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CREATIVITY, CURIOSITY, AND

CRITICAL THINKING

COMBINED:LESSONS FROM THE STEAM LAB

Ms. Ann Scott HanksOcee Elementary SchoolNovember 13, 2015

LESSON EXAMPLES: MODEL INSTRUCTIONPlant A RainbowAnalyze Deer Jawbones

Did you know that the bright colors of flowers help attract insects and birds?

PLANTING A RAINBOW

A Kindergarten and First Grade STEAM Project

CHALLENGEYour group will

design and build a rainbow flower garden.

REQUIREMENTSAll flowers must be 3D.Flowers must include all plant parts: roots, stem, leaves, petals.

Each table must represent all of the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.

PARTS OF A FLOWER

COLORS OF THE RAINBOW

MATERIALSConstruction PaperPipe CleanersCraft SticksCotton BallsYarnTape

How are flowers the same and different from each other?

What happens to a deer’s teeth during

their life cycle? How is this the same as

and different from other animals?

BOTTOM LINE #1

guide on the side(coach)

vssage on the stage

BOTTOM LINE #1

minds-on(create)

vshands-on

(consume)

ACADEMICALLY CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT

integrate knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems

even when the “correct” answer is unclear

AN EDUCATED PERSONPast: know lots of factsPresent: problem-solve for the future

Why? access to information via the internet

EMPHASIZE 21ST-CENTURY SKILLS

WHAT IS CREATIVITY? Creativity is: What you do when confronted

with a problem for which you have no learned or practiced solution. It’s an ability, an attitude, and a process.

Can I teach you to “be creative”? Probably not. But I CAN teach you the steps and types of creative thinking.

Creativity is NOT limited to the fine arts. Creativity is what is used to design a science

experiment, to prove a math theorem, to write a lesson/presentation, build a company, etc.

USE CHILDREN’S NATURAL CURIOSITY

USE RIDDLES

USE MYSTERY OBJECTS

USE UNUSUAL OBJECTS

CONNECT TO CHILDMake it personal

Guided imageryPrior experiencePrior knowledge

USE QUESTIONS IN A DIFFERENT WAY

Open-ended, discussable, not “google-able” Give hints but not answers http://www.jetspost.com/eportfolio/pbl/

driving_questions.htm

(low-level question=one correct answer; high-level question=debatable, can have a conversation around it)

SOMETIMES, THE BEST “QUESTIONS” ARE NOT EVEN QUESTIONS THE ADULT

ASKS THE CHILDExample 1: Use questions in your conversation that you answer yourself

What math strategy would help me at the grocery store?

What would happen if there were too many owls in a habitat?

Example 2: Use statements to stimulate discussion Estimating is bad because the answer is always

wrong. Snakes are harmful.

If your child asks you a low-level thinking question, what could you do? re-phrase the question as a critical thinking

question before answering it answer the question and then explain why that

fact is important explain how to find the answer to the question ask how/why they thought of that question or

why they think that question is interesting/important

MAKE CONNECTIONSThis is the same as…This is opposite of…

USE THE CREATIVE ARTS“STUDY THE SCIENCE OF ART AND THE ART OF SCIENCE.”

(LEONARDO DA VINCI)How have artists shown scientific information? Was their depiction scientifically accurate? How did their style choice affect what you learned from the art? STEAM Lab Lesson Examples:

Paintings of trees

Paintings of birds

SUMMARIZE Reflections

What are the most important facts you learned? What learning skills did we use?

Relationships How are two things similar? Different?

Connected? Related? Variations

What are research questions about this topic? What don’t we know yet?

FRAMEWORK: “INQUIRY LEARNING”

starts by posing questions, problems or scenarios, rather than presenting established facts or portraying a smooth path to knowledge

is a process with a facilitator encourages the student to try to learn

even more

MINDSET

OCEE STEAM LAB http://oceesteamlab.weebly.com/

PROBLEM-SOLVING GAMEShttp://oceesteamlab.weebly.com/resources.html

SUGGESTED FOLLOW-UPSVISIBLE THINKING ROUTINEShttp://www.visiblethinkingpz.org/

MINDSEThttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8JycfeoVzg&feature=youtu.be

CREATIVE THINKING PRESENTATIONhttp://oceepta.org/how-to-teach-your-child-creative-thinking-at-home/

http://oceetag.weebly.com/ Learner’s Log (to write or discuss)Habits of Mind (for background info)Instruction (3 tabs: for background info)Enrichment (5 tabs: for activities)Enrichment/Summer Opportunities (for programs outside of school)

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS Education is the training of the mind to

__________________, not the memorizing of _________________.

The question “Why?” is not always a critical thinking question. It’s only a critical thinking question if you have not already told them the “correct” answer.

We want our activities to be “minds-on”, not just “hands-on”.

The adult should act as the “guide on the side” not the “sage on the stage”; we want students to “create” knowledge/meaning, not just “consume”.

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A question going AROUND in my mind.

In regard to creativity, curiosity and critical thinking combined, identify…