us to thing about our impact”
What if we…
challenge them to make a product or service that helps the environment or community;
challenges them to create a business or product that reduces their impact on the environment;
create a business that would help their specific neighborhood issue?
Change Agent
We hope students might say…
“I feel more empowered than ever”
What if …
this purpose already means something to me;
I am interested to lead;
we make the community better?
Milwaukee Made
We hope students might say…
“It was so great to work with other students of all ages and to make money and learn how to be successful in a business.”
What if we…
break down barriers to students creating a business;
we worked with an elementary school, high school, and college to create a store/experience for students to learn from each other to make a real business;
raised confidence and creativity through working with college professors and students in collaboration;
used the new Marquette space in Schlitz Park to sell the produces of student enterprises and employ high school students to work in the store/paid students for the products they sell;
collaborate with Marquette, MATC, Pathways High & Golda Meir to do so?
Try – Fail – Reflect (repeat)
We hope students might say…
“I learned how to fail.”
What if we…
take time to reflect after failure;
normalized failure;
push students outside of their comfort zone?
Thanks to The Commons for providing the space and to our featured participants for sharing their expertise and ideas:
Our November Collab Lab focused on opportunities to engage students around green infrastructure. We asked participants to brainstorm ideas around different types of green infrastructure as they are designed, installed or in service, using the inventory provided within the City of Milwaukee’s Green Infrastructure Plan. From there we paired up educators with representatives from industry, higher-ed, non-profits, and local government and had them flesh out a specific idea in greater detail.
Here’s what they came up with:
Identify targets sites for green infrastructure
Identify vacant lots in the students’ neighborhood to active and install stormwater trees, gardens, community art.
Green infrastructure targeted:
Rain gardens
Stormwater trees
Native landscaping
Regenerative stormwater conveyance
Greenways & land conservation
Phases targeted:
Design
Installation
Desired experience for students:
Mapping GIS
Think about neighborhood & community
This is worth it!
Evidence and argument
Budgeting and finance
Understanding different land use/space factors
History of the area, why a particular lot is vacant
Cultural experience of neighborhood as an influence to art
Durability of art
What students will need:
Mapping software
Data
Facilitator/guides to support — experts, & exemplars
Documentation and presentation skills
Who students should meet as part of this work:
UWM School of Architecture & Urban Planning
Youth Council @ City Hall
Pocket parks tour
How students might share their work:
Video
Podcast
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Story Map
Social media/website
Share with community service organizations, the experts that helped them.
Storytelling– “What did I learn”
Art within Native Landscaping
Design art projects within a native landscape
Green infrastructure targeted:
Native Landscaping
Desired experience for students:
Cross curricula – art/science/math
Exploring new things
Youth voice/leadership
New materials
Mentoring
Culture
What students will need:
Guidance/leadership to understand and get excited
Research on native landscapes, sustainable materials (what they are, why they are important)
Location, calendar, transportation
Who students should meet as part of this work:
Partner with college students
Landscape/gardening experts
How students might share their work:
Community grand opening, with presentation by youth
Garden Gallery (art) night
Low tech watering systems
Create olla pots or other system to water gardens when students/volunteers may not be available to do so.
Green infrastructure targeted:
Rain barrels & cisterns
Phases targeted:
Design
Installation
In Use
Desired experience for students:
Research the history of olla pots
Design a system where rain barrels fill the pots (how many rain barrels?)
Calculate how much water might be captured
Determine the size of pots that might be necessary for a particular garden or space
Monitor gardens to make sure the system is working
Compare performance at different times of year
Evaluate how the long the system can run without support
Calibrate the outflow rate from rain barrels so that it is most effective
What students will need:
History of olla pots & agriculture
Math — planning for the # of pots for the area
Science — expected rainfall for the area, ecology, human impact
Communication skills — share what they did
Reading & writing
Arts — decorating barrels, making their own pots @ schools with kiln [can we make our own rain barrels?]
Who students should meet as part of this work:
Community connections for support in monitoring
Environmental engineers
fresh coast guardians from MMSD
Teens Grow Greens for different ideas on irrigation
Pottery infrastructure
How students might share their work:
video story
Present @ Science Strikes Back? [Escuela Verde?]
Share after a full growing season for data collection
Share publicly — news, radio, social media, USDA
Butterfly Garden
Reclaim paved area of “playground” for stormwater management and wildlife habitat restoration.
