Mr Lee the Art Teacher Is Having the Students Create a Mural

The Attention-Grabbing Intro

How well practise yous recollect your start high school physics class? The only thing I call back was dropping an egg off of some bleachers and trying to make a device that protected that egg so that it would not crack. I besides remember that there was some math involved and I call up I might not have been too happy almost that. Other than those memories, I cannot remember anything from that class! Pitiful, Mr. Hanlon!

Science was non my favorite subject in high school. In fact, information technology wasn't until my late 20s that I fell in dear with scientific discipline and changed careers. Earlier that I couldn't have cared less about it, just that'south another story. This story is well-nigh how I molded art, research, dimensional analysis, and SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) into an engaging projection in a high school physics class.

I'm non a big fan of the traditional considering tradition hasn't washed me whatever proficient in life and definitely didn't do me any good in high school. Therefore, I feel chosen to create experiences for my students that they will retrieve—experiences that would take excited me as a teenager. I experience that these experiences should non just teach them something, merely also do the post-obit:

inspire them
brand them think virtually the universe differently
teach them how, not what, to think
encourage them to wonder nigh the unknown
create a desire to respond the deepest questions
imagine the impossible.

Inspiration for the Project and the Drake Equation

The inspiration for this project came last summer during my first visit to the SETI Institute in Mountain View, CA to meet with my new PhD advisor, Franck Marchis. During this visit, I was drawn to the Drake equation artwork in the anteroom's archway. I first learned well-nigh the Drake equation years agone when I went back to schoolhouse for scientific discipline and was immediately fascinated by the thought of SETI and the idea of looking for life elsewhere in the cosmos.

The Drake equation , created by Frank Drake, former director of the Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute, is not an equation in the traditional sense, only a way of organizing the focus of SETI researchers seeking an answer to North, which is the possible number of civilizations in our milky way that could have detectable advice. There are vii factors in the equation that, when multiplied together, yield a likely answer for N. That value varies greatly depending on which researchers you talk to.

Drake equation: N = R * f p n eastward f l f i f c Fifty

The Idea

I wanted to begin this schoolhouse yr with a fun and engaging project that would also allow me to get to know my students and build a strong customs for the yr. The idea that I initially had after my visit to the SETI Constitute was to accept all my students paint a mural of the Drake equation on the exterior wall of my tenth-grade loftier school physics course at the MIT Academy in Vallejo, CA.

I discussed this thought with another scientific discipline teacher at my schoolhouse, Michael Wee, and he suggested I consider having them pigment on dissever wooden boards to make the mechanics of the whole project simpler, and also mobile. It turns out that the number of groups I have in each of my five physics classes equals the full number of letters in the Drake equation (8) so I could have each group focus on ane letter. Perfect!

Wee's idea as well made the project more interesting because it meant that I would have five different groups across each section working on the same board for each alphabetic character at different times. I believe obstacles should be turned into opportunities and this was a perfect one for some major creativity!

The Mechanics of my Drake Equation Mural Projection

Teachers, this is your lesson plan if yous want to effort it out!

Here's a crude outline of the projection:

Accept each group describe from a hat to select their Drake equation alphabetic character
Individuals in each group behave independent inquiry on the equation and their group's letter of the alphabet
Individuals in each group share their research inside their group
Groups begin on their design using whiteboards
Groups communicate with other groups with the same letter from other sections to share ideas and attempt to concord on a design
Each grouping from each section paints their ideas on their letter of the alphabet's board
Each group presents their board to their class and shares what they learned and how they connected with other grouping's designs
Hang boards on exterior of physics classroom
Learn about dimensional analysis and accept each student use the Drake equation to come upward with their own estimate for N (my class is currently in this footstep)

For step two above, I had students work individually to enquiry the Drake equation as opposed to me attempting to tell them virtually it. I'1000 trying to get in a addiction to have the students construct their own cognition versus me trying to give it to them because I find that works much better!

For their research, I had students compile their research in Google slide presentations with the following:

One slide with several bullet points on their research about the Drake equation as a whole. E.chiliad. what is it, what does it practise, why is it important?
A second slide with research specific to their group'south letter (N, R * , f p , due north east , f l , f i , f c , or L). Pupil groups with Northward would double up on research on the whole equation and try to give a more thorough and wide overview of what the Drake equation is.
At least ii additional slides, each with a collage of pictures found on the Internet to help inspire ideas for brainstorming
One final slide with references

Look, something cool happened in the middle of their enquiry time!

