Youth programs at Do Space feature projects involving hardware, software, critical thinking and life skills that promote technology and digital literacy in members aged preschool through age 18.
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Category Archives: Learning Opportunities
#34: The San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo is a beautiful 100-acre wildlife park that is home to more than 12,000 rare and endangered animals representing over 680 species and subspecies.
Spark your thinking!
1. Set up your social studies mini spark recording page: #34: The San Diego Zoo
OPTIONAL: Print this recording page to use for this mini spark
2. Do you know where San Diego, California is? It’s waaaaaaay at the bottom of California – check it out on the map. On your recording page, write 5 facts that you found while looking at the map.
3. Divide your recording page into 3 sections. Choose 3 letters of the the alphabet and label each section with one of the letters you picked.
4. San Diego has an incredible zoo. You can meet and learn about just about any animal from A-Z at their website! Visit the San Diego Zoo! For each letter that you picked, research an animal that starts with that letter. For each animal record five to ten facts.
5. Share your social studies mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.
Check out Save the Animals or Roaring Keynote at the EY website.
#45: Khan Academy Reading Course
Inside Khan’s Grade 2-10 reading & vocabulary courses, you’ll find: several units, each with a mix of practice exercises, fun and insightful video instruction, and vocabulary articles.
Spark your thinking!
1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #45: Khan Academy Reading Course.
2. The courses are set up in units and each unit has several lessons.
3. Choose the grade level that fits you. If you need help deciding, ask your teacher to help.
4. On your recording sheet, add the grade level you choose.
5. If you want, you can take the course challenge before you start (pre-test). When doing the course challenge, if you don’t know an answer, just click skip and move on.
6. To earn this mini spark complete at least 3 lessons. Add your lesson scores to your recording page.
7. Would you recommend this learning resource to other students? why or why not. Please record your opinion on your recording sheet.
OPTIONAL: Khan Academy also has a grammar section for you to explore.
8. Share your language arts mini spark recording page and visual with your teacher/EY coordinator.
Early Enrichment #44: Virtual Field Trips!
With everyone learning from home, there are some amazing teachers out there who have shared awesome resources!
Below is a link to a google doc a teacher created and shared that has many virtual field trips to check out.
When you’ve visited one of the sites, comment below about the favorite thing you saw!
#74 Fibonacci Fun
The Fibonacci Sequence
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144
What do these numbers have in common? What pattern do you see? These numbers are a part of what is known as the fibonacci numbers. Fibonacci numbers are found by adding the two previous numbers. So the number after 144 would be 233. The Fibonacci Sequence is a simple sequence of numbers that anyone can learn!
Spark your math thinking!
- Set up your math mini spark recording page: #74 Fibonacci Fun
- “Too much of the mathematics we learn in school is not effectively motivated.” ~Mathemagician Arthur Benjamin. Watch his TED Video about the Magic of Fibonacci Numbers. Take notes on your recording page.
3. Watch this Numberphile video about Random Fibonacci Numbers. Take notes on your recording page.
4. Then, try the activity he explains in the video using a coin. Record your project. My sons Toby and Trevor and I recorded ourselves doing the activity here:
5. Read about the Fibonacci Sequence at Math is Fun. Recording 3 details on your recording page.
6. Create a interesting way to show what you have learned from this math mini spark. Add it to your recording page.
7. Share your math mini spark recording page and your project with your teacher/EY coordinator.
#33: I Have a Dream
“I Have a Dream” is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, in which he called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States.
To celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , this post is challenging you to dream as well.
Spark your thinking!
1. Set up your STEAM mini spark recording page:#33: I Have a Dream
2. There are three art choices for this mini spark. Make an I have a dream image, mobile, or vision board. Read about each one below. On your recording page write a short summary for each.
3. Decide which one you will do and gather your supplies.
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Cloud Template link
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6. Share your STEAM mini spark recording page and your project with your teacher/EY coordinator.
