Explora Science Center and Children’s Museum of Albuquerque, New Mexico has used kits and activities from The NISE Network for many years, but educators are still finding new and creative ways to use the network’s extensive resources. Explora’s education staff has recently been inspired to incorporate The NISE Network’s What is Learning Conversation Starter deck into family programs during the school year.
Explora educator Isa Tafoya has been using the What Is Learning cards for a warm-up activity during every session of this semester’s Engineering Investigators class for 3-5th grade. The activities have ranged from get-to-know you discussions to creative design challenges. For the first week, the students selected one card that they liked, for any reason, and when introducing themselves shared the card they chose and why. Later in the semester, when students were creating model rooms, they each selected a random card and drew a blueprint for a room related to that card.
One student in the class, J, imagined and drew a pottery studio based on the card he selected, complete with a pottery wheel and clay storage. During class that day, he designed and started building his model room out of recycled material such as paper towel tubes, bottles, and boxes. An important planned feature of the room, he said, was a closet for his stuffed turtle’s tie, which he had designed and created in an earlier class.
The NISE Network’s What is Learning Conversation Starter is an ice-breaker activity for informal science educators to start a discussion about the many forms that learning can take. The 62-card deck features photos depicting different scenarios, places, and people. Isa said she loves to use prompt cards like these to spark imagination and ease “white-space anxiety” when starting new projects with students.
Explora is grateful for our partnership with The NISE Network and all of the resources they provide for hands-on science discovery!
Download the What is Learning Conversation Starter cards free; information is provided for printing your own cards in various sizes: https://nisenet.org/learningcards
In addition, check the NISE Network's What Values Do You Share? Conversation Starter cards: https://nisenet.org/valuescards
Both activities are part of the NISE Network's STEM Learning Ecosystems resources: https://www.nisenet.org/stem-learning-ecosystems