Office of College and Career Readiness

Massachusetts Creativity & Innovation Initiative

Curriculum Design Projects, 2014-2015 Fund Code 189

Massachusetts Department ofElementary and Secondary Education

75 Pleasant Street, Malden, Massachusetts 02148-4906 Telephone: (781) 338-3000

TTY: N.E.T. Relay 1-800-439-2370

May 19, 2015

Colleagues:

When we foster creativity and innovation skills for our students, we are creating a strong foundation for their future success. Creativity is an essential college and career readiness skill that can be developed by schools. In that spirit, the Massachusetts Legislature affirmed its belief in the importance of creativity to our economy and our youth by providing funding in the fiscal year 2015 budget for school districts to undertake projects designed to foster students’ capacity for creativity and innovation.

This booklet describes the work of eleven school districts that received grant funding to integrate creativity and innovation with the academic and vocational/technical standards of the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. Led by district teachers and administrators, these projects have also engaged the creativity and commitment of mentors from business, government, universities, museums, and other community organizations. Working with these adults, students have seen for themselves how professionals in many fields use creative and analytical thinking in their careers.

In this collection of projects, you will find examples of what creativity researcher Ken Robinson means when he writes,

Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value.

These projects give students and the adults who collaborate with them opportunities to “think outside of the box,” conduct research, delve into community issues, and devise collective solutions to making their world a better place. Students also learn to understand and value the process of creativity and learn to see themselves as creative thinkers. As designer and educator David Kelley of IDEO, a global design and innovation consulting firm with a Massachusetts office, writes,

Creativity is not the domain of only a chosen few.

I want to thank the educators, community members, and students for the dedication and imagination they brought to this work. I am confident that this booklet will be useful to the many people who care about the quality of public education in the Commonwealth.

Keith WestrichDirector, Office of College and Career Readiness

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Creativity & Innovation: Curriculum Design ProjectsTable of Contents

Massachusetts Creativity and Innovation Initiative 4Background Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School 5 Discover, Design, and Build

Science and Technology/Engineering, Arts, English Language Arts/Literacy, Mathematics

Berkshire Hills Regional School District 6 Student Design Institute

Science and Technology/Engineering, Arts, MathematicsBoston Day and Evening Academy Charter School 7 HipHop Nation: US History

History and Social Science, English Language ArtsBrookline Public Schools 8 Putt Putt: a STEAM-based 9th Grade Project

English Language Arts/Literacy, Science and Technology/Engineering, MathematicsCambridge Public Schools 9 Interactive Ecosystems

Science and Technology/Engineering, Arts, English Language Arts/LiteracyGeorgetown Public Schools 10 Creativity, Inspiration, and Innovation

Science and Technology/Engineering, Mathematics, Arts, English Language Arts/LiteracyLowell Public Schools 11 STEM Learning Gardens

Science and Technology/EngineeringMilton Public Schools 12 Mars Rover Design Challenge

Science and Technology/EngineeringNorth Adams Public Schools 13 Exploring My Career with Real World Math and Physics: Projectile Motion

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Mathematics, Science and Technology/Engineering, English Language Arts/LiteracyWoburn Public Schools 14 Rethinking LEGOs: Robotics Space ChallengeRobotics and the 4C’s: Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity

Science and Technology/EngineeringWorcester Public Schools 15 Students as Teachers: Reaching Our Community through Innovative Arts Projects

Arts, English Language Arts/Literacy, MathematicsAcknowledgements 16

Massachusetts Creativity & Innovation Initiative Background

In 2012 the Massachusetts Legislature established a Commission to Develop an Index of Creative and Innovative Education in Public Schools. This Commission was charged with producing a report on ways to strengthen creativity and innovation in elementary and secondary education across the Commonwealth. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Office of College and Career Readiness continued this work from 2013 to 2015 by developing resources for teachers and by establishing the Massachusetts Creativity and Innovation grant program. The purpose of this grant was to provide school districts an opportunity to foster students' creativity and capacity for innovation, skills critical for success in a 21st century economy. Funding supported the design and implementation of middle and high school curricula that promote creativity and innovation skills while improving students' academic achievement and engagement with school and the community. The curriculum units described in this booklet are models that may be adopted or adapted by other teachers or schools. 