#33: Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Celebrated on the third Monday in January, Martin Luther King Day is a national holiday that honors the United States’ most famous civil-rights activist.
Spark your thinking!
1. Set up your social studies mini spark recording page: #33: Martin Luther King, Jr.
2. Watch the following video.
- Start the video.
- When you hear a date or a number mentioned, pause the video.
- Write down the date or number.
- Include a brief explanation of what it means.
- Resume the video when you are ready.
3. The Lorraine Motel, in Memphis, Tennessee, where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, is now the National Civil Rights Museum. Click on the video below to take a virtual tour of this museum. While watching the narrator talks about events and there is also information written on the screen. Pause the video as needed. Write a 1-2 sentence summary of each of outlined events: the Montgomery bus boycott, the student sit ins, and the Memphis sanitation strike.
4. Watch this short video.
What small act of kindness or act of service can you do to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.?
5. Share your social studies mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.
#44: I Have a Dream
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a civil rights activist in the 1950s and 1960s. He led non-violent protests to fight for the rights of all people including African Americans. He hoped that America and the world could become a colorblind society where race would not impact a person’s civil rights. He is considered one of the great orators of modern times, and his speeches still inspire many to this day.
Spark your thinking!
1. Set up your language arts mini spark recording page: #44: I Have a Dream
2. Add this information to your recording page
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Occupation: Civil Rights Leader
- Born: January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, GA
- Died: April 4, 1968 in Memphis, TN
- Best known for: Advancing the Civil Rights Movement and his “I Have a Dream” speech
3. Read about Martin Luther King, Jr. at National Geographic Kids. Add a short summary for each section to your recording sheet.
4. Read this article and add 5 details to your recording sheet.
5. Read these Interesting Facts about Martin Luther King, Jr. On your recording sheet add 3 more facts that you found in your research.
- Dr. King was the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a national holiday.
- At the Atlanta premier of the movie Gone with the Wind, Martin sang with his church choir.
- There are over 730 streets in the United States named after Martin Luther King, Jr.
- One of his main influences was Mohandas Gandhi, who taught people to protest in a non-violent manner.
- He was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- The name on his original birth certificate is Michael King. This was a mistake, however. He was supposed to be named after his father who was named for Martin Luther, the leader of the Christian reformation movement.
- He is often referred to by his initials MLK.
6. Take a quiz to see how much you learned about this great man! Record your score on your recording page.
7. OPTIONAL Read or listen to Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. After reading/listening to the speech, record your thoughts on your recording page.
8. Share your language arts mini spark recording page and visual with your teacher/EY coordinator.
Early Enrichment #43: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Today, January 20th of 2020, we celebrate the life/work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Read this article from Wonderopolis about who Martin Luther King, Jr. was and what he did:
https://wonderopolis.org/wonder/Who-Was-Dr.-Martin-Luther-King,-Jr.
If you could change something about the world, what would you change? Respond in the comments section below.
#73: Codes Are Cool
01000011 01101111 01100100 01100101 01110011 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01000011 01101111 01101111 01101100 00100001
in English, Codes are Cool!
Do you have your own secret code that you use with your friends? Do you like writing notes to people? Do you like to write in a diary? Do you like solving puzzles and finding patterns? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you might want to check out this math mini spark.
Spark your math thinking!
1. Set up your math mini spark recording page: #73: Codes Are Cool
2. Go to https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/number/ascii-to-binary.html and type in a sentence in English. Then tap the convert button to translate your message to binary. Add the sentence and the binary code this to your recording page.
3. Learn about the Pigpen cipher (also known as masonic cipher, Freemason’s cipher, Napoleon cipher, and tic-tac-toe cipher) by watching this video. Take notes on your recording sheet.
4. Write a message using what you learned.
5. Learn about the Caesar Cipher by watching this video
6. Create a message for someone else to figure out. Be sure to include the shift number!
7. Share your math mini spark recording page with your teacher/EY coordinator.
Check out this badge at the EY Website
