Overview
The world around us is a fascinating place, and while it can be useful to learn the facts about how everything works, the phenomenon of wonder and asking good questions is just as important! This week, we invite everyone to take a break from their computers for a bit and to instead focus your energy on observing the world around you. For example, what can you learn about the home you live in? How does sunlight move through your window? What patterns do you notice about the people who live with you? What does your pet do at night?
We want to encourage you to spend this week thinking about the questions you have about your surroundings, the Earth and sky, and about yourself! What observations can you make about the world around you? Can you find something in or around your home that you think is special or unique? How would you demonstrate to someone else what you’ve picked?
How many questions about our world can you come up with after a week of making observations? We can’t wait to see what you discover and hope that you will share your observation journey using either our forums or on social media using #MITFullSTEAM (with parent permission).
Have fun observing!
This week is all about sharing your questions and observations! Don’t forget that you can either share your observation journey using either our forums or on social media platforms using #MITFullSTEAM (with parent permission).
Make sure you scroll to the bottom for additional activities.
Activities
| Tracing Shadows (K – 5, 6 – 12) | |
| In this investigation, you will explore the daily and seasonal patterns of the Earth and Sun through observations that are easy to do at home. | |
| A World of Wonder (All Grade Levels) | |
| Having trouble making it outside? No problem. Here are three examples of phenomena that you can make observations about right now! | |
| Organism Observations (All Grade Levels) | |
| Observing behaviors is a great way to learn more about the world we live in. So what can be learned about the living creatures in and around our homes? | |
Share
This week is all about sharing your questions and observations! Don’t forget that you can either share your observation journey using either our forums or on social media using #MITFullSTEAM (with parent permission).
Forums
Expert Insights
Introduction – Observing the World Around Us with Professor Penny Chisholm
Activities
| Moon Observations (All Grade Levels) | |
Are you willing to put yourself in the shoes of ancient scientists and make a daily habit of observing the sky? What might you notice about the moon, sun, and stars? How might you confirm your hypotheses without the luxury of modern day tools and references? Take the opportunity to look out with fresh eyes and no specific aim or goal. Be open to be surprised! Learn more about Professor Elizabeth Cavicchi’s class “Recreate Experiments from History: Inform the Future from the Past: Galileo” that she teaches at MIT here on MIT OpenCourseWare. | |
| Viewing Venus (K- 5, 6 – 12) | |
| In this investigation, you will track the position of Venus in the evening sky and think about how Venus and Earth move relative to each other and to the Sun. Right now (April 2020) is a great time to observe Venus because it gets high enough in the sky to see it even if you live near buildings and trees! | |
| En-ROADS Climate Change Solutions Simulator (6 – 12) | |
If you were in charge of all of Earth’s energy supply and resources and could adjust them as you wanted, what would you do? The En-ROADS simulator will let you do just that. A transparent, freely-available policy simulation model, En-ROADS demonstrates the likely consequences of altering energy, economic growth, land use, and other policies and uncertainties with the goal of improving understanding of those who use it. A wide range of people have used En-ROADS, including members of the U.S. Congress, local community groups, the UN Secretary-General’s Office, university professors around the world, and many others. What results can you observe from the changes you make? More resources for using the EnROADS simulator can be found here. There is also a student assignment for the EnRoads Simulator that you can access here. Note, that it does require some preparation. | |
| Management Simulation Games (6 – 12) | |
In addition to playing with simulations, why not turn them into games? These management simulation games bring an experiential aspect to learning about complex systems. What observations can you make about the way players behave when they have different roles?
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Share
This week is all about sharing your questions and observations! Don’t forget that you can either share your observation journey using either our forums or on social media using #MITFullSTEAM (with parent permission).
Forums
Uncover the world around you by partaking in the PLIX (Public Library Innovation Exchange) Urban Ecology activities! These activities were originally developed for a public library setting, but can easily be run by anyone, including families at home! Included here are three workshops designed to facilitate the development of landscape literacy and environmental appreciation through hands-on exploration and creation.
Learning Goals
By creating this series of activities, we aim to:
- Provide learners of all ages with new skills to observe the ecologies of cities and suburbs.
- Facilitate the development of a critical eye—fit for detecting environmental challenge, nuance, and phenomena—as well as an ability to imagine more safe and equitable futures for city development.
- Cultivate a reverence for and love of place—adding value to mundane or familiar landscapes.
- Leverage local environments as living, dynamic classrooms for fostering landscape literacy.
Activities
| Sensory Nature Walk (K – 8) | |
In this workshop, we will work to establish a keen eye—and nose, ear, and hand—when evaluating the qualities of our living world. We will use these observational skills moving forward in our continued exploration of the urban environment. | |
| The Tangible Ecosystem (K – 8) | |
| In this workshop, we’ll learn how to highlight abiotic (nonliving) and biotic (living) factors as the key actors in the urban environment. We will understand how these environmental components interact, as well as how they are related, to form unique ecologies associated with your local community. | |
| Understanding Urban Soils (K – 8) | |
In this workshop, we will begin to understand the diverse functions and roles of soils—the foundation of all terrestrial ecosystems—and the types of life they support. We will learn to categorize various soils and the species contained therein, and begin to unravel how urban environments shape soil structure and function. | |
Additional Resources
- Urban Ecology Reading List
- Urban Ecology Video list
- Urban Ecology Collaborative Playlist
Share
This week is all about sharing your questions and observations! Don’t forget that you can either share your observation journey using either our forums or on social media using #MITFullSTEAM (with parent permission).
Forums
Activities
| Hack Your Snack (All Grade Levels) | |
| We all regularly choose and consume food, making food a part of our everyday life. How can we use science as “tool to wonder with” in order to think about the food we eat and the effect it has on us. Here, we’ll use the ideas of tapping into the potential energy that the body has stored as a result of food and converting the potential energy into kinetic energy during exercise. | |
| Observing What Actions You Can Take with the MIT Climate Actions Calendar (All Grade Levels) | |
As we consider what values are important to ourselves and make observations about our actions, we can also look to what other people are doing to make changes in the environments they live in. Check out the MIT Climate Action Calendar to learn about what actions you can take on a daily basis!  Additionally, there are two podcasts you can listen to learn about examples of students who observed their environments and made actual change in their communities. First, in this episode of the Climate Conversations podcast, learn about YouthCAN, a climate action network designed by and for high school students below. Next, in this episode of TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate), learn about three guests who have made acting on climate a big part of their lives, including a high school student who was successfully able to organize a campaign to convince her city to move towards sourcing electricity from 100% carbon-free sources (also check out the Earth Week Challenge which Linda Cheung, the second guest here, discusses). | |
| Guided Meditation For Checking In With Yourself (All Grade Levels) | |
These basic, guided meditations with Dr. Mette Miriam Böll can be used throughout the day in all kinds of settings. She writes, “When you get up in the morning to allow some peace and quiet into your day, when you find yourself overwhelmed with emotions or chores during the day or if you find yourself in a conflictual situation you always have the option of stopping, become aware of your body and your breath and spend a little time noticing how you feel and calm yourself down. You may stay with the silence for a while and journal for yourself to allow the reflections and inner landscape to become expressed and acknowledged. Enjoy.” To learn more about the work she and Prof. Peter Senge do with the Center for Systems Awareness, click here to read a report on their Compassionate Systems Framework in Schools. Questions: How am I today? Where do I feel a sense of connectedness with other human beings? Questions: How am I today? What am I grateful for? Questions: How am I today? What is something that I would like to conserve and anchor for me in times of change? | |