Green infrastructure targeted:
Rain gardens
Native landscaping
Bioswales
Depaving
Soil Amendments
Phases targeted:
Design
Installation
In use
What students should experience:
Design process — native plants, permaculture, pollinator habitat, education of younger students
Self directed personalized learning
What students will need:
Research skills
Curiosity
Information sources
Access to professionals/experts
How students might share their work:
Photo voice
Signage
Newsletters & written media
Permeable paving meets math
Use installation of permeable paving as a chance to exercise mathematical thinking.
Green infrastructure targeted:
Permeable paving
What students should experience:
Apply math concepts (geometry, algebra, etc) when designing permeable walkway through a park
Art, design, science of materials
Exploration of career paths
Presentation of findings
What students will need:
Access to practitioners
Manipulation/manufacturing of materials
Best practices for fitting pieces together
Permeable paving vs alternatives
Cost data for possible choices — installation, maintenance, long term costs
Who students should meet as part of this work:
Practitioners: non profits, contractors, college student mentors
MMSD
Artists
Landscapers
Tours of UWM School of Freshwater Sciences, GWC, MMSD, etc.)
How students might share their work:
Green Students Conference
Opportunity for students across schools/districts to present GI projects to each other
Green job fair — in part, the conference could be funded by exhibitors (engineers, landscapers, etc.) who do a job fair
GI Scavenger hunt
Inventory and map green infrastructure within students’ community; identify where water is coming from; find as many examples as possible, create a map using GIS software
What students should experience:
The possibilities that exist in different areas
Problem solving using mapping software
Ability to visualize things on a map
What students will need:
Mapping software and an introduction to using it
General location for finding green infrastructure
Lesson on green infrastructure installations and interventions
Who students should meet as part of this work:
Students who did bigger project
How students might share their work:
Story map
Water quality assessment
Assess the water quality in the local community
Green infrastructure targeted:
Rain barrels & cisterns
Rain gardens
Soil Amendments
What students should experience:
Data analysis
Hands on development of project
Ownership & involvement
Success & Impact
What students will need:
Space
Native plants
Raspberry Pi computer
Types of soil
Types of compost
Gravel
Sensors for moisture/contamination
Water quality test kits
Who students should meet as part of this work:
Upham Woods — digital observation kits
Sweetwater – Adopt A Storm Drain
River Keepers
Plastic Free MKE
How students might share their work:
Social media
Murals
Logos
Mottos
Peer to peer education — teach others to continue project
Brand it
Give it legitimacy
Greening Alleys
Create a list of priorities for green alleys near a school, identify and collect the data to use in prioritizing the alleys.
Green infrastructure targeted:
Green streets and alleys
What students should experience:
Surveying the neighborhood
Identifying improvements and analyzing lowest cost estimates of putting in improvements
Communication of survey, improvements,
What students will need:
Access to expertise
Computers/data sets
Estimation software/templates
Who students should meet as part of this work:
MMSD — Lisa Sasso, Bre Plier, Nadia Vogt
DPW — Nader Jabber
WDNE — Ben Benninghoff, Samantha Katt
Civil Engineers — Justin Hegerty (Reflo), Kara Koch (SSE)
Communications specialist
How students might share their work:
Entering the project in a competition
Via website/communication pieces they design
Presenting at a conference
Presenting to politicians/city administrators
Intervention as Art
Create an environmental solution that is a form of art
Green infrastructure targeted:
Rain barrels & cisterns [start here but then see where it may connect to something else]
What students should experience:
Allow students to develop creative problem solving, apply multiple disciplines (math, science, etc.) in order to create a solution
Allow student to assess the financial components/cost of implementing the art
What students will need:
Location to meet
Access to technology and materials
Sample size materials to create prototype of artwork
Transportation
Design expertise (art coaches/artists)
Self determination
Who students should meet as part of this work:
Artists
Engineers
Government officials & leaders
Foundations
Contractors (in trades)
How students might share their work:
Social media
Press engagements
Unveiling events
Presentations
GI target map
Map neighborhood to identify opportunities to install green infrastructure
Green infrastructure targeted:
Rain barrels & cisterns
Native landscaping
Bioswales
Green streets & alleys
Soil amendments
Phase targeted:
Design
What students should experience:
Gain understanding of neighborhood and existing conditions
