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Primary - Field of Mars. The Tin Forest A strong message in the Tin Forest is that with dreams and hard work anything is possible and changes for the better can be made. By changing habits and making choices, the amount of garbage we put out to be sent to landfill can be reduced. Waste and recycling student research links Ollie Recycles – this site explains how to Reduce, Re-use and Recycle waste Where does my recycling go?

Waste and recycling teacher links Why Recycle – hosted on TaLE, this interactive learning object explores the benefits of recycling Your Rubbish Pile: Reduce Your Pile – this interactive learning object is hosted on TaLE Storm Boy Storm Boy is set in the Coorong, a complex lagoon ecosystem in South Australia where the Murray River empties into the Southern Ocean. Murray-Darling Basin and water consumption student research links Murray-Darling Basin – good source of information with maps and images Use of Murray River water - how Murray River water is allocated and used The Story of Rosy Dock Stellaluna.

3D Making

Play Citizen Science! | Citizen Science Dev. GLS Studios - Games. Welcome to Forbes. Having a ball with code: Can Sphero inspire the next generation of developers? This is a software world: things we used to do with hardware are now handled by low-cost processors. But that means we need more and more developers to write and maintain that code, but where are those developers coming from, when we're also told that the current educational system isn't teaching the essential skills needed to write code? Luckily for the modern world there's something of a renaissance in the educational technology world and in the teaching of the basic building blocks of the computing. You can start with visual programming environments like Kodu, and move on to more complex low-cost computing platforms like Raspberry Pi. But they're only part of the story. More and more our world is becoming one where we're interacting with smart devices: not only that, it's one where devices are talking to each other.

That’s where a new generation of programmable objects is coming in. I’ve been playing with Orbotix's Sphero for the last week or so. Orbotix/Sphero-Mac-SDK. Osmo. Orbotix/Sphero-Mac-SDK. Having a ball with code: Can Sphero inspire the next generation of developers? Orbotix launches Sphero education initiative. The creator of smartphone-controlled robotic toy Sphero has launched an initiative aimed at teaching kids programming, robotics and maths.

Orbotix — the company behind the robotic Sphero and Ollie toys that can be controlled via iOS and Android apps — has announced the launch of SPRK, an education initiative aimed at using Sphero to teach kids essential knowledge such as programming, maths and science while having fun. SPRK — pronounced "spark" and standing for "Schools, Parents, Robots, Kids" — consists of an eight-week program with free, downloadable lessons to be used with free apps for iOS and Android — MacroLab, with which you can create programs and macros for Sphero using presets, and orbBasic, which lets you write your own programs.

The lessons start with very basic MacroLab lessons, moving up into the more complicated programming, with lessons that teach speed, distance and time; geometry; and percentages. Introduction to orbBasic | Sphero. Introduction Back in April 2011 when I was laying out the memory map of Sphero, co-founder Adam Wilson asked me to set aside some sort of "overlay area" in which temporary routines could be dynamically dropped in for execution. I considered various options and weighed their risk against implementation in a sealed robot. Eventually I pulled out my old copy of Microsoft Basic Decoded book to take a look at how Bill Gates had written his BASIC language on the 8-bit TRS-80. After a weekend of review and a lot of coffee, I settled on using Adam Dunkel's source code for µBasic and bolted it into Sphero.

I fixed a number of inherent bugs, extended the language greatly by adding new intrinsic variables, operators and verbs while optimizing the tokenizer, verb dispatcher and adding a line number cache. orbBasic, like the macro executive, is another powerful resource that Sphero provides for autonomous behavior and integration with smart phone applications. Macro Lab Tutorials. Sphero For Education - Details. What you play with inspires who you become.

With Sphero, the fun extends to the classroom too. With over ten different programming environments, kids as young as eight years old can learn how to program Sphero. Using Sphero as an interactive and engaging tool brings core class work off the paper into real life application. Basic math and engineering classes just got upgraded for the mobile generation. Outside the Classroom Anyone can program Sphero. In the Classroom Sphero is the perfect fit for students and teachers in the classroom. And of course, there’s the programming. Looking for lesson materials? We would love to get your students set up with Sphero and answer any questions you may have. Examples of How Sphero Can Work: Elementary School: Middle School: Algebraic Word Problems – use Sphero to bring word problems to life. High School: College: Special Offer for Educators We will contact you to verify your association with an educational institution.

For Teachers - Makers Empire. Squishy Circuits Kit: Toys & Games. MaKey MaKey | Buy Direct (Official Site) Lessons. Kano - Make a Computer. SPRK Education Program. Scott Steinberg: 20 Must-use Education Technology Tools. Educators may feel sometimes like they’re on an island with little help in sight. But as technology teaching resources go, it may encourage you to learn that there are a number of online solutions available to help promote education from teaching reading basics to organizing classroom activities and encouraging civic involvement.

