Schlagwort: sustainability

  • 60 of our biggest AI announcements in 202460 of our biggest AI announcements in 2024

    60 of our biggest AI announcements in 202460 of our biggest AI announcements in 2024

    Reading Time: 6 minutes

    It’s been a big year for Google AI. It may seem as though features like Circle to Search and NotebookLM’s Audio Overviews have been around for as long as you can remember, but they only launched in 2024. Joining them were a slew of other product releases and updates meant to make your day-to-day life even a little bit easier. So, as we say goodbye to 2024 (and prepare for the exciting AI news that’s sure to come in 2025), take a look at some of the top Google AI news stories that resonated with readers this year.

    January

    2024 began, quite fittingly, with fresh updates across a host of products and tools, including Gemini, Chrome, Pixel and Search. The announcement of our Circle to Search feature made a particular splash with readers. Here were some of the top Google AI news stories of the month:

    1. The power of Google AI comes to the new Samsung Galaxy S24 series
    2. New ways to search in 2024
    3. Circle (or highlight or scribble) to Search
    4. Chrome is getting 3 new generative AI features
    5. New Pixel features for a minty fresh start to the year

    February

    February brought a new chapter of our Gemini era, including the debut of Gemini 1.5; the news that Bard was becoming Gemini; the launch of Gemini Advanced; and more. We also announced new generative AI tools in Labs and tech to help developers and researchers build AI responsibly. Here were some of the top Google AI news stories of the month:

    1. Our next-generation model: Gemini 1.5
    2. Bard becomes Gemini: Try Ultra 1.0 and a new mobile app today
    3. The next chapter of our Gemini era
    4. Gemma: Introducing new state-of-the-art open models
    5. Try ImageFX and MusicFX, our newest generative AI tools in Labs

    March

    Health took center stage in March, with our annual Google Health Check Up event to show how AI is helping us connect people to health information and insights that matter to them. Stories about how we’re using AI for good also made the top-news cut, along with AI-based travel tools coverage as readers looked toward summer. Here were some of the top Google AI news stories of the month:

    1. Our progress on generative AI in health
    2. How we’re using AI to connect people to health information
    3. 6 ways to travel smarter this summer using Google tools
    4. How we are using AI for reliable flood forecasting at a global scale
    5. 21 nonprofits join our first generative AI accelerator

    April

    Spring showers bring…generative AI? Many of April’s top stories focused on how helpful generative AI can be to different groups of people, including developers, business owners, advertisers and Google Photos users. It was also a big month for AI skills-building, thanks to our AI Opportunity Fund and AI Essentials course. Here were some of the top Google AI news stories of the month:

    1. AI editing tools are coming to all Google Photos users
    2. Cloud Next 2024: More momentum with generative AI
    3. Grow with Google launches new AI Essentials course to help everyone learn to use AI
    4. Enhance visual storytelling in Demand Gen with generative AI
    5. Our newest investments in infrastructure and AI skills

    May

    May is synonymous with Google I/O around these parts, so it’s no wonder that much of the month’s top news was from our annual developer conference. At this year’s event, we shared how we’re building more helpful products and features with AI. But even amid all the I/O chatter, Googlers were working on other launches, like that of our AlphaFold 3 model, which holds big promise for science and medicine. Here were some of the top Google AI news stories of the month:

    1. Google I/O 2024: An I/O for a new generation
    2. Generative AI in Search: Let Google do the searching for you
    3. 100 things we announced at I/O 2024
    4. Ask Photos: A new way to search your photos with Gemini
    5. AlphaFold 3 predicts the structure and interactions of all of life’s molecules

    June

    In June, much of our AI news emphasized how this technology can help people in ways big and small. Stories covered both land (how Google Translate is helping people connect with one another all around the world, even if they don’t speak the same language) and sea (how a first-of-its-kind global map of ocean infrastructure is creating a better understanding of things like biodiversity). Here were some of the top Google AI news stories of the month:

    1. 110 new languages are coming to Google Translate
    2. Gemma 2 is now available to researchers and developers
    3. NotebookLM goes global with Slides support and better ways to fact-check
    4. New AI tools for Google Workspace for Education
    5. Mapping human activity at sea with AI

    July

    July was one of those months that makes clear how many things Googlers are working on at once with major announcements for Gemini, Google AI features on Samsung devices, our focus on secure AI and our Olympics partnership with Team USA and NBCUniversal. Here were some of the top Google AI news stories of the month:

    1. 4 Google updates coming to Samsung devices
    2. Gemini’s big upgrade: Faster responses with 1.5 Flash, expanded access and more
    3. 4 ways Google will show up in NBCUniversal’s Olympic Games Paris 2024 coverage
    4. Introducing the Coalition for Secure AI (CoSAI) and founding member organizations
    5. 3 things parents and students told us about how generative AI can support learning

    August

    August was a key moment for Google hardware, thanks to our Made by Google event, along with our Nest Learning Thermostat and Google TV Streamer releases. But software was in the mix, too — we’re looking at you, Chrome, Android and Gemini. Here were some of the top Google AI news stories of the month:

    1. The new Pixel 9 phones bring you the best of Google AI
    2. Gemini makes your mobile device a powerful AI assistant
    3. Your smart home is getting smarter, with help from Gemini
    4. 3 new Chrome AI features for even more helpful browsing
    5. Android is reimagining your phone with Gemini

    September

    Then came another month that underscored our mission to make AI helpful for everyone. Highlights included the launch of Audio Overviews in NotebookLM; the news of a new satellite constellation designed to detect wildfires more quickly; and tips on using Gemini features in Gmail. But that wasn’t all! Here were some of the top Google AI news stories of the month:

    1. NotebookLM now lets you listen to a conversation about your sources
    2. A breakthrough in wildfire detection: How a new constellation of satellites can detect smaller wildfires earlier
    3. Customers are putting Gemini to work
    4. How to use Gemini in Gmail to manage your inbox like a pro
    5. 5 new Android features to help you explore, search for music and more

    October

    October saw a slate of additional AI updates across products including Pixel, NotebookLM, Search and Shopping. Plus, we announced updates to the Search ads experiences at Google Marketing Live — helping advertisers use AI to reach their customers. Here were some of the top Google AI news stories of the month:

    1. October Pixel Drop: Helpful enhancements for your devices
    2. New in NotebookLM: Customizing your Audio Overviews and introducing NotebookLM Business
    3. Ask questions in new ways with AI in Search
    4. Google Shopping’s getting a big transformation
    5. New ways for marketers to reach customers with AI Overviews and Lens

    November

    This month was a time for both work and play, with news including how developers are using Gemini API and how chess-lovers can use AI to reimagine their sets. Plus, holiday prep was afoot with new updates to Google Lens and Shopping. Here were some of the top Google AI news stories of the month:

    1. 5 ways to explore chess during the 2024 World Chess Championship
    2. The Gemini app is now available on iPhone
    3. New ways to holiday shop with Google Lens, Maps and more
    4. How developers are using Gemini API
    5. Our Machine Learning Crash Course goes in depth on generative AI

    December

    We celebrated the one-year anniversary of our Gemini era by introducing our next, agentic era in AI — brought to life by our newest, most capable model, Gemini 2.0. We also shared landmark quantum chip news, and a whole raft of new generative AI offerings in Android, Pixel, Gemini, and our developer platforms AI Studio and Vertex AI. It’s certainly been a December to remember. Here were some of the top Google AI news stories of the month:

    1. Introducing Gemini 2.0: our new AI model for the agentic era
    2. Meet Willow, our state-of-the-art quantum chip
    3. Android XR: The Gemini era comes to headsets and glasses
    4. Try Deep Research and our new experimental model in Gemini, your AI assistant
    5. December Pixel Drop: New features for your Pixel phone, Tablet and more

    There you have it! Twelve months of top Google AI news in a flash. And the best part: Teams at Google are hard at work to keep the momentum going in 2025.

    Website: LINK

  • Explore New Worlds and Solve Environmental