MOTAT: STEAM cells – highly customised learning partnerships

STEAM cells: highly customised learning partnerships

A STEAM cell is not a programme or an exhibition. It’s simply the name given to the trailers that bring MOTAT Education to you. Apart from a few large objects (planes, trains, and automobiles), they can bring almost anything done at MOTAT into your school.

STEAM cells are where magic happens. Their visits are unbound by the traditional constraints of EOTC visits. Schools can negotiate both the programme length and content, and tailor the visit to suit their local curriculum and inquiry/topic. Let’s look at some examples of how this customisation can work in practice.

Try before you buy

MOTAT Education was approached by a Digital Technologies teacher, wanting to introduce new hardware alongside the Spheros she currently uses with her students. What other robots could we recommend? Did we have some robots she could try out? These conversations turned into a STEAM cell visit and ‘Robot Olympics’. We brought both Dash robots and mBots, and the teachers were able to see what they could do, and how the students responded to them before committing to a purchase.

Upskill your staff and students with new gear

Another school had recently purchased both Micro:bit and Makey Makey microcontrollers. Most staff and students had never used these products, but they had experienced programming in Scratch. We designed a workshop, using Scratch, introducing both the students and staff to the two microcontrollers. Through this experience, we built their confidence using both products.

Tailor programmes to suit your inquiry

Another common question is about programme choice. Many schools can’t see exactly which workshop will fit with their specific inquiry/topic. On a STEAM cell, we can schedule more time with each class, allowing us to smash it together! A school recently asked us to combine Inventions & Innovations, Hangarau: Ma -ori Technology, and a dash of Conservation Science. We trawled our extensive collection of objects and designed a programme to fit. We brought traditional Ta -whiti Kiore (snare traps), along with the ultra-modern, auto re-baiting, Goodnature-24 traps.

Accommodate the whole school

Schools always want the best value for money. Since the STEAM Cell trailer is there, why not give the whole school the learning experience! Recently a school did just this, securing it for five days and 19 classes. They wanted wanted to focus on simple machines, but this looks totally different to a five-year-old versus an 11-year-old. With the junior school, the team chatted about simple machines, identifying and building them. With the seniors, we created Rube Goldberg (chain reaction) machines, identifying and building the simple machines throughout.

Support students with special learning needs

A coordinator of gifted and talented students asked us to deliver a teambuilding experience for his students. The MOTAT team spent a full day with them, developing their communication and collaboration skills in our Victorian Escape Room in the morning, and working on design thinking, prototyping, and pitching ideas in the afternoon.

Another teacher wanted to introduce her students to 3D design and printing, but they find the EOTC visits overwhelming and stressful. So, the workshop went to her, allowing her students to learn in a familiar environment, at a pace that suited them.

What can MOTAT do for you?

With STEAM cells, the sky is the limit! Do you have a specific inquiry we can help you launch? Do you want to try a new product, or upskill your staff? Are there a group of schools in your area who would be willing to share the cost of a visit to your CoL? Please get in touch. The MOTAT team would love to help you plan a STEAM cell visit.

How to book

You can contact bookings@motat.org.nz or call (09) 815 5808 for a quote. For a STEAM cell visit within the greater Auckland area: • $10.00 per child, teachers and teacher aides free of charge • $200 per return trip to the school.

Multiple consecutive booked days incur only one charge Article by the MOTAT Education Team.

READY TO ROLL: STEAM CELL TRAILERS

Prepare your students for the Samsung - Solve for Tomorrow competition

Solve for Tomorrow is a nationwide competition challenging New Zealand’s next generation of innovators to unleash their creativity and use STEAM to help improve their communities. MOTAT has partnered with Samsung to deliver this awesome opportunity for your students. Schools can access a STEAM cell that covers the design thinking process, including empathy, ideation, prototyping and pitching – everything you need to put an entry together for the Solve for Tomorrow competition.