Here are 20 of the most promising new apps, websites and online education technology tools or services every teacher should be using to help improve classroom learning: Collaborize Classroom — A free online collaborative platform designed to complement classroom instruction with additional activities, assignments and discussions that can be accessed online. Cool Math — A collection of games that are designed to be safe to use in the classroom, covering a variety of math subjects as well as reading, science and geography. DoSomething.org — With a new call-to-action every week, DoSomething.org encourages teens to band together and work for positive social change. 13 Great Resources for Finding Free Public Domain Books. April 27, 2014 We all love to cuddle up with a good book and read a chapter or two before we fall asleep. That was before the massive uptake of ebooks and the widespread of ebook readers and tablets. Now that life becomes excessively digitized, digital reading is virtually the norm.

The importance of digital reading, not only for us but for our students as well , is well documented in the education research literature. As Malloy and Gambrell (2006) pointed out, the future is already here: " Many elementary students are already adept at searching and surfing, using reading and spelling in ways not explicitly taught. Reading online is not only something that many students do in their leisure time but is also a skill they will need to develop as they learn to research and create in their middle school years and beyond.

" (p. 482). One important form of digital reading is reading ebooks. 1- Google Books There is no other platform that would top this list other than the powerful Google Books. Presence, Not Praise: How To Cultivate a Healthy Relationship with Achievement. By Maria Popova Why instilling admiration for hard work rather than raw talent is the key to fostering a well-adjusted mind. Despite ample evidence and countless testaments to the opposite, there persists a toxic cultural mythology that creative and intellectual excellence comes from a passive gift bestowed upon the fortunate few by the gods of genius, rather than being the product of the active application and consistent cultivation of skill. So what might the root of that stubborn fallacy be? Childhood and upbringing, it turns out, might have a lot to do.

Nowadays, we lavish praise on our children. Grosz cites psychologists Carol Dweck and Claudia Mueller’s famous 1998 study, which divided 128 children ages 10 and 11 into two groups. Ultimately, the thrill created by being told ‘You’re so clever’ gave way to an increase in anxiety and a drop in self-esteem, motivation and performance.

I don’t praise a small child for doing what they ought to be able to do,’ she told me. Share on Tumblr. The Ten Best Videos about Climate Change « Sustainability Hub. Google Docs Adds-Ons For Students: These 5 Will Help You Write A Paper. Word-processing for students has long been the domain of Microsoft Word. The recent release of add-ons is making Google Docs an appealing free option. The five add-ons we are about to meet have the potential to become quick favorites for people working on research papers, essays, and collaborative projects. But, are they good enough to make Google Docs the go-to option? Google Docs won’t be toppling Word from the top of the heavy-duty text-editing list anytime soon, but add-ons like these will help keep it in the list of best alternatives to Office.

While Docs add-ons aren’t yet living up to their full potential, these five show promise and, with a few rounds of updates, could become indispensable tools for students. Document Navigation: Table of Contents If you’re working on a really long document, like a thesis, it can be hard to find the exact section or paragraph that you’re looking for during editing. Adding Charts: Charts Collaboration: Track Changes Editing: Consistency Checker. Adobe Generation.

Workshops for students

Creativity. 9 Coursera Courses To Improve Yourself & Your Career. While it’s tempting to learn as much as you can, your time is limited and you can only cram so much information into your head. Coursera is an online platform for massive open online courses (MOOC) offered by legit universities and free of charge. You can essentially get a university level education without spending a dime, unless you want to earn a specialization certificate . Choose wisely from this selection of upcoming and past courses to improve yourself and your career. Health & Self Improvement Nutrition, Health, and Lifestyle: Issues and Insights Status: started on January 20th, 2014 and remains open to access course materials Synopsis: Jamie Pope from the Vanderbilt University will equip you with the knowledge and tools to better understand and evaluate what you hear and read about nutrition.

Effort: 7 weeks at 2 – 4 hours per week Nutrition and Physical Activity for Health Status: starts June 16th, 2014 Effort: 6 weeks at 3 – 5 hours per week Career Development Creative Problem Solving. Emerging Trends & Technologies in the Virtual K-12 Classroom. Royal Life Saving WA Training - Bronze Medallion Requalification - Lifesaving. Courses for Success Australia - Nationwide Daily Deals and Discounts. Advanced Diploma in Photography (V2) & Photoshop, online - Online Courses - Courses For Success. Discover a Fun New Hobby or Kick-Start Your Career Today! The Advanced Diploma in Professional photography (Version 2) with Photoshop, is a comprehensive online instructional course, perfect for new and amateur photographers who want to learn how to take outstanding photos or make a career out of photography.

You will learn everything from the basic controls of using your camera up to advanced techniques to capture professional looking photos. We also cover Photoshop Techniques. Developed by professional photographers and accredited Photoshop teachers this course is delivered online and consists of 27 online video based instructional units that are easy to follow and understand, making learning fun and enjoyable! The average time required to complete the course is 8 weeks part time (however you can take as long as you need as there is no expiry date on course access, you have unlimited lifetime access to the course) Course Fast Facts: How to study online course? Entry requirements Open entry.