Franck suggested that we effort to get some SETI researchers to have a alive videoconference with my classes to talk about how their work contributes to the Drake equation. The response from the SETI Institute was fantastic and we were able to get ane SETI researcher to videoconference with each of my sections!

We used Zoom to accept the following researchers videoconference with my physics classes: Pascal Lee, Franck Marchis, Douglas Caldwell, Margaret Race, and Dana Backman. This was very heady for both me and my students. Many of my students told me that they had never experienced this, i.e. having a professional scientist videoconference their class.

The researchers were instructed to innovate themselves, talk broadly well-nigh what the Drake equation is, discuss how their work contributes to the equation, and and then hold a Q&A with the students. The students were instructed to take notes and each group had to have one question prepared beforehand. Students were immune to use these notes in their enquiry slides.

Sharing research and art in a physics class?!

Later the research was complete, each educatee shared their enquiry slides on their Chromebooks using the round-robin educational activity strategy . Next, they used whiteboards to brainstorm their designs and took pictures of their ideas to share with other sections via online collaboration tool, Padlet .

Students were told that the goal of each group'due south pattern was to include what they had learned in their enquiry, and to earn higher scores they needed to find a creative way to accept their design connect with what other groups were designing. This blazon of non-linear thinking is exactly what makes the "A" in STEAM then important.

STEAM may be the substance rising under the collars of traditional educators reading this blog post, just it is also a progressive new initiative in science education. STEAM is the rebranded scientific discipline education buzzword of STEM (scientific discipline, technology, engineering science, and mathematics), but with the improver of an "A" for the arts. So what place exercise the arts have in a physics class, or any scientific discipline class for that matter?

Robert Root-Burnstein studied Nobel Prize winning scientific "geniuses" betwixt the years 1902 and 2005 and found that they were skilful not only in the sciences, but also in the arts (State 2013)! There has also been research suggesting that art can actually improve students' power to call up science concepts (Hardiman et al. 2019).

Research aside, I have personally seen positive results from using art in my classroom. Students engaged in this project non only had to paint a landscape of each letter involved with the Drake equation, but as well had to research the equation and their letter in depth, incorporating their learnings into their pattern.

I believe the very act of painting something you learned near creates a deeper and more intimate learning experience for a educatee. This can be seen by looking at the finished product, only was also achieved when I heard some of the presentations and realized that these students were talking more than intelligently nearly the Drake equation than I or other professionals could!

The Results

The energy generated past students creating these boards was similar nil I had ever experienced in my classroom. Students were engaged and working in teams and across teams. They were running around the room mixing paint, checking in with what other groups were doing, having discussions with me and each other about the Drake equation, and most chiefly they were having fun!

Here are the boards!

Artwork past 10th grade physics students of Mr. Peluso (2019-2020). Photo by D. Peluso.

Artwork by 10th form physics students of Mr. Peluso (2019-2020). Photo by D. Peluso.

Due north: the number of civilizations in our milky way with which advice is possible

Every equation needs an equal sign!

**R*: germination rate of stars suitable for the development of life**

fp: the fraction of those stars with planetary systems

ne: the number of planets in those systems that have an surroundings suitable for life as we know it

fl: the fraction of those planets that develop life

fi: the fraction of those planets with intelligent life

fc: the fraction of planets with intelligence that create a technology that releases signs of their existence into space

L: lifetime of civilizations releasing detectable signals into space

Drake Equation Mural Video Walkthrough

Next steps and concluding thoughts

I ended upward calling the unit that did this projection Creativity in Science . Besides the Drake equation mural project, nosotros also discussed why creativity in science is important—e.g. how Einstein's creative way of thinking about space and time revolutionized physics, how Richard Feynman developed his Nobel Prize-winning idea of quantum dynamics subsequently looking at a spinning plate during luncheon in a deli at Cornell, or how NASA engineers used creativity to save the lives of the Apollo 13 astronauts by "fitting a square scrubber into a round hole."

