Heading to Boston and NSTA 2014
Our education team is headed to Boston this week for NSTA 2014. Please stop by our booth and see what we've got going!
I can't believe it was a year ago that our team went to NSTA 2013 in San Antonio. It was such an awesome experience to show off making, building, and electronics to teachers at NSTA - we decided that NSTA 2014 was a must!
Over the past year, we've developed a number of really strong relationships in the science and STEM community. Among the strongest has been: our partnership with Vernier Software and Technology and the recent release of the Vernier / Arduino Shield; our support of CASIS and their pilot launch of a National Design Challenge in Houston involving teachers building science experiments on-board the International Space Station (ISS) with ArduLab, an Arduino-based experiment platform for space; and our recent work with Intel Labs and their new Galileo platform.
If you're in Boston, please stop by the exhibit floor and see our new demos using Scratch & PicoBoard for Science, High Altitude Weather Balloons, our Vernier Shield and integration with their sensors, Makey-Makey, and a fun easy-to-teach paper circuits demo.
We are running a total of 7 workshops (two of which were kindly donated by our friends at KidWind). Come and check-out our sessions. They will all be hands-on, interactive, and a wealth of fun!
NSTA 2014 - Boston
MakerScience and Arduino
Thursday, April 3 2:00–3:30 PM & Thursday, April 3 4:00–5:30 PM Location: Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, 106
In this hands‑on workshop hosted by SparkFun Electronics, learn how to teach basic concepts of electricity and circuits, program a microcontroller, and integrate making, building, and inventing into your classroom. We will introduce simple electronics and programming tools, we will demonstrate how to integrate “play” with science and engineering to create authentic and lasting learning experiences.
Simple Programming Tools to Enhance Student Engagement
Friday, April 4 12:00–1:30 PM & Friday, April 4 2:00–3:30 PM Location: Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, 106
Processing is a simple, easy‑to‑learn open‑source programming language used by artists, scientists, mathematicians and gamers. Integrating this tool into your classroom will empower your students to create simulations, models, and data visualizations. This hands‑on workshop will culminate in designing your own data collection dashboard.
Data Collection with High-Altitude Balloons
Friday, April 4 4:00–5:30 PM Location: Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, 106
Design and build a high‑altitude balloon with SparkFun Electronics. This engaging project introduces tools for real‑world science and data collection. We will build a weather balloon, add instrumentation, and launch it (tethered, for safety, of course) in Boston to characterize temperature, humidity, and pressure as a function of height.
SparkFun: Scratch–ing the Surface of Programming
Friday, April 4 8:00–9:30 AM & Saturday, April 5 2:00–3:30 PM Location: Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, 151A
Scratch is an open-source application developed at MIT to teach students as young as five years old to program using drag and drop blocks. Your students can quickly create interactive animations, games, or presentations for school. We will uncover an often overlooked feature of Scratch and integrate external sensors and inputs through our PicoBoard. Learn to build data collection, graphing, and visualization in Scratch! Come see what new activities and lessons you can do to enhance leamìng for your students.
