Dear Families,
Over the next few weeks, we will be celebrating what it is to be a trailblazer. Families and educators, we hope you know that you are trailblazers. You have learned how to adapt to new situations and work together to educate your children. Thank you for your dedication.
This week, we are focusing on people who created something new and special, usually which served the purpose of helping people. Helping people is a big part of what you do every day. This school year may be very new in the approaches to teaching and learning, but you’ve got this and you’ve got us.
On that note, we will be offering new educator training sessions focused on PBS resources, health and nutrition, smart energy education, and more! Please keep an eye on our KLRN Events Page to learn more and register for upcoming sessions which are, as always free.
Also, there is a fun new addition to our newsletter called Family Activity. Each week in the Family Activity section, we will share an activity that the whole family (little ones and older kiddos alike) can enjoy together. We are here for you. Thank you for all that you do.
With appreciation,
KLRN Education Team
education@klrn.org
Here are fun learning activities on the theme of Trailblazers: Engineers and Innovators for your child of any age!
Infant Toddler Engineers and Innovators Activities
- Puzzle Playen espanol Juego de rompecabezas
Puzzles can help develop and build cognitive skills such as visual memory, spatial relations, and problem-solving.
Los rompecabezas pueden ayudar a los niños a desarrollar sus habilidades para resolver problemas y las relaciones espaciales. - Shape Playen espanol El juego de las figuras
Arrange the shapes in different ways to build pictures. Can you engineer a house? A boat? A tower? An airplane?
Las matemáticas están en todas partes, incluso en la casa. - Practice Matching Shapes With a Block Blueprint
Trace blocks and have your child match the pieces to the shapes.
Preschool Engineers and Innovators Activities
- Planning and Building a Structure for a Favorite Toy
Build a structure for a special object such as a stuffed animal or toy car. - Take Flight With a DIY Kite
Building a kite is a great way to explore wind and how it moves things. - Engineer a Rocket Ship
Using paper and string, your child will create a pulley system that sends a gliding rocket ship soaring through space.
Elementary Engineers and Innovators Activities
- Think TV: David and Kayleen Design a Glider
In this video storybook from Think TV, friends David and Kayleen build toy airplanes and learn about aerospace engineering. Through this video, children can learn about the design and structure of airplanes and gliders, and are encouraged to understand the innovation process. - Igloo 101
This interactive activity from NOVA challenges students' knowledge of igloo construction. The quiz format includes questions concerning where igloos were traditionally built, the best type of snow for building, and the shape on which these traditional Canadian Inuit structures were modeled. Detailed explanations provide further insight into how these ingenious snow shelters enabled entire families to survive brutal Arctic winters. - Technology Over Time
In this interactive activity adapted from A Science Odyssey, learn how technology in the home has changed through the years. Scroll through a timeline from 1900 to 2010 to explore technological innovations in the home (such as phonographs, telephones, refrigerators, radios, televisions, and computers), and read about how they were developed and adapted and how they changed the way people live.
Middle & High School Engineers and Innovators Activities
- Game to Learn
Learn how changing technology, innovation, interactive gaming and e-learning all combine to transform a line of data on the screen into what is known as serious gaming. If kids love to spend hours on video games, why not make video games that teach? It turns out North Carolina is the gaming industry's east coast hub. Watch as game designers demonstrate how to build a video game backed with higher level thinking. Ask students to use a computer simulation to model the impact of proposed solutions to a complex real-world problem with numerous criteria and constraints on interactions within and between systems relevant to the problem. - Deciding Your City’s Energy Future
Students learn about fossil fuels and renewable energy sources to help them decide which type of energy should be used to power a city’s electric grid in the coming decades. In this interactive lesson, students watch videos adapted from NOVA: Treasures of the Earth: Power and analyze data provided in graphs and maps concerning the availability, cost, reliability, and environmental impact of different energy sources. They use what they learn from the lesson materials to make an evidence-based argument that supports their decision. - The Design Process
Engineers use a series of steps called the design process to solve a problem. In this resource, featuring video segments excerpted from DESIGN SQUAD, watch teams of kids work through each of the five steps of the design process: 1) identify the problem; 2) brainstorm; 3) design; 4) build, test, evaluate, and redesign; and 5) share solutions. - Hedy Lamarr: Women in World War II
Discover the role of women in World War II in this video from the American Masters film Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story. Hedy Lamarr invented frequency hopping—a technology that could have provided a significant advantage to the United States military in the war—but the Navy shelved her idea and told her to sell war bonds instead. By selling war bonds, she engaged in something deemed more appropriate for a woman, especially a glamorous actress. In this resource, students explore the opportunities open to women during the war through discussion questions, a background essay, a student handout analyzing primary sources, and other tips for extending learning. - Planning Your Future in Advanced Technology
In this media-rich, self-paced lesson, students explore the range of industries that produce and rely on advanced technology and learn how their skills and interests may align with career opportunities in this cutting-edge sector. The lesson contains videos that feature professionals describing their work and educational experiences, and provides details on the different college-level programs that prepare tomorrow’s workers for the industries’ challenging and well-paying jobs. The lesson concludes with activities that students can complete to help them more clearly define their goals and plan pathways to rewarding careers.
We hope you enjoyed some of these activities. If you follow KLRN on your facebook account please be sure to share your activities and use the #KLRNeducates and #KLRNLearnatHome tags.
Tune in next week for more learning fun with your favorite PBS Kids programs.