In addition to these discussions and others on neuroscience and a growth mindset, we also had a lot of fun discussing the idea of finding aliens and painting a course mural. In our current unit, Science, Skepticism, and Measurement , students are learning dimensional-analysis skills and volition before long apply them to develop their very own estimates for the Drake equation.

The mural will alive on the outside of my physics classroom for the rest of this academic year as a postage stamp of the community nosotros congenital inside. That stamp includes creative ideas and expression, cultural backgrounds, questions nigh the universe, imagination, and wonder. Nosotros volition render to the Drake equation again in unit of measurement The Universe Lab: Electromagnetic Waves , when I promise to take my students use some remote telescopes to conduct their own search for communicating civilizations in our galaxy.

Peradventure my students and I will solve the Drake equation. Peradventure we'll contribute to it in some way. We're unlikely to contribute any meaningful information, simply perhaps later one, or a few, of my students will be amongst the starting time to make one of the virtually important discoveries in history—finding an respond to the question of whether or non we are alone in the cosmos.

Peradventure, instead of dropping eggs the style I did when I was their historic period, another few volition look up at a star at night subsequently in life and remember this project and remember virtually the possibility of life around i of those stars. Possibly this inspiration will influence them to write a striking song, a blockbuster movie, or solve earth conflict because, hey we'll all on this pale blue dot together .

Regardless of what happens in the hereafter, we tried something new, had some fun, learned about some interesting concepts, got to talk with some of the summit scientists at the renowned SETI Found, learned how to employ an equation with more variables than any other physics form normally has, and did all that while making some actually cool-looking art!

I'm very proud of what my students accomplished in this projection and I'grand proud of myself for taking the run a risk of trying something new. Please have risks likewise. There are so many peachy ideas in your head, if y'all just let them out and share the galaxy will exist a better place for us all, even if we're the simply ones in it.

NGC 7331. Epitome courtesy of NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

References:

Cox, J How to Utilize the Round Robin Give-and-take Educational activity Strategies , TeachHUB.com, viewed 15 September 2019, <https://www.teachhub.com/how-employ-round-robin-discussion-instruction-strategies>.

Drake Equation SETI Institute viewed 15 September 2019, < https://www.seti.org/drake-equation-index >.

Hardiman, MM, JohnBull, RM, Carran, DT & Shelton, A 2019, 'The effects of arts-integrated education on memory for science content', Trends in Neuroscience and Education , vol. 14, pp. 25-32.

Land, MH 2013, 'Full STEAM Alee: The Benefits of Integrating the Arts Into STEM', Procedia Informatics , vol. 20, pp. 547-52.

Madden, ME, Baxter, Chiliad, Beauchamp, H, Bouchard, Yard, Habermas, D, Huff, M, Ladd, B, Pearon, J & Plague, G 2013, 'Rethinking STEM Instruction: An Interdisciplinary STEAM Curriculum', Procedia Computer Science , vol. 20, pp. 541-6.

Stevens, AP 2019, Art can make science easier to remember , Science News for Students, viewed fifteen September 2019 <https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/art-can-make-science-easier-remember>.

Tillman, J Artistic Connections STAMPS School of Fine art & Design viewed xv September 2019 <https://stamps.umich.edu/artistic-work/stories/creative-connections>.

About the Author:
You can read more well-nigh the author and explore his work on his personal website, www.danielopeluso.com . You can too follow him on Twitter @astropartydan .

Dan Peluso

Dan Peluso is an astrophysics PhD candidate with the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) studying/researching remotely from Vallejo, California. Dan's PhD projection is multi-disciplinary focusing on NASA TESS exoplanet follow-ups and astronomy education to develop a global exoplanet citizen science network at education centers. In addition to his PhD work, Dan has taught high school scientific discipline and equally the new SETI Institute Unistellar Education Associate is exploring creating an exoplanet citizen science curriculum for educators with the Modeling Instruction teaching combined with student/teacher gathered observations with Unistellar eVscopes. Dan also enjoys photography, music, motion-picture show, and is an active vocalist-songwriter and musician. You can read more than virtually him and explore his work on his personal website, www.astropartydan.com. Y'all can likewise follow him on Twitter @astropartydan

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Source: http://cosmicdiary.org/dpeluso/2019/10/02/drake-equation-mural-in-a-high-school-physics-class/