Districts developed and refined their curriculum designs using the Massachusetts Rubric for Projects and Units that Foster Creativity and Innovation, http://resources21.org/forum/creativityrubric.asp, which is based on a review of research about how creativity develops and can be strengthened in educational settings. The Rubric’s five dimensions are:

Alignment with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks Learning Environment

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Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things.

Steve Jobs, CEOApple Computer

Time and Resources Classroom, Community, and Career Connections Reflection and Assessment

The Massachusetts Creativity/Innovation Rubric was adapted from the EQuIP Quality Review Rubric for Lessons and Units, http://www.achieve.org/EQuIP, used in Achieve’s professional learning project called Educators Evaluating Quality Instructional Products.

DISTRICT PROJECTSThis booklet provides short descriptions of middle and high school projects funded in the 2014-2015 school year. Sidebar quotations and images on each project page are taken from the district’s curriculum units.

Complete project materials are available on the Creativity and Innovation Forum of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Contextual Learning Portal, http://resources21.org/cl/creativityintro.asp.

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DISCOVER, DESIGN, AND BUILDBERKSHIRE ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY CHARTER PUBLIC SCHOOLADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS

Teachers, grade 9-12 students, and mentors from the General Dynamics Engineering Leadership Program built a year’s curriculum around design challenges that integrate mathematics, engineering, physics, visual arts/digital media and service to the community.

At the beginning of the year, student teams learn how to use technology to create models. Their school lab setting includes a 3-D printer, 3-D scanner, laser cutter, large format printer, and design and modeling software.

Students work with town planners and landscape architects to develop prototype solutions for sections of Greylock Glen, a 1,050-acre tract of scenic land in the Town of Adams. A section of the Greylock Glen Master Plan is shown below. They learn about the site’s geology and history, examine why some previous development plans failed, and gain understanding of the environmental, economic, and cultural issues in public land use design. Their culminating projects are models and media presentations of their site designs for consideration by town and regional planners.

Direct website link to this project: http://resources21.org/cl/contextual.asp?projectnumber=490.3789

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“STUDENTS WERE ASKED TO RECOGNIZE THAT

PERCEIVED FAILURES CAN BECOME A NEW

UNDERSTANDING – TO BECOME ‘TURN- IT-

AROUND THINKERS’.”

STUDENT DESIGN INSTITUTE MONUMENT VALLEY MIDDLE SCHOOL BERKSHIRE HILLS REGIONAL SCHOOLSSTOCKBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

How can technology and design help us create a future that is sustainable and responsible?

This is one of the questions that 7th graders at rural Monument Valley Middle School encounter as they use design and engineering in a curriculum modeled on the Future Cities competition.

Working in teams and using 3-D printing technology, students create models of smart new ways of providing healthy food to a densely populated city in the year 2050. They consider critical elements needed to grow and distribute food, such as light, climate, air quality, water, soil, nutrients, labor, transportation systems, and the markets for locally-grown food.

Students keep individual journals and are responsible for photo-documenting the evolution of their designs and uploading their photos daily to a class photo-sharing account. Their final oral presentations are evaluated by scientists, ecologists, and planners from the community.

Direct website link to this project: http://resources21.org/cl/contextual.asp?projectnumber=484.975

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“We have worked hard in the past few years to move towards a more student-directed learning environment. We begin by making connections between disciplines, but ultimately we want the students to be driving those connections.

We think a MakerSpace, in which students are collaborating to make something, and are forced to go through an iterative design process, is the ideal space to begin making these connections.”

HIPHOP NATION: US HISTORYBOSTON DAY AND EVENING ACADEMY CHARTER PUBLIC SCHOOLBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

An alternative urban public charter high school, Boston Day and Evening Academy (BDEA) serves students who need extra help or who are over age for high school but are eager to come back to school to earn their diplomas.

The HipHop Nation curriculum unit presents topics of social, cultural, and political importance, including globalization. Students learn how African Americans shaped the blues, jazz, and rock and roll music and invented HipHop, a musical style that influences popular music throughout the world.

They examine music as a form of protest against social and economic inequality from the 1970s to the present. As they create lyrics, poems, narratives, essays, and multimedia presentations, students also learn about careers in writing and media production. Interacting with HipHop artists teaches them about careers in music and dance.

Learning outside the classroom takes place in a visit to a professional recording studio in Boston and on a tour the birthplace of HipHop in New York City’s Harlem and South Bronx.