Gain understanding of community stakeholders
Build researching skills (reputable data)
Become informed skeptics
Gain understanding of types & applications for green infrastructure
What students will need:
Background in types of GI
Mapping support — map individual neighborhoods, add all to larger map
Critical thinking/perseverance
People skills — coaching/modeling
Arrange stakeholder meetings/presentations
Watershed locations
Who students should meet as part of this work:
Reflo
Eco Office
Environmental Engineers
SFS
Community organizations in neighborhood
How students might share their work:
Social media posts
Health fair at North Division
MPS STEM Fair
Heat Islands
Monitor/change heat island effect through interactive materials
Green infrastructure targeted:
Rain gardens
Native landscaping
Bioswales
Stormwater trees
Depaving
Green streets & alleys
Greenways & land conservation
Green roofs
Phase targeted:
In use
What students should experience:
Gain an appreciation for environmental awareness
Visually see how GI can reduce heat island effect
What students will need:
Thermal imaging – drone
Students map with “hot spots”
Identify areas that would benefit from green infrastructure
What could be done– trees plants, gardens
See how different GI might reduce heat
Who students should meet as part of this work:
Engineering firms with surveyors
College students who work with GIS
How students might share their work:
Presentation to town, city, community
Design plan
From the areas identified, have students go to companies to implement or advertise their action plan
Designing School Building Projects
Allow students to design landscape areas; promote mentor-ship to have older students work with younger students; during construction, kids can monitor waste vs recycled materials
Green infrastructure targeted:
Rain gardens
Native landscaping
Stormwater trees
Soil amendments
Phase targeted:
Design
Installation
In use
What students should experience:
Sense of ownership, cooperation, achievement
Growing consumable product
Science
What students will need:
Planting science and how to nurture
Planting buddies
Who students should meet as part of this work:
Contractors
Landscapers
Engineers
Business relationships for recycling
Farmers
How students might share their work:
Through food on table
Science & math through recycling
Personal development through succeeding in the process
Watershed Challenge
How can we positively effect the watershed in a way that will create buy in and support from the community
Green infrastructure targeted:
Rain barrels & cisterns
Rain gardens
Stormwater trees
Soil amendments
Phases targeted:
Design
What students should experience:
Career connections
Get out in the field
Community connections – picking up trash connected to effects on watershed, talking to community, brainstorming community problems
Urban water cycle – treatment plant
Science/environmental connection — labs to “see it”
Interdisciplinary — data, writing, technology
What students will need:
Background knowledge– getting off campus, maps science
Access to to local experts
Community connections — talking to people in neighborhood, observing the location
Structure/system for the design part of the project
Who students should meet as part of the effort:
Water school
Washington Park Urban Ecology Center
Storm Water Solutions
Engineers that design infrastructure — public & private
Go to a school that did a similar project
Groundworks MKE
Milwaukee Water Commons
Reflo
MMSD (Christina Taddy)
River Keeper
Plastic Free MKE
Sweetwater (Adopt a Storm Drain)
Upham Woods
Artful Capstone
Bring math, science, and art together for artful landscaping solutions; understanding the design process
Green infrastructure targeted:
Rain barrels & cisterns
Permeable pavement
Green Roofs [hotels & apartments]
What students should experience:
Awareness of environment
Seeing project through to completion
Impact on community
Puzzle solving
Design process
Connecting things to their everyday life
Opportunities to see career options
What students will need:
Time
Parental support
Access to opportunities
Mentoring
Inspiration
Pragmatic examples
Connections to their lives
Opportunity to take risks
Who students should meet as part of this work:
Mentors
Government officials
Home owners
Community members
How students might share their work:
Authentic audience
Other students around the world through
Tik Tok
20 20
15s Film
Pachakucha
Thanks to The Commons for providing the space and to our featured participants for sharing their expertise and ideas:
Catherine Bronikowski — Math Dept. Chair, North Division High School
While MATC students were doing fieldwork to create a survey of the coal handling area for our Zoo Train Challenge, they took the time to shoot some 3D photos. Those images are now available on Google Maps, and give a good look at the site our Zoo Train students are focused on.
To view other images in the series, pull up the Zoo on Google Maps, and click the icon of the little person in the lower right corner of your browser
in the lower right corner of your browser 