The new STEM course – and teacher – at Carmichaels Area School District is educating students about concussion protocols. Nichole Morecraft, Carmichaels’ new STEM teacher, is teaching students how “each lobe of the brain functions [and the] impact that would have on their daily lives if it was damaged.”
Since taking on the STEM classes, she has been both searching for and creating projects that use problem-solving skills and have real-life impact. Careers in STEM fields are growing at a steady pace and offer competitive wages. With so many technology-based careers, Nichole wants her students to have an advantage in that field after leaving her classroom.
The concussion protocol project educates students about concussions and their impact on a person’s life quality. “It also gives them a chance to try to invent something to better mitigate the damage that a concussion can and will cause,” Nichole says. “The idea is to create something new that eventually could be pitched to a company and one day used.”
Nichole bases her projects on concepts that feel relevant to students today. They could apply their recently learned skills and knowledge today towards other endeavors and it will be helpful when applying to colleges.
Glancing at the lesson plan for the project, it’s amazing what can be accomplished with less than $5 worth of physical materials. Students in class will construct a model of the human brain, equip it with impact sensors, and then measure the impact of a head collision.
After building the brain simulator, students digitize the device. They learn essential engineering skills by connecting the brain simulator to Excel to gather data and show a concussion’s impact on the brain.
Students are able to see the impact on the brain and how each region of the brain is affected. “My students really enjoy seeing the live data that is collected at the end of the project because this means that all of their wiring was correct and their sensors were made correctly,” Nichole shares. “They feel like the project was a success when they see that first stream of live data come in.”
The information gathered from the class can also be used to show the importance of protective headgear. This information could be applied in possible future collaborations with other teachers, such as in physical education or health courses.
The students are encouraged to take the Think Taylor pledge: I pledge to be educated. I pledge to be honest. I pledge to be supportive. This pledge asks students to take brain injuries seriously; they are asked to be educated and honest about concussions and be supportive of those who have been concussed.
Nichole is very proud of her students. She says, “My students worked incredibly hard on this project and were not afraid to go out of their comfort zones to learn something new. They did an amazing job and I could not have been given a better group of students to start the year off with.”
