Module 4.1: Physical Computing: Makerspaces at Schools

Coding for Trout Movement

Video Link

For this activity, students in my Coding for the Environment elective coded a Scratch data collection program to count the number of trout movements within a given time period.

We started the elective by coding Microbit to collect data on the conductivity of different materials and solutions, based on a project developed at CMK 2025. I planned to have students code in Microbit to track trout movements. However, after working at the Franklin Lab with Jaymes and Sarah, I decided that Scratch would be a more straightforward tool for students to use.

They helped me to code a program that would record movements in a data log using video sensing in Scratch. We set up a bar graph that visualized the increase of trout movements at 5 second intervals.

They also helped me to code a list that correlated the number of movements at a specific amount of seconds. The colon allows me to paste it into two columns of a spreadsheet more easily.

I adjusted the code to be able to:

Record and Visualize Events in that might impact trout activity:

Change the heigt of the graph so that the bar never reached beyond the top limit of the screen.

I also changed the costumes of my sprites to be a trout and single-eyed egg.

In Class:

I shared the following basic code written with help at the Franklin Lab:

We went over the different parts of the code and how it used video sensing to track trout movements with students. We brainstormed how we could alter the code to make it more efficient and effective.

List of questions to guide student coding:

• Can multiple sprites contribute to the same data log?
• Can one sprite that fills the entire screen work as well as multiple sprites?
• Which sprite shape works best?
• What movement level is most effective at catching increased trout movement?

Students spent the first class working on building codes based on their brainstorming session.

Gallery of Student Work

Video Link: Trout monitor with Sprites that move when touched by trout.

Challenges:

Time is the biggest challenge when leading long-term projects in elective classes. These classes are the first to get cut for assemblies and sports, so students are often absent. We also have absences due to farm trips, and this year, in-school suspensions. It was hard to find consistency with the group and feel like we were moving forward each week.

Successes:

The students engaged with the lesson and were able to iterate on the basic that I shared. Each code produced different movement data which helped to facilitate a conversation about which pieces were the most effective at capturing accurate data.

If given the opportunity to work with trout again next year, I would figure out how to set up a monitor to collect data over a longer period of time and test my initial question, “Do trout become more active during specific classes in the multipurpose room?”

Reflection:

Did you bring several disciplines together in your own teaching? Do you collaborate with teachers in other disciplines? What are the opportunities and challenges.

I often collaborate with teachers in other disciplines, both to help scaffold and offer different viewpoints on subjects and to keep it fun for myself and my colleagues. The opportunities created by collaboration are infinite, but one that sticks out is the generation of new ideas for teaching content. Collaborating with teachers of different disciplines offers insight into their teaching methodologies, and I always come away with new views of my teaching habits. Another positive experience I encounter every year is the opportunity to learn about the different ways in which students are being challenged to think about subjects. For example, in our interdisciplinary mammal study, 8-9s write Porquois stories and Spanish puppet shows. They come to science class with so many ideas about their mammals and inquiries driven by the thinking that they’re doing in the other classes.

Challenges I’ve encountered during collaborations are keeping pace as a teaching team and finding time to plan together.

How do you envision a makerspace in your school? How does it look like? If you have one already, how would you modify it.

Right now, we have basic digital fabrication equipment (a 3-D printer, a 20W diode laser, and woodshop tools) and are seeking funding for a full makerspace. I want to add more powerful equipment and upgrade our computers and iPads to handle newer software.

After the definiton of computational thinking? Are you somehow using computational thinking in your teaching? How? Do you think you can take advantage of computational thinking? How?

I do use computational thinking in science in the sense that students are engaging in critical thinking about data points and using it to infer and make design or experimental choices. After this course, I would like to continue to find opportunities to integrate coding and environmental data collection with my science classes. Integrating computational thinking with citizen science projects would be an interesting way to engage students in hybrid science / tech exploration.