Finally, students consider constitutional rights of free expression as they research legal opinions on the admissibility of rap lyrics as evidence in a court of law and hold a debate in class before panel of guest judges.

Direct website link to this project: http://resources21.org/cl/contextual.asp?projectnumber=486.0646

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“WE IDENTIFIED THIS TOPIC BECAUSE WE FELT IT WAS RELEVANT TO STUDENTS’ LIVES AND INTERESTS AND ALLOWED US TO ENGAGE WITH SOCIAL ISSUES SUCH AS SEXISM, RACIAL STEREOTYPES, POLICE BRUTALITY, AND FIRST AMENDMENT ISSUES.”

PUTT PUTT: A STEAM-BASED 9TH GRADE PROJECTBROOKLINE HIGH SCHOOLBROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS

Brookline High School’s title for its 9th grade project is an indication that one of the aims of this course is to make students aware that applied design is all around us, including places where we go for recreation. The outcome of the project is a temporary miniature golf course composed of 28 holes designed, constructed, and installed by students for the enjoyment of the community.

Students learn challenging 9th grade math and physics concepts and skills and then apply these skills as they design the miniature golf holes and course. For example, students need to be able to make scale drawings and models prior to construction. They need to be able to find missing side lengths of right triangles using angles of elevation and depression in order to construct ramps for their golf hole designs.

In the course of their work, students collaborate in teams and learn to give and receive critical feedback as they interact with one another, their teachers, and design professionals from the NuVu Studio in Cambridge and the Waterworks Museum in Boston.

Direct website link to this project: http://resources21.org/cl/contextual.asp?projectnumber=499.768

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“Students will explore these questions: How do math and physics relate to real-world scenarios and how do conditions in the real world drive or restrict design?

Hands-on experiential learning will be linked to content standards as part of instruction.

Each group of students will be creating a mini-golf course hole for a real life mini-golf course that will be open to the public at the end of the school year for a period of play and feedback.”

INTERACTIVE ECOSYSTEMS CAMBRIDGE STREET, PUTNAM AVENUE, RINDGE AVENUE,& VASSAL LANE UPPER SCHOOLSCAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

Interactive Ecosystems is the result of a continuing relationship between the Cambridge Public Schools and Lesley University’s Creative Commons. The 6th grade science unit explores how students use technology to understand and show relationships within ecosystems.

The curriculum strengthens these skills: Reading, writing, and research Using data for scientific analysis Visual observation and scientific illustration Programming using open-source software Creative problem-solving

Students use free software to complete their projects. Scratch 2.0 is web-based software developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. The EcoMUVE Ecosystems simulator software, developed by the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is available to be downloaded to individual computers.

Artist mentors from the Creative Commons at Lesley University in Cambridge provide guidance on scientific illustration and computer animation techniques.

Direct website link to this project:http://resources21.org/cl/contextual.asp?projectnumber=501.7819

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“THROUGH OBSERVATIONAL

DRAWING, PAINTING, AND DESIGNING,

COMPUTER CODING, AND BASIC CIRCUITRY, STUDENTS DESCRIBE

RELATIONSHIPS AMONG AND BETWEEN

ORGANISMS IN ECOSYSTEMS.”

CREATIVITY, INSPIRATION, AND INNOVATION GEORGETOWN HIGH SCHOOLGEORGETOWN, MASSACHUSETTS

At Georgetown High School, all 9th

graders take a course designed to make them ponder the nature of creativity, explore divergent thinking, consider the factors that inspire or inhibit creativity, and practice innovative thinking.

The year begins with exercises in visual design, writing, and improvisation that build students’ awareness of creativity. Next, students must identify a significant need or problem and

propose an original product or service to solve that problem. They apply science, math, and writing to make a

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“CREATIVITY, INSPIRATION, AND

INNOVATION BUILDS ON THE CONCEPT THAT THE

GLOBAL ECONOMY IS DRIVEN BY INNOVATION.”

prototype of the product or a prospectus for the service, communicate through online blogs, and script and produce video “infomercials” about their proposed solutions for an end-of-year Creativity Showcase. The course develops students’ understanding of creative potential, and strengthens their ability to articulate complex ideas with confidence.

Working with college student mentors from Suffolk University’s Entrepreneurship Program, students also learn about the practicalities of marketing, accounting, management, and making business plans for launching their creations.

Direct website link to this project: http://resources21.org/cl/contextual.asp?projectnumber=483.1783

STEM LEARNING GARDENSSTOKLOSA, WANG, DALY, AND PYNE ARTS MIDDLE SCHOOLSLOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS

Middle school students in Lowell are learning first-hand how vegetables grow as they help build raised gardens, prepare soil, plant seeds, observe and care for plants, harvest crops, and eat the fruits of their labors. The district’s partner, Mill City Grows, a non-profit organization than organizes community as well as school gardens, brings healthy food directly to families by way of free farmers’ markets. Students from Middlesex Community College and the University of Massachusetts Lowell UTEACH Program participate in curriculum design and teaching.

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“THE FOCUS OF THE WORK IS TO DEVELOP A CURRICULUM FOR EACH OF OUR MIDDLE SCHOOL

LEARNING GARDENS THAT INCLUDES

STUDENTS IN ACTIVE ROLES OF STEM-BASED

LEARNING AND STEWARDSHIP.”

New sequential science curricula centered on the school gardens focus on food webs and the relationships between plants and animals in grade 5; soil and its relationship to plants and animals in grade 6; water and its relationships to plants, animals, and water in grade 7; and, in grade 8, energy – where it comes from and what it does for plants, animals, and the habitats that students have studied in during middle school.

Direct website link to this project: http://resources21.org/cl/contextual.asp?projectnumber=482.6358

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“MARS HAS LONG SPARKED CURIOSITY IN STUDENTS YOUNG

AND OLD. ITS REDDISH TINT AND THE PRESENCE OF

POLAR ICE CAPS AND PERMAFROST JUST

BELOW THE SURFACE LEAD TO INTRIGUE

ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY THAT

LIFE ONCE EXISTED THERE.”

MARS ROVER DESIGN CHALLENGEPIERCE MIDDLE SCHOOLMILTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Seventh graders and their teachers use LEGO Mindstorms EV3 curriculum and materials (Make it Move, Make it Smart, Make it a System) in a project that integrates the study of Earth and space science with design engineering.

The project was developed by the Milton Schools in partnership with the Christa McAuliffe Center at Framingham State University. Students analyze NASA images of Mars, such as the photograph below, to find information about the surface of the planet and identify a potential landing site for a rover. Through online simulations and a visit to the McAuliffe Center, they learn about how scientists on Earth communicate with a rover on Mars.

With this knowledge, teams of students collaborate to design, build, and program a rover so that it could move about on Mars and use sensors. The teams

document their work and make a video specifically tailored for a 4th grade audience.

Direct website link to this project: http://resources21.org/cl/contextual.asp?projectnumber=493.6475

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EXPLORING MY CAREER WITH REAL WORLD MATH & PROJECTILE PHYSICS DRURY HIGH SCHOOLNORTH ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS

Drury High School’s recent self-evaluation revealed a need for a stronger focus on college and career development. This led guidance counselors and business, mathematics, and science teachers to redesign existing curriculum units to help students think critically and creatively about connections between their personal interests, college aspirations, careers, and mathematics and science.

In Exploring My Career with Real World Math, students select a career, research the costs of college or post-secondary training needed to enter the field, and weigh the costs against the benefits of potential salaries and quality of life associated with the career.

Direct website link to this project: http://resources21.org/cl/contextual.asp?projectnumber=494.6699

In Projectile Physics, pairs of students design and conduct an experiment using projectile equipment and create multimedia presentations on their findings for a panel of physics professors from Williams College and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

Direct website link to this project: http://resources21.org/cl/contextual.asp?projectnumber=492.4566

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“Key Questions for Exploring My

Career with Real World Math:

What career am I truly interested in?

Can I afford to pursue this career?

Will this career benefit me financially?

Key questions for Projectile Physics:

How are science, technology and

engineering advanced in

society?

How do you develop and test a

hypothesis?

How are math and science related?”

RETHINKING LEGOS: ROBOTICS SPACE CHALLENGE& ROBOTICS AND THE 4C’S: CRITICAL THINKING, COMMUNICATION, COLLABORATION, CREATIVITYKENNEDY AND JOYCE MIDDLE SCHOOLS & WOBURN HIGH SCHOOLWOBURN, MASSACHUSETTS

Educators in the Woburn Public Schools are building a sequential middle/high school robotics curriculum.

The middle school unit, Rethinking LEGOs: Robotics Space Challenge, teaches students the basics of designing robots and creating computer programs to make the robot perform various functions and use various sensors. The culminating project is a design challenge related to space exploration.

Direct website link to this project: http://resources21.org/cl/contextual.asp?projectnumber=496.4924

At the high school level, in Robotics and the 4C’s, students learn how to design combat robots in order to gain a better understanding of the world of manufacturing and engineering. Working with their teachers and mentors from local businesses, such as iRobot and Precision Machining, students expand technical and creativity skills along with knowledge of STEM-related professions. The project’s final component is participation in a National Robotics League competition.

Direct website link to this project: http://resources21.org/cl/contextual.asp?projectnumber=498.7024.

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“Robotics design is a meaningful topic because it gives

students an opportunity to explore, in a collaborative environment, elements of

technology and engineering. It

provides students a context for

understanding and appreciating

different careers in the field of

engineering and changes what

students picture when they think of

an engineer.”

STUDENTS AS TEACHERS: REACHING OUR COMMUNITY THROUGH INNOVATIVE ARTS PROJECTSNORTH HIGH SCHOOLWORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS

Students as Teachers is a full-year collaborative visual arts, music, and technology course for 9th graders in the School of Technology and Business at North High School. Students learn about many forms of installation art, such as the work of sculptor Andy Goldsworthy, pictured below.

With the guidance of professional artists, teachers, and Advanced Placement 3-D Visual Arts Portfolio students, 9th graders then design, construct, and write a proposal for a site-specific work to submit to a juried art competition, such as the Worcester’s biennial outdoor public sculpture exhibition, Art in the Park.

During the course of the year, students gradually assume increased responsibility for teaching one another about technology, visual art, and music. One of the goals of the course is to teach about the nature of professionalism, hence the real-world skills students learn by work in the arts are transferable to productive work in any discipline.

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“STUDENTS AS TEACHERS STEMS FROM THE

WORCESTER PUBLIC SCHOOLS’ NEED TO

ADDRESS STUDENT VOICE, TO HAVE STUDENTS USE

CONTEMPORARY MULTIMEDIA SOFTWARE, AND

TO DESIGN LEARNING EXPERIENCES THAT ARE

STUDENT-DRIVEN.”

Direct website link to this project: http://resources21.org/cl/contextual.asp?projectnumber=491.409

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThanks to the students, families, educators, and community partners who have given their creativity and commitment to this project. In particular, credit is due to these district project leaders: April West, Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public SchoolJoshua Briggs, Berkshire Hills Regional School DistrictAmy Alvarez and Alan Chazaro, Boston Day and Evening Academy Charter SchoolCandyce Dostert, Ingrid Gustafson, and Dan Monahan, Cambridge Public SchoolsAubrey Love, Andrew Maglathlin, and Ron Taylor, Brookline Public SchoolsJulie DeRoche, Georgetown Public SchoolsMartha Cohn, Lowell Public SchoolsChristie Chiappetta and Karen Spaulding, Milton Public SchoolsPaul Allen, Keith M. Davis, Anne French, Patricia Prenguber, Donna Sadlowski, and Mary Shea, North Adams Public SchoolsGary Reese, Woburn Public SchoolsJason Harthan, Lisa Leach, Timmary Leary, and Michael Thibodeau, Worcester Public Schools

Staff and Consultants for the Office of College and Career ReadinessNyal Fuentes, Jennifer Leonard, Barbara Libby, Anna O’Connor, Shailah Stewart, Keith Westrich, and Susan Wheltle

For more information please email collegeandcareerreadiness@doe.mass.edu _________________________________________________________________________________

Want to learn more about these curriculum projects and resources? Want to let others know about teaching for creativity in your school? Visit the Creativity and Innovation Forum on the Massachusetts Department of Education’s Contextual Learning Portal. http://resources21.org/cl/creativityintro.asp.

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Creativity draws from many powers that we all have by virtue of being human. Creativity is possible in all areas of human life, in science, the arts, mathematics, technology, cuisine, teaching, politics, business,

you name it. And like many human capacities, our creative powers can be cultivated and refined. Doing that involves an increasing mastery

of skills, knowledge, and ideas.

From the book Creative Schools by Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica, 2015