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Facilitator Resources (2023)

The following resources are created by Project GUTS facilitators to help prepare for 2023 GUTS workshops

Tips for Facilitators

Suggestions on best practices for teaching Project GUTS lessons, by acting as a facilitator to student learning, rather than a lecturer on your known content.

Why Model?

A paper describing the author's reasons why modeling is essential to science.

Modeling MRSA in Chicago (scientist talk)

This is a talk Dr. Chick Macal gave to GUTS teachers at a Chicago PD workshop in 2015.

Ecosystems as Complex Adaptive Systems

Background information on ecosystems for teachers' use in CS in Science, Module 3 (Ecosystems)

Workshop Planning Guide

A list of factors to consider for facilitators and school districts or partner organizations in planning a workshop.

StarLogo NOVA 2.0: ¿Qué cambió y qué es lo nuevo?

Spanish version of "SLNOVA 2.0: WHAT'S CHANGED OR NEW".

Versión en español del documento "SLNOVA 2.0: WHAT'S CHANGED OR NEW" con la comparación entre ambas versiones y el detalle de las nuevas funcionalidades de SLNOVA 2.0

Scientific Practices and Computational Thinking in Modeling & Simulation

This document is a handout used to reflect on the scientific practices and computational thinking involved in a Project GUTS module or lesson.

Slides for 3 day workshop

These are generic slides we've used for 3 day workshops. They have been updated to show the correct screen shots of StarLogo Nova 2.0.

CS in Science Agenda for 5 day workshop

This is an agenda for facilitators to use in planning a five-day CS in Science workshop.

Developing and Using Models - NGSS Science and Engineering Practices

A K-12 progression of the NGSS Science and Engineering Practice of Developing and Using Models.

Performance Expectations that make use of this Science and Engineering Practice - https://ngss.nsta.org/Practices.aspx?id=2

Emergence video

A portion of a PBS NOVA video discussing the concept of emergence (or complex adaptive systems) where patterns emerge in nature where agents follow simple rules.

Papercatchers

Papercatchers is a participatory simulation in which students learn about population growth and limits to growth. Students play the role of members of a growing population, follow simple rules governing survival and reproduction, and collect and graph data.

Math Basics for StarLogo Nova

This handout explains left and right degrees, x and y coordinates, and headings in StarLogo Nova.

Coding Challenges

Coding Challenge are a series of short challenges that focus on improving coding skills using StarLogo Nova. Each set of challenges focuses on a specific concept: degrees & heading, x & y coordinates and randomness, conditions including absolute value and percent chance, adding color to the terrain and repeat loops, using the z coordinate, and other computer science concepts (logic blocks, data collection),.

Facilitator Resources (from 2019)

This is a set of resources to help Facilitators prepare for Workshops.

What's Represented?

These exercises ask the learner to identify abstractions in the computer model as compared to a diagram or image of a natural phenomenon.

Skill Building Deck

A slide deck of exercises to build CS and decoding skills

NGSS Standards

Document highlighting the conceptual shifts in the Next Generation Science Standards

BCSC 5e Instructional Model

BSCS (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study) paper explaining the 5e instructional model. The model describes a teaching sequence that can be used for entire programs, specific units, and individual lessons. The BSCS 5E Instructional Model plays a significant role in the curriculum development process as well as the enactment of curricular materials in science classrooms.