LOOK TO THE FUTURE
Tech Class examines real solutions for the real world
BURNT HILLS, N.Y. >> It used to be called Shop Class. Now it’s known as Technological Systems.
It isn’t something that just male students study any longer. All students are required to take both Technological Systems courses and what was once known as Home Economics, now known as Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS).
The Technology Department page on the Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Central School District website defines what that means to eighth grade students at the O’Rourke Middle School on Lakehill Road, in Burnt Hills:
“The New York State science standards have incorporated the engineering design process into science education.
“At O’Rourke Middle School, we help prepare students to become the next generation of innovators, designers, and engineers. Since 2012-13, our Technology Education program at the middle school has been based on a nationally recognized STEM curriculum called Engi
neering by Design.
“This project-based curriculum was created to help adolescents succeed and be prepared for our global society today and in the future. Students develop creativity, critical thinking, and technological literacy while using tools, machines and other resources to solve real-life problems.”
Recently, the students of Nick Morocco helped meet a real life challenge with a science based solution that many homeowners in the Adirondacks and throughout North America encounter: What can be done locally about protecting bats from white-nose syndrome?
Special Education Teaching Assistant Kelly Chila owns a significant amount of property in Greenfield with forest land that she wanted to care for sustainably. She contacted the New York State Department of Conservation (DEC) to learn more about the trees that grow on her property.
A story began to unfold that followed her into where she works with students in Nick Morocco’s classroom. His students saw first hand how they could apply the skills they were learning in class to a real life scenario they will not soon forget.
Chila learned from the DEC that a DEC forester can visit a private, non-industrial forest landowner’s property upon request. They will accompany you on a tour of your woodland and outline the existing forest management opportunities. The forester suggests a forest stewardship management plan with recommendations based on good forestry practices.
When her property was evaluated, Chila was informed about many creatures that pose a threat to a healthy forest, such as the Asian longhorned beetle, or ALB, an invasive woodboring insect that feeds on a variety of hardwoods including maple, birch, elm, ash, poplar, horsechestnut, and willow, among others.
Native to China and Korea, the beetles are approximately 1.5 inches long and shiny black, with white spots on their wing cases. They have black and white antennae that can be up to twice as long as their body.
While the beetles were not a problem on her property, it was discovered that other guests on her property were considered a protected species. She lives in proximity to a graphite mine where, Chila learned, Northern long-eared bats (NLEB) might like to hibernate in, as well as in with caves.
The DEC website provides the following information:
“Northern long-eared bats (NLEB) like to hibernate. In general, any tree large enough to have a cavity or that has loose bark may be utilized by NLEB for roosting or rearing young. Since they feed predominantly on flying insects, they hibernate through the late fall and early spring to save energy when food is not available.
“NLEB were listed as “threatened” by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) under the federal Endangered Species Act on April 2, 2015. The federal listing was the result of a dramatic population decline throughout most of the species’ range. These declines have been caused by whitenose syndrome (WNS), a disease caused by an invasive fungus that ultimately causes affected hibernating bats to starve to death over the winter.
“White-nose syndrome (WNS) is considered one of the worst wildlife diseases in modern times having killed millions of bats across North America.”
What happened next is one for the Technological Systems classroom history book.
“I asked myself ‘How can I help the bats?’ I went into school and told Nick about what I’d learned about the bats. I knew it was getting late in the fall and the bats were going to want to hibernate.
“His response was ‘We have to do something.’ I had a tree resource book and we presented the story to the students, who were learning in class about different woods, about growth rings, and they were required to have tech nology course credits in seventh and eighth grades,” Chila explained.
The students became enthusiastically engaged and learned that each winter, mother bats have one baby that they hibernate with in loose bark on trees. They tend to cluster close to other mother bats and their babies in their own space.
Morocco’s students brainstormed and broke into groups. They’ve already made chicken coops, yard sheds, bunny huts and picnic tables and found ways to put wood from the scrap pile that had built up from past projects to good use.
“It was all Nick’s concept,” Chila said. “They decided to build bat houses. The class researched what kind of shelter the bats need to hibernate in. They found out they had to be 20-25 feet away from tree branches. Because the winters are severely cold here, the houses should be black in color to retain any heat.”
“They asked what size should the houses be?.” Chila added.
••• The following is a conversation with Technology Education
Teacher Nick Morocco on the technology curriculum, the paradigm shift in American culture back to a demand and respect for the skilled craftsmanship found in the trades.
