The K12 Engineering Education Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Aerospace Engineering Entrepreneur, with Mishaal Ashemimry Jan 22, 2021

Show notes

Mishaal Ashemimry is an aerospace engineer and pilot who, after working for major aerospace organizations, formed her own aerospace startup to design rockets for small, low-Earth orbit satellites. As a Saudi American, she got interested in the stars when she was young, looking up at the sky while visiting Saudi Arabia. She describes many parts of her path in this career, including love of math, starting a business, being recognized as the first female aerospace engineer in the Gulf Cooperation Council, and her role as an Arabic-speaking STEM education social media influencer. Related to this episode: • Mishaal Ashemimry’s profile: https://www.mishaalashemimry.com/ • Encarta: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encarta • Zinc and hydrochloric acid reaction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4XITC225uk • BattleBots TV series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BattleBots • FIRST Robotics Competition: https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc • NASA Marshall Spaceflight Center: https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/home/index.html • Raytheon Technologies: https://www.rtx.com/en • NERVA program on nuclear rockets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NERVA • MISHAAL Aerospace: https://www.mishaalaerospace.com/home • SBIR funding: https://www.sbir.gov/ • Article on Wired, SpaceX Engine Failure Claims Experimental Satellite: https://www.wired.com/2012/10/spacex-nasa-investigation/ • DOF (degree of freedom): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degrees_of_freedom_(statistics) • Mishaal’s YouTube channel on STEM, largely in Arabic: https://www.youtube.com/c/MishaalAshemimry Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs. You’ll also be supporting projects like the Engineer’s Guide to Improv and Art Games, The Calculator Gator, or Chordinates! Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.

What Do Equations Sound Like on the Piano? Dec 29, 2020

Show notes

Let’s make equations musical. Instead of visualizing equations on a graph, let’s listen to them on the piano, merging all our math and music knowledge. You can make two-dimensional x-y math equations audible – or sonify them – by translating the x-values to time and the y-values to the keys of a piano. If you can’t play them on the piano yourself, we can use the free web app Chordinates! by Pios Labs to do it instead. Listen to the sound of coordinates, linear equations, polynomials, trigonometric functions, and random distributions of notes on the piano, and analyze their patterns. Then take the audio review quiz at the end, complete with extended creative and technical challenges. Got your own reactions to this episode? Would love to hear your thoughts. Related to this episode: • Chordinates! beta, a free web by Pios Labs: https://www.pioslabs.com/chordinates/ • Coordinate plane, from Desmos.com: https://www.desmos.com/calculator/q8mwzeylbk • HCI Beyond the GUI, book by Philip Kortum: https://www.amazon.com/HCI-Beyond-GUI-Nontraditional-Technologies/dp/0123740177/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241987101&sr=8-1 • Google nGram viewer, for analyzing the prevalence of the words “sonify” and “sonification”: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=sonify%2Csonification&year_start=1800&year_end=2019&corpus=26&smoothing=3&direct_url=t1%3B%2Csonify%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Csonification%3B%2Cc0 Music credits: All clips used are under Creative Commons 0 Licenses, including from the following artists. • Tyler Schanck, The Wandermiles: www.thewandermiles.com • Doctor Dreamchip: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbhlcItuC6pmhhemUjhPt1w • Moz5a: www.mankus.co.uk • Sondre Drakensson: https://soundcloud.com/drakensson93 • Eathan Markson: https://soundcloud.com/eathan-markson • Don Veca: https://soundcloud.com/dveca/sets/generative-jazz • Komit: https://freesound.org/people/Komit./ • Epon Audio: https://www.patreon.com/EponAudio?fan_landing=true • Nate Ziller: http://www.nateziller.com/ • Julian Evans: http://www.julianevans.info/ Equations referenced: • y = x, https://www.pioslabs.com/chordinates/index.html?&x=x-scale-custom&xmin=0&xmax=51 • y = -2x, https://www.pioslabs.com/chordinates/index.html?&x=x-scale-custom&params=-2,0&xmin=0&xmax=51 • Linear equation, minor scale: https://www.pioslabs.com/chordinates/index.html?&m=diatonic-cminor&x=x-scale-custom&params=1,-1&xmin=0&xmax=51 • Linear equation, chromatic scale: https://www.pioslabs.com/chordinates/index.html?&m=chromatic&x=x-scale-chromatic-origin&y=y-scale-chromatic-origin • y = x^2, https://www.pioslabs.com/chordinates/index.html?f=quadratic-standard&x=x-scale-custom&params=1,0,0&xmin=0&xmax=51 • y = 16sin(x), free rhythm, https://www.pioslabs.com/chordinates/index.html?f=trigonometric-sin&r=rhythm-even-y&params=16,1,0,0 • y = 5vtan((1/2)x), free rhythm, https://www.pioslabs.com/chordinates/index.html?f=trigonometric-tan&r=rhythm-even-y&params=5,0.5,0,0 • Square wave, amplitude = 2, offset = 2, major 3rd harmony, https://www.pioslabs.com/chordinates/index.html?f=sgn-cos&h=harmony-majorthird&params=2,1,2 • y = uniform random distribution, from -23 to 28, https://www.pioslabs.com/chordinates/index.html?f=statistical-rand-uniform&params=28,-23 Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs. You’ll also be supporting projects like the Engineer’s Guide to Improv and Art Games, The Calculator Gator, or Chordinates! Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.

Modernizing Army Training in Software and Tech Nov 19, 2020

Show notes

Army Futures Command (AFC) is partnering with Austin Community College (ACC) in Texas to create a new Software Factory, which will be a software development training program for Army soldiers. Planned to start in January, it will blend training of both soldiers and civilians in newer tech practices in agile development. Maj. Vito Errico from AFC will co-lead the Software Factory, and he joins the podcast to describe its goals. Garrett Groves, Vice President of Business and Industry Partnerships, also joins the podcast to explain how ACC is uniquely aligned to support such a program. They also explain what K-12 educators should know about these plans. Related to this episode: • Army Futures Command (AFC): https://www.army.mil/futures • Austin Community College (ACC): https://www.austincc.edu/ • Maj. Vito Errico: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vito-errico-633953a8/ • Garrett Groves: https://www.austincc.edu/offices/president/cabinet/vice-president-business-and-industry-partnerships • General Assembly, example coding bootcamp: https://generalassemb.ly/ • Agile software development: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development • MVP (minimum viable product): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_viable_product • Army Futures Command announces software factory in Austin: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/austin-texas-army-futures-command-software-factory/269-d84df6b7-1c67-4470-8133-3ad892895336 • Federal Registered Apprenticeship Programs: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/apprenticeship/federal-apprenticeships Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs. You’ll also be supporting projects like the Engineer’s Guide to Improv and Art Games, The Calculator Gator, or Chordinates! Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.

How Is School Reopening Going? Oct 31, 2020

Show notes

Schools have reopened in Fall 2020 amid the COVID19 pandemic, and educators are putting in overtime to make it work. Four educators speak about their experiences getting students learning again either online or in person: Superintendent Teddy Clevinger in Bell County, Texas; engineering entrepreneurship teacher Melanie Kong in Seattle, Washington; science and engineering teacher Amy Morriss in New Orleans, Louisiana; and engineering and architecture teacher Audrea Moyers in Austin, Texas. They describe their challenges and successes as educators so far this year. Related to this episode: • Music clips from Doctor Dreamchip: https://freesound.org/people/Doctor_Dreamchip/ • Sketchup for schools: https://www.sketchup.com/products/sketchup-for-schools • Slack for distance learning: https://slack.com/solutions/distance-learning • Microsoft Teams: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software • Google Jamboard: https://jamboard.google.com/ • Are The Risks Of Reopening Schools Exaggerated? https://www.npr.org/2020/10/21/925794511/were-the-risks-of-reopening-schools-exaggerated • New Dashboard Tracks Coronavirus Cases In Schools Across 47 States: https://www.npr.org/2020/09/23/915738935/new-dashboard-tracks-coronavirus-cases-in-schools-across-47-states Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs. You’ll also be supporting projects like the Engineer’s Guide to Improv and Art Games or The Calculator Gator. Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.

Listen and Learn: Making an Audio Course in Science for Kids Aug 28, 2020

Show notes

How do you make an audio-based course to teach science topics to kids? Podcast creator, teacher, and musician Marshall Escamilla explains. Marshall is a co-creator of the highly rated Tumble Science Podcast for Kids. He drew on his podcasting experience and his years in the classroom to develop a “podcourse” for Himalaya Learning, focused on exploring the living things inside kids’ homes. In this conversation, he talks about the goals of the audio course, tips on better remote learning, free music resources for digital creators, and the response to COVID19 in his current home of Barcelona, Spain. Related to this episode: • Tumble podcast: https://www.sciencepodcastforkids.com/ • Audio course on Himalaya Learning: https://www.himalaya.com/tumble • Science Storytelling, past podcast episode: http://www.k12engineering.net/episodes/59 • Rob Dunn, scientist: https://cals.ncsu.edu/applied-ecology/people/rob-dunn/ • iNaturalist project and app: https://www.inaturalist.org/ • NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards): https://www.nextgenscience.org/ • Pokemon Go game: https://www.pokemongo.com/ • Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/ • PodingtonBear on FreeMusicArchive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear • Ableton Live, music production software: https://www.ableton.com/ • Apple Mainstage, musician production software: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mainstage-3/id634159523?mt=12 • PowerSchool, learning management system: https://www.powerschool.com/ Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs. You’ll also be supporting projects like the Engineer’s Guide to Improv and Art Games or The Calculator Gator. Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.

How Can Model Railroading Teach STEM? Jun 27, 2020

Show notes

Model railroading is uniquely primed for doing educational outreach today, says Stacey Walthers Naffah, President of Milwaukee-based Walthers. Walthers is a major model railroading company, distributing and manufacturing products for hobbyists around the world. Stacey discusses how the industry has a big opportunity to add to K-12 education, in history, science, technology, engineering, art, and math, whether it involves wifi-controlled trains or teaching kids to properly scale down 3D models. She shares that Walthers is looking for more ideas about how to partner with educators. Related to this episode: • Walthers: https://www.walthers.com/ • Profile of Stacey Walthers Naffah: https://onmilwaukee.com/market/articles/milwaukee-talks-stacey-walthers-naffah.html • Contact Walthers with ideas: ideas@walthers.com • Family business programs, Northwestern: https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/executive-education/individual-programs/executive-programs/fambiz.aspx • NSTA blog post https://www.nsta.org/resources/building-steam-model-railroads • World’s Greatest Hobby nonprofit organization: http://wgh.trains.com/ • Discovery World, Milwaukee: https://www.discoveryworld.org/ • Rail transport modelling scale standards: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rail_transport_modelling_scale_standards • Walther’s National Model Railroad Build-off contest: https://trains.walthers.com/hubfs/Walthers_How_To_Submit.mp4 Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs, or send one-time contributions by buying us coffee: https://ko-fi.com/pioslabs. Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.

How Do You Build a Career in EdTech? May 11, 2020

Show notes

These teachers know tech. Steve Dembo and Victoria Thompson teach in K-12 and are also educational technology consultants. Steve is a middle school teacher and founder of the edtech consulting and training company Teach42, based out of Chicago, and Victoria is a math teacher in Washington and consults on edtech products for different large corporations. They guested on the show to describe how they got into this career path and what the field may look like in the future. Rachel Fahrig moderated the conversation, which is the postponed live podcast panel originally planned for SXSW Edu 2020. Related to this episode: • Original SXSW Edu 2020 panel, before COVID-19: https://schedule.sxswedu.com/2020/events/PP102219 • Victoria Thompson on Twitter: https://twitter.com/victoriathetech • Steve Dembo on Twitter: https://twitter.com/teach42 • Teach42: http://www.teach42.com/ • Microsoft Educator Center: https://education.microsoft.com/en-us • ISTE, International Society for Technology in Education: https://www.iste.org/ • Discovery Education: https://www.discoveryeducation.com/ • Schoology: https://www.schoology.com/ • Microsoft Teams for Education: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/education/products/teams • Jennifer Jeffries on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jennthetutor • Adam Yankay on Twitter: https://twitter.com/itsamry • Zoom for Education: https://zoom.us/education • Pear Deck: https://www.peardeck.com/ • Oculus Go: https://www.oculus.com/go/ • Oculus Quest: https://www.oculus.com/quest/ Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs, or send one-time contributions by buying us coffee: https://ko-fi.com/pioslabs. Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.

Green Chemistry Invention in K-12 Apr 11, 2020

Show notes

The nonprofit Beyond Benign specializes in developing and disseminating educational resources in green chemistry – like how to create bioplastics, or thinking about a full product life cycle – and two guests from Beyond Benign joined the podcast to talk about it. Janie Butler is the K-12 Program Manager for the organization, and Eric Nash is a high school teacher while working as Lead Teacher for Beyond Benign. Originally scheduled to present at the SXSW Edu 2020 Conference in Austin, Texas, they discussed how chemistry and design can be integrated into the K-12 classroom, why this is important, and more. They also brainstorm ways to teach green chemistry even amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Related to this episode: • Beyond Benign: https://www.beyondbenign.org/ • Jane Butler: https://www.beyondbenign.org/people/butler-janie/ • Eric Nash: https://www.beyondbenign.org/leadteacher/nash-eric/ • SXSW Edu planned program: https://schedule.sxswedu.com/2020/events/PP100780 • Lemelson MIT: https://lemelson.mit.edu/ • JV InvenTeams: https://lemelson.mit.edu/jv-inventeams • Beyond Benign YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi8gIkJHo7mo0P0gLtfM6Dg Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs, or send one-time contributions by buying us coffee: https://ko-fi.com/pioslabs. Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.

Shelter in Place, Go to School Mar 31, 2020

Show notes

Rachel describes how her small Texas school district can function in the middle of COVID-19. As a school district administrator, she has to organize many major actions in this crisis, ranging from meal distribution to bolstering cybersecurity as teachers transition to online learning. Her team still must wrestle with many new questions as they come back from Spring Break. Related to this episode: • Austinites making face masks: https://www.kut.org/post/austinites-make-face-masks-help-fill-need-hospitals-face-shortages • Remind: https://www.remind.com/ • Google Classrooms: https://classroom.google.com/u/3/h • Istation: https://www.istation.com/ • Prodigy: https://www.prodigygame.com/ • Education Galaxy: https://app.educationgalaxy.com/ • Google Voice: https://voice.google.com/ • FERPA: https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html • Google Hangouts Meet: https://gsuite.google.com/products/meet/ •Mister Rogers on the Kennedy assassination: http://neighborhoodarchive.com/articles/20131122_violentimages/index.html •Mister Rogers after September 11: https://www.biography.com/news/mister-rogers-september-11-2001 • Preventing Zoom-bombing: https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-prevent-zoom-bombing Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs, or send one-time contributions by buying us coffee: https://ko-fi.com/pioslabs. Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.

Teach the Geek to Speak Mar 26, 2020

Show notes

As a biomedical engineer in orthobiologics, Neil Thompson still had to do a lot of public speaking. He was a self-professed awful public speaker, but then he worked hard to improve his skills. Now he wants to teach other STEM professionals the same public speaking strategies he learned, so they can get better like he did. Neil talks about best practices for public speaking, his father’s influence on his education, and his children’s book on the science of black hair. Related to this episode: • Neil Thompson: https://teachthegeek.com/our-teachers/ • Teach the Geek: https://teachthegeek.com/ • Toastmasters: https://www.toastmasters.org/ • What’s orthobiologics: https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/treatment/helping-fractures-heal-orthobiologics • Ask Uncle Neil: http://askuncleneil.com/ • Teach The Geek on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW-8BcMcqnJLAYOhJtwy5wQ Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs, or send one-time contributions by buying us coffee: https://ko-fi.com/pioslabs. Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.

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