Data, data, data...

There are a variety of experiments going on in ScienceCraft! Along with the experiments, there is a good amount of really interesting data being collected. Here is just a sampling….

Hypothesis- we think the baby sheep will turn purple

Red Sheeps	Blue Sheeps	Baby Sheep
Red Sheep #1	Blue Sheep #1	Blue Baby Sheep
Red Sheep #2	Blue Sheep #2	Red Baby Sheep
Red Sheep #3	Blue Sheep #3	Red Baby Sheep
Red Sheep #4	Blue Sheep #4	Red Baby Sheep
Red Sheep #5	Blue Sheep #5	Red Baby Sheep
Red Sheep #6	Blue Sheep #6	Blue Baby Sheep
Red Sheep #7	Blue Sheep #7	Blue Baby Sheep
Red Sheep #8	Blue Sheep #8	Red Baby Sheep
Red Sheep #9	Blue Sheep #9	Red Baby Sheep
Red Sheep #10	Blue Sheep #10	Red Baby Sheep

Hypothesis- A Cow will drop fastest

animal 1	height 1	time 1	animal 2	height 2	time 2	animal 3	height 3	time 3
cow	6 blocks	2 seconds	cow	6 blocks	2 seconds	cow	6 blocks	2 seconds
horse	6 blocks	1 second	horse	6 blocks	1 second	horse	6 blocks	1 second
pig	6 blocks	2 seconds	pig	6 blocks	2 seconds	pig	6 blocks	2 seconds
ocelot	6 blocks	2 seconds	ocelot	6 blocks	2 seconds	ocelot	6 blocks	2 seconds
donkey	6 blocks	2 seconds	donkey	6 blocks	2 seconds	donkey	6 blocks	2 seconds
chicken	6 blocks	4 seconds	chicken	6 blocks	4 seconds	chicken	6 blocks	4 seconds

Hypothesis- If I mine with a diamond pickaxe Redstone will break the fastest.

Diamond ore	Emerald ore	Gold ore	Redstone ore	Obsidian	Iron ore
3.5 seconds	2 seconds	3 seconds	1.5 seconds	14.5 seconds	2seconds
2 seconds	2 seconds	2.5 seconds	2 seconds	18 seconds	2.5 seconds
2.5 seconds	1 seconds	2 seconds	3 seconds	15 seconds	2.5 seconds
2 seconds	2 seconds	2 seconds	2.5 seconds	15.5 seconds	2.5 seconds
2.5 seconds	2 seconds	2 seconds	2 seconds	15 seconds	2.5 seconds
2.5 seconds	2 seconds	2 seconds	3 seconds	14.5 seconds	2.5 seconds
2.5 seconds	2 seconds	2 seconds	3 seconds	15 seconds	2.5 seconds
2.5 seconds	2 seconds	2 seconds	3 seconds	15.5 seconds	2.5 seconds
2.5 seconds	2 seconds	2 seconds	3 seconds	15 seconds	2.5 seconds

There are also students conducting experiments testing how high horses can jump when wearing different kinds of armor, in what biomes trees grow fastest, how long it takes ice to melt with fire and lava, how quickly chickens swim, and many more.

Check back for videos of the science complex and the experiments in action!

Ocelots on the loose

I knew that there would be classroom management issues in my MinecraftEdu classroom, but I wasn't expecting ocelots running loose in the science lab....

In my robotics classes, I have issues with students not respecting the materials and space. Or maybe, it's just that they have never been taught how to respect shared space.

At my house, we teach the girls how to respect shared space by having them do things like rinsing their dish after dinner, cleaning up their personal stuff from the living room, picking up their laundry from the bathroom and putting it into their hamper. Generally, we want then to be aware how how their actions, or lack of action effect the others living there.

In my robotics class, there are the students who have obviously been taught about respecting shared space. They not only pick up after themselves. but also make sure the classroom is picked up in general. There are also the students who either aren't aware, or don't care that their actions, or lack of actions, make for more work for others. They kick legos under the desk rather then bending down and picking them up, either not aware or not caring that someone else will have to pick the lego up.

In Minecraftedu, the 6th grade students are working on their science experiments. Some groups are getting done, and they are able to free-build. They very much love getting to do this, and honestly, their free-building can often spark an idea for a future project, so I love seeing what they can do. Some students are able to be respectful with their free-building. They pick a spot that doesn't interfere with other student's projects, they share materials, and they don't grief (destroy) what others are doing. Other students, for whatever reason, aren't able to free-build without causing some sort of problem. It can be as small as riding another student's horse without permission, or as drastic as destroying things. Today, we had a student spawn (create) a dozen or so ocelots, and let them loose in the science lab.

In my robotics class, I can see who is doing what, I can see the foot kicking the lego under the table. In MinecraftEdu, I can't. I have started going on spectator mode, a teacher setting that makes me invisible, so that I can watch students, but I can't see the entire class at one time like I can in a physical classroom. I don't want to restrict the entire classroom just because a few students can't make appropriate choices. There are a hand-full of students who I just don't allow on creative mode, and in other worlds I have built border blocks around certain student's work areas to keep them contained.

In the beginning of the class, and then again at the beginning of each unit, and yet again whenever issues come up, I talk a lot about our responsibilities in our shared classroom community. I can say that the number and the seriousness of the issues that happen have dramatically decreased since we started learning together almost 10 weeks ago.

Our next unit is two weeks in survival. In this unit, there will be monsters who are able to kill, and students will need to gather food and resources to survive. I'm expecting that there will be alliances and groups formed as students realize the benefits of working together and sharing resources. I'm predicting that the students who are unable to follow the classroom norms and rules, as set by the students themselves, will find that they are not part of the groups that form. It will be interesting to deconstruct this with the students. Perhaps this will be what they need to experience to finally decide that there is a benefit to being part of a community.

Guest Blogger- Mckenna

Best Class Ever!

            I tell Mrs. Stetson all of the time that I LOVE Minecraft class. It is by far the best class I have ever had. I wish that I had it like five times a day. It is fun but educational at the same time. It is like studying for a test, which would be our research, then taking the test, which would be going into minecraft and building. We got to do an awesome beginning unit where we learned the basics like how to jump, walk, and fly. We did a unit building a Medieval Village. Everyone worked together to make it look perfect. There was a group working on castles, a group on Bridges, and a group working on shops. I was one of the people who was working on shops. I built a blacksmiths shop with another student that had an iron golem. We also had a short lesson in math were we learned about volume and area. It was boring but I aced my math test. Then we did The World of Humanities. I wanted to do the medieval village scavenger hunt but two groups already had it. We ended up doing the Ancient China scavenger hunt. It was really fun. Then we got to build a scene from one of my favorite books, Bud, Not Buddy. I ended up building a library, burning it down, rebuilding it, then burning it down again. We had a lot of fire incidents. We luckily finished it without anymore and it was awesome! We are now working on a project with science. We get to be scientists and do all sorts of crazy experiments. My partner and I are doing "wolf testing." It's basically spawning an animal and making our tamed wolf attack and kill it. We are testing which animal it takes the fastest to kill. Above all I am SUPER excited for the next, and sadly last, unit. We are going to be in survival mode.
                                         
                                                            By,
                                                               Mckenna Phillips