Welcome Back Falcons!

Falcon WingSpan

Volume 1, Issue 1

Mrs. Angela Miller: CTS and Journalism

Table of Contents

Welcome Back 1

Siemens Challenge 1

CTS 2

Project Wish List 2

Competitions & Contest 2

STEM to STEAM 3

Yearbook Staff 4

Yearbook Info. 4

Broadcast Journalism 5

Tech Corner 5

Dear Students and Parents,

Welcome back! I hope you had a fantastic relaxing summer vacation enjoying time with family and friends. My summer started by taking the Falcon Yearbook Staff to Balfour Summer Camp at Houston Baptist University in June. Then in July, my family and I took a week long vacation to Florida. While in Florida I was able to design a roller coaster, and then using a robotic simulator I was able to ride the coaster. We had a blast!

I am excited and looking forward to the 2014-2015 school year. Whether you are a new student to my classes or a returning student, I look forward to meeting all of you on the first day of school and your parents on September 11th for Open House. Until then, if you have any questions please email me at angela.miller@fortbendisd.com or call me at 281-634-7334.

See you soon!

Mrs. Angela Miller

Siemens We Can Change the World ChallengeNational Finalist

SkyScraping Falcons

What is Creative Thinking for Synthesis?

CTSas we call it at the Fort

introduces STEM through a flexible, rigorous, and relevant curriculum designed for students in 7th – 8th grade. Class reinforces the math and science behind electrical, mechanical, civil, environmental, and biomedical engineering by providing 36-weeks of curriculum

and instructional material. Students apply concepts through hands-on project based design projects like designing a prosthetic leg, robots and robotic challenges, bridge building, growing plants in artificial lighting, and computer programming.

Students learn how engineers create, design, and test the

technologies and devices of the 21st century using math, science, and creative skills. The students will be able use the project base learning model of teaching with flipped classroom and the innovative course materials to collaborate and solve real world problems.

2014 Mars Rover Celebration

University of HoustonJanuary 31, 2015

1:00-6:00 pm, Conrad Hilton Ballroom, University Hilton

Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge

Visit the Getting Started section of the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge to find all the information you need

to launch a successful project. www.wecanchange.com

Team Competitions & ContestsPr

ojec

t Materials Wish List

• Styrofoam bowls (small)• Small magnets

• Wire • Paper clips

• Glue: wood, sticks (for glue gun), crazy glue

• Tape: duct, boxing, paper/painters, electrical

• Marbles• Any old (gently used swim noodles)

• Paint stir sticks• Rubber bands multiple sizes

• Plastic spoons• Straws

• Craft sticks2

the technology in their hands purpose and makes innovation come alive.

STEAM is gaining traction

At RISD we have been championing STEAM for a while and have truly seen a national movement starting to take shape. In addition to Will.i.am, this year Sesame Street is being brought to viewers by the letters S - T - E - A - M . Only a year ago, Elmo was interviewed on CNN about the importance of S -T - E -M.

In Rhode Island, Representative Jim Langevin (D-RI) introduced House Resolution 319, which “Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that adding art and design into federal programs that target Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields, encourages innovation and economic growth in the United States.” Government agencies like the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts are working together and are both behind STEAM as well.

You can support the House resolution and let your voice be heard by signing this petition. Join us at http://stemtosteam.org/

a level of storytelling and pure emotion that only they can convey that makes people sit up and take note. It’s artists and designers who tell stories to move, to inspire, to entertain, to persuade. This same creative thinking that will be required to solve the gnarly challenges the 21st century presents to us.

As an example, there was a recent campaign by the Lumina Foundation called KnowHow2Go, aimed at getting high school kids prepared for college. It reminds them of the required courses they will need to take to be considered for admission -- Natural Sciences, Mathematics, Foreign Languages. Lumina is right: these are the subjects many colleges value. But what about the important work of getting the students tuned in to this message? That was done

with a compelling campaign developed by the same kinds of artists and designers who come to RISD and end up working for firms like @radical.media.

Creativity will always be America’s secret sauce:

What is missing from traditional STEM approaches is what has always been the “secret sauce” to American progress -- creativity. When we think aboutS the success of the American auto industry in its heyday, or Apple’s present success, it’s because both pioneered taking a product that was purely functional and made it desirable. Both took a piece of technology and provided artistry.

We both see examples every day -- of students experimenting with a new material to get the desired shape, of sound editors staying up to all hours mixing to get the desired impact, of web designers testing versions to get the most intuitive experience. The artists’ and designers’ passionate pursuit to express themselves -- to make an impact -- gives

We recently had the pleasure of collaborating in Richard Saul

Wurman’s new improvisational conference WWW, which came to life for the first, and perhaps only, time in September. One of many powerful moments of conversation was when Will.i.am took the stage to talk about the importance of getting children involved in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math -- the STEM subjects. The lead singer of the Black Eyed Peas has become an impassioned spokesperson for how STEM will power the economy and lift neighborhoods from poverty, and for how we need to do more to get kids to pursue careers in the STEM fields.

Talking to each other after his talk, we both realized it’s no coincidence that someone like Will.i.am -- an artist himself -- makes the case for STEM the best. As the CEO of a global transmedia company, and president of the preeminent school of art and design, we both witness the amazing thinking and making that creative people -- artists and designers -- engage in every day. It’s why, like Will.i.am himself has recently started to champion, we need to include Art and design when we talk about how STEM powers innovation. We need to add Art to turn STEM to STEAM.

Our conversation together reinforced three important points about why STEAM, not STEM, is so critical:

Artists and designers bring STEM to life:

As we all know, STEM is so important -- but on its own, sadly it’s not working. Despite all of the resources being invested in it, the word is exactly what’s wrong with the concept. It doesn’t inspire, energize or engage the youth whom it is ultimately intended to benefit; hence our nation is falling desperately behind.

Just looking around the room at WWW, when an artist like Yo Yo Ma or Will.i.am speaks or performs, you instantly recognize the attention the Arts commands. There’s

STEM to STEAM:Art Is Key to Building a Strong EconomyBy: Jon Kamen and John Maeda

Creativity will always be America’s

“secret sauce”....

STEAM is gaining traction...

Yo Yo Ma Cellist and Will.i.am with a spider robot. ‘The thing we all need to be worried about is not what industries is technology go-ing to disrupt, but are we educating our youth to keep up with the growth of technology?’ -Will.i.amYo-Yo Ma. (2014, July 7). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:53, July 26, 2014, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yo-Yo_Ma&oldid=615984076

Photograph: Richard Saker

Kamen, J. (2012, November 13). STEM to STEAM: Art Is Key to Building a Strong Economy. The Huffington Post. Retrieved July 26, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-kamen/stem-to-steam-art-is-key-_b_2123099.html

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The Falcon Yearbook Staff worked hard this summer at camp. They selected

the theme: The Power of One.

Yearbook studnets will be a part of an organized team of creative and energized staff members! They will learn the latest trends of layout, design, headlines, body and caption writing, photograph and production techniques. The staff will have the opportunity to think, grow, be creative, use imagination, and communicate

our school’s history in the form of a book to others.

Being a part of the Falcon Yearbook Staff students have a feeling of pride in meeting challenges and achieving excellence as a part of a team. This class is an ideal environment to learn and polish writing techniques and a chance to examine the purpose, success and failure of mass media as it applies to the history, law, and ethics of journalism.

FALCON YEARBOOK

Falcon Yearbook Staff Campers

at HBU

(l to r and t to b): Jon W., Neha S., Kylene M., Joann X., Taylor T., Victoria L., and Sydney L.

Be the

Order your Falcon Yearbook today!

$45.00

August 14, 2014

www.balfour.com

ORDER YOUR

YEARBOOK

TODAY!

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Broadcast Journalism is a unique video broadcasting

program at FSMS offered to 7th and 8th grade students. Within this program, students will learn to create daily news broadcasts, develop feature videos from concept to finished product, and work cooperatively with team members using “real world” equipment and resources. Students will be introduced to film making techniques, script and storyboard creations, video editing, and studio production.

Broadcast Journalism

All KLAW 19 News Staff must report to the studio by 8:20 a.m.

This is the minimal amount of time necessary to prepare for

the daily broadcast. Mrs. Miller must be informed one day

ahead of time if the student is unable to arrive on time. Send

and email to Mrs. Miller and post on Edmodo.

All the while, their work in this class will provide valuable services and information to the students, faculty, community, and staff at the Fort.

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Tech CornerTechnology News

Fort Bend ISD launches new website. Check it out at www.fortbendisd.

com. Watch the youtube video to learn how to navigate its new features.

inspire. equip. imagine.

CTS and Journalism are Bring Your Own Device classes. The use of your

own personal electronic devices is encouraged in my class. Look at the tech corner for some apps and websites that are beneficial for my classes.

Apps for Electronic Devices:

Edmodo, Skyward, and Evernote

CTS:

9 Android Apps for Engineershttps://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/technolo-

gy-and-society/9-android-apps-for-engineers10 iPad Apps for Engineers

https://www.asme.org/engineering-topics/articles/technolo-gy-and-society/10-ipad-apps-for-engineers

Journalism:

Pic CollagePhotoshop Express

iMovieiPhotoiMotion