The goal of BealsScience is to make science fun! Their digital science resources have created a place to share science experiments and lessons to help inspire the next generation of dreamers, thinkers and doers! The tagline “keep on learning” drives everything that BealsScience does. On their website, they feature wacky science experiments from making easy, DIY, and environmentally conscious edible water bottles to building a bowling ball cannon from scrapyard parts – that will have you laughing and learning – as you click through over-the-top fun demonstrations. This week in the mentoring circle, we keep on learning with BealsScience through digital labs, experiments, and STEM projects.
Craig Beals is the creator of BealsScience and a high school science teacher in Montana. Since 2005, Beals has taught earth science, biology, and chemistry at Billings Senior High School. As a science teacher, Craig Beals has come to understand the importance of technology to foster relationships with his students, he believes this to be the most important part of education. He is the 2015 Montana Teacher of the Year and an NEA Excellence in Teaching Awardee. In his TEDx Talk: Can technology (re)humanize us? He explains how compassion and kindness go a long way and using technology to show caring not just learning, changed his whole perception of how to teach. Watch it below…
(Re)humanizing technology aligns with Indigenous knowledge views as relationships should be based on reciprocal care and respect between all beings. Those relationships include non-human beings that sustain our life. In the following TEDx Talk, ’Qátuw̓as Jessica Brown explains the importance of practical relationships with place, in her case, with the Oceans. ’Qátuw̓as was raised in the Heiltsuk community of Bella Bella located on the central coast of B.C., in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest. She is proud of her Heiltsuk and Nuu-chah-nulth roots, which continue to ground her in her work as Indigenous Community Liaison with Ocean Networks Canada. Watch below how she explores the idea of putting nature at the center of science and embracing the culture of our place.
’Qátuw̓as is working to bridge Western science and Indigenous knowledge through her active engagement with coastal Indigenous communities on topics of ocean observing systems, climate change, and the changing ocean. She also works with other members of the Learning and Engagement Team to bring Indigenous perspectives into both ocean science procedures and ocean science learning materials. An Augmented Reality Sandbox may be a perfect digital technology tool to inquire about geographical matters and how changes occur in the land. The AR Sandbox combines 3D visualization applications with a hands-on sandbox exhibit to teach earth science concepts. The sandbox allows users to create digital topography models by shaping real sand, which is then augmented in real-time by an elevation color map, topographic contour lines, and simulated water. The system teaches geographic, geologic, and hydrologic concepts such as how to read a topography map, the meaning of contour lines, watersheds, catchment areas, levees, and so much more! With the AR Sandbox, we can easily explore the relationship with our place and teach Indigenous knowledge through technological advancements.
AR Sandbox is the result of an NSF-funded project on informal science education for freshwater lake and watershed science developed by the UC Davis’ W.M. Keck Center for Active Visualization in the Earth Sciences (KeckCAVES), together with the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center, Lawrence Hall of Science, and ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center. All of the technical information you need, including computer details, video card information, and downloadable programs are available here: AR Sandbox- Build Your Own. AR Sandbox Educator Resources also helps teachers maximize the sandbox’s use within their lessons. One of the lessons you can find is Shaping Watersheds, which explains how to use the sandbox to learn the important relationship we all have with the flow of water. The following video by BealsScience demonstrates how to build the AR Sandbox. The white sand will act as a projector screen and the topographic map image is projected on the surface. An XBOX Kinect is positioned to read the contours of the sand and draw new topographic lines according to how the sand is moved. This augmented reality sandbox will blow your mind! For step-by-step instructions watch below…