Applications in natural science
Follow the natural order of how
we solve problems
You are a
paleontologist.
You have found this
skull
Problem is, that is all
you, or anyone else, has
ever found—just the
skull.
What did the
rest of him look
like?
“Unknown dinosaur skull”
Engineering Practices you will employ….
Asking Questions & Defining Problems
What’s the problem to be solved
here?
Engineering Practices You Will employ…
Planning & Carrying Out an
Investigation
What will you investigate? How will you do it?
Core Ideas to Build Upon ….
Probe students via open-ended questions for
information they can glean from observation.
Probe for prior knowledge through open-ended
questions
Engineering Practices You Will employ…
Analyzing & Interpreting Data
What information have you collected?
What is relevant?
How will you put the pieces together?
Engineering Practices You Will employ…
12 x 9=108” = 9 ft long
Thick, strong neck
Developing & Using
Models
Strong muscular legs
12”
Using Math &
Computational
Thinking
My model
Engineering Practices You Will employ…
Constructing Explanations & Designing
Solutions The top of a Pachycephalosaurus skull could be 9
inches thick, and much of the skull and the snout
were also covered by small bony knobs and spikes.
The size of the skull as a ratio of its body size means
it was probably 9 to 10 ft long.
Similar animals of that size and shape today weigh
about 250 lbs, so it probably did.
The dinosaur's distinctive domed cranium was so thick
and stout that it can sometimes survive as a fossil
when the rest of the skeleton degrades.
Some scientists think that it’s thick skull allowed
these animals to fight in head-butting battles compared
to bighorn sheep and other modern animals do. Scars
on its skull have been interpreted as reinforcing this
hypothesis, though other research is contradictory.
Pachycephalosaurus was an herbivore, probably fed on
low-lying plants relatively close to the ground.
Engineering Practices You Will employ…
Engaging in Argument from
Evidence
How do you know it looks like
that?
What data supports your
reconstruction?
Archeology investigation-“Is it really that
old?” Visitor plays the part of archeologistlooking at a fabric sample of something the
owner claims is thousands of years old.
Looks at the unknown under a slide against
a series of exemplars—what is it? Could
do similar activity with common
invertebrate fossils
--“How do we Know” lets visitors find out
how paleontologists reconstruct dinos. In
this case, they figure out what a
pachycephalosaurus looked like—from only
the skull (true story). Table with a lot of
possible dino parts, but the head is
permanently attached. From what they
know, the visitor uses investigation, math
skills and reasoning to reconstruct the entire
animal-just like scientists do
Questions?
Work It Out:
Exercise in applying NGSS
Engineering Practices
Climate
Change!
MS-ESS3-5 - ESS3.D Global Climate Change
Asking Questions:
How can there be global warming
when Kentucky just had one of the
coldest winters in years?
That’s the problem to be solved
Gather all the information (core concepts )
•Global warming is in fact, “global”
•Kentucky, with the rest of North America, is in the
Northern Hemisphere
•When its winter here its summer in the Southern
Hemisphere
•The Southern Hemisphere saw record heat this ‘winter’
•Not sure what else was going on in northern hemisphere
Explore the principals of weather and
climate
•Hot air rises; cold air sinks
• Hot air causes low pressure areas; cold air causes high
pressure areas
•Different air temps, like different water temps, have
different densities. Cold air is more dense than hot air
•Air tends to move from areas of cold towards areas of heat
•Warm water circulates from the equator towards the poles
We have the content, the data, the facts, the ideas…..
But its just a conglomeration of somewhat disassociated information
What next?
•Global warming is in fact, “global”
•When its winter here its summer in the Southern Hemisphere
•The Southern Hemisphere saw record heat but while we and much of the
US had record cold, there were other places in the northern hemisphere
that were average or above normal
•Hot air causes low pressure areas; cold air causes high pressure areas
•Different air temps, like different water temps, have different densities.
Cold air is more dense than hot air
•Hot air rises; cold air sinks
•Air tends to move from cold towards areas of heat- cold air moves
towards hot air
Group your data to start to see patterns-current events + basic
weather principals start to reveal a story
Create a Model
Could be as simple as sketching out
how hot air and cold air interact
Or perhaps an algorithm illustrating
the If / THEN relationship
What else?
A pie chart or bar graph could indicate
global temperatures in different places –
that’s computational thinking
And a good model
But you now have constructed a solution!!! That’s engineering
put into practice
Science finds explanations
Now I know how global warming works
Engineering finds solutions
Now I know why Kentucky can have a cold winter even with
global warming –and I can show you!
Amplifying
S.T.E.M.
Throughout
Kentucky…
TECHNOLOGY is not just the newest phone or
computer…
What does the “T” in S.T.E.M. mean to you?
What does TECHNOLOGY mean to the
Kentucky Science Center?
TECHNOLOGY also means…
3D printing with Gort
Bringing surgery into your
Classroom with Pulse of Surgery.
Offsite and Virtual Program
Offerings from the Kentucky
Science Center
•Pulse of Surgery – Offered both onsite at our facility and
offsite as we link in outside schools.
•Distance Learning – We link to schools all over the
country, offering a variety of science topics.
•Captain Current VS The Electricity Vampires – this
mobile outreach program has reached multiple counties
and can engage an entire school for a full day of
programming.
•Offsite Classes – our in depth classes can come to you! A
variety of themes all aligned with the common core and
next generation standards.
•After school programs – from after school curriculum
enrichments to evening science festivals for the entire
Contact Information
Kim Hunter– Director of Education and Experience:
502-560-, Kim.Hunter@louisvilleky.gov
Mellisa Blankenship – Senior Manager of Fee-Based and
Partnership Initiatives: 502-560-7164,
Mellisa.Blankenship@louisvilleky.gov
Felicia Alfred – Coordinator of Early Childhood
Enrichment Programs: 502-560-7154,
Felicia.Alfred@louisvilleky.gov
Mira Gentry – Coordinator of Offsite and Fee Based
Programs: 502-560-7126,Mira.Gentry@louisvilleky.gov
Rachel Beck – Education Specialist: