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Mineral Mayhem: Using Engineering to Teach Middle School Earth Science (Resource Exchange)

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Conference

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Columbus, Ohio

Publication Date

June 24, 2017

Start Date

June 24, 2017

End Date

June 28, 2017

Conference Session

Pre-College: Resource Exchange

Tagged Division

Pre-College Engineering Education Division

Page Count

3

DOI

10.18260/1-2--28670

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/28670

Download Count

515

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Paper Authors

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Holly Miller Riverside Intermediate School

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Holly Miller is a 6th grade STEM teacher at Riverside Intermediate School. She is the recipient of the Mike Neden STEM Champion award, a state finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching, and the 2016 Teacher of the Year at her school. As an International STEM Fellow, Holly travelled to China in 2016 to observe STEM practices.

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Tamara J. Moore Purdue University, West Lafayette (College of Engineering) Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-7956-4479

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Tamara J. Moore, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering Education and Director of STEM Integration in the INSPIRE Institute at Purdue University. Dr. Moore’s research is centered on the integration of STEM concepts in K-12 and postsecondary classrooms in order to help students make connections among the STEM disciplines and achieve deep understanding. Her work focuses on defining STEM integration and investigating its power for student learning. Tamara Moore received an NSF Early CAREER award in 2010 and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2012.

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Aran W. Glancy University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

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Aran Glancy is a Ph.D candidate in STEM education with an emphasis in Mathematics Education at the University of Minnesota. He has experience teaching both high school physics and mathematics, and his research focuses on supporting mathematics learning, specifically in the domains of data analysis and measurement, through STEM integration and engineering. He is also interested in mathematical modeling.

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Emilie A. Siverling Purdue University, West Lafayette (College of Engineering)

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Emilie A. Siverling is a Ph.D. Student in Engineering Education at Purdue University. She received a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and she is a former high school chemistry and physics teacher. Her research interests are in K-12 STEM integration, primarily using engineering design to support secondary science curricula and instruction.

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Siddika Selcen Guzey Purdue University, West Lafayette (College of Engineering)

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Dr. Guzey is an assistant professor of science education at Purdue University. Her research and teaching focus on integrated STEM Education.

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Amanda C. Johnston Purdue University, West Lafayette (College of Engineering) Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0001-5737-7798

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Hillary E. Merzdorf Purdue University, West Lafayette (College of Engineering)

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Elizabeth Suazo-Flores Purdue University, West Lafayette

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Elizabeth Suazo-Flores is a Ph.D. candidate in Mathematics Education at Purdue University. She is a former secondary mathematics teacher graduated from a Chilean university. Elizabeth's research is centered on mathematics teachers' knowledge. Currently, she is exploring a middle school mathematics teacher's practical knowledge using personal experiential research methods.

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Murat Akarsu Purdue University, West Lafayette (College of Engineering) Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-5883-5911

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Abstract

Mineral properties and identification tests provide the basis for this engineering-driven STEM unit to be presented in the P12 Resource Exchange. The Mineral Mayhem unit places middle school students in the role of engineers. Built on the real-world premise of a cargo train derailing from its tracks, students will complete an engineering challenge to design a process to sort minerals that have been spilled into a lake. As they learn about mineral properties and the value of non-renewable mineral resources, students will use this information to support evidence-based reasoning as they make design decisions. In addition, there are components of research and mathematical reasoning in thinking about cost-benefit analysis and in considering the physical property of density, including how to calculate and represent mass, volume and density in different ways. Students will also strengthen their communication skills by creating a presentation to explain their process and justify their decisions, aiming to convince a client that their process is the best option.

This unit was created as part of the [Blinded Name] project, which is an engineering, design-based approach to teacher professional development that has 50 teachers per year designing curricular units for science topic areas related to the Next Generation Science Standards. The project includes summer professional development and curriculum writing workshops, paired with coaching, to allow teams of teachers to design engineering curricular units focused on science concepts, meaningful data analysis, and measurement. Each unit goes through an extensive design research cycle to ensure its quality and is published in an online format. This unit has been field tested in an additional round of classroom implementation and one of the teachers will be present to present the curriculum and her experience during the resource exchange. Curriculum and kit materials for the unit will be on display so that participants will be able to visualize the unit.

Miller, H., & Moore, T. J., & Glancy, A. W., & Siverling, E. A., & Guzey, S. S., & Johnston, A. C., & Merzdorf, H. E., & Suazo-Flores, E., & Akarsu, M. (2017, June), Mineral Mayhem: Using Engineering to Teach Middle School Earth Science (Resource Exchange) Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--28670

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2017 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015