Q: Nick, tells about your approach to teaching Technological Systems courses.
A: “We start off the year defining what a technological system is. The definition I like to give the kids is it’s a group of interrelated components that collectively achieves a desired result. I explain to them that we are surrounded by technological systems.
“As things advance, we combine more systems together, we get more sophisticated systems. Then we get into looking at old technological item and we dissect it to identify all the working parts.”
••• Q: What would be a good example?
A: “An old landline, phone, a laptop, a cell phone, the X-box controllers.”
••• Q: So you touch on electrical systems too.
A: “Yeah-we mix it up as we can, including a robotics unit. We hope to spark a little bit of interest in continuing in technology courses at the highschool. They have a new STEAM addition that’s an amazing, beautiful space.”
••• Q:That includes the arts. A: “We’ve been bringing the students up there for tours hoping they’ll possibly turn it into a career down the road.”
••• Q: There is a concerted effort to return to the trades combined with technological training. They can be good paying fields. I just saw the careful attention to detail, working with the tools; these are crafts to master.
A: “I work in the summer doing construction work and I got to talking to local tradespeople who say they’re in dire need. It’s a trend across the whole country. I feel it’s going to come to a time when there’s not enough people to fill the jobs that are available.”
••• Q: Let’s talk about what kind of jobs are out there in this field.
A: “Skilled labor, including plumbing, masons, electrical. There’s always a need for it. For a long time everyone’s been told college is the only and the best way and I feel we’ve done an injustice to the whole working class that can benefit, be successful, start their own business.”
••• Q: Avoid going into financial bondage, although clearly, there’s a lot of training involved.
A: “I watch the Discovery Channel series with Mike Rowe called Dirty Jobs and their are scholarships for kids to go to trade schools. He says there are a lot of ways to get from Point A to Point B but not everybody has to buy the Porsche or the nicest car, so he’s saying there are different ways to be educated.”
••• Q: These trades have something to show for it. I saw beautiful craftsmanship in your classroom.
A: “The females may not be thought of as a tradesperson or fit into people’s mold, but their attention to detail is always so great. It’s a different dynamic and they’re some of the best students I see coming through in that they’re not afraid to get their hands dirty. It’s required, now. The boys have to take the Family Consumer Science (FACS) now.”
••• Q: These are life skills. To live long enough to see this is a wonderful thing. I was the first girl in Metal Shop in Burnt Hills. It took 45 years for this to change, but it’s here and exciting to see. They seem to be having a great time. Tell us about the bats and how you worked to offer a solution to the white fungus concern.
A: “When she mentioned it, it popped into my brain. I don’t think building bat houses is new. Hopefully people will see the story, be inspired, and say “Maybe I can help out the environment a little bit.” It started off with Kelly clearing some land and realizing she had the protected bats on her property and found out about the fungus.
“The kids learned that one way to stop the spread was to spread the colonies out a bit so they’re not introducing the fungus to the entire colony if you have them dispersed throughout. The bat structures came out of that; the kids were excited from the get-go.
“They wanted to take ownership of their own designs, so they grouped together and it drove their excitement to make it their own.
“I saw this class for half a year, or 20 weeks. Our kids just designed and built 10 sifting tables for Rick Reynolds, with mesh for the Town of Ballston Historian to use at his recent archaeological dig at Anchor Diamond Park.
“We’re going to be adding robotics; I always think of the Jetsons vacuum cleaner and the automated system we design to make our lives easier.We put the robots into dangerous situations or to improve our quality of life.”
••• Q: The future keeps developing like a living organism growing and changing with the demands of the culture.
A: “The kids imagine, build, see things function and their design comes to life. I get up everyday and it’s not even like work. I just enjoy building confidence in using the machines and equipment. They’re excited and it excites me at the same time. When they come to me, it’s 80 minutes of them up out of their seats, interacting, building things.”
••• Q: Do you ever have any renegades in your class that just want to work on their own?
A: “I have a couple right now. They’re tough, but they open up once in awhile. I see them turn to help classmates that didn’t finish a step as quickly and I thought what better way to show mastery of a skill.
“Another activity we’ll doing is raising brook trout in the classroom. They try the waders on, cast fly rods; we took 80 students in two busses. We found a little tributary that fed into a creek where we were able to take over, stand on the bank and release the fish.
“What we do in Tech is full of science and math and that’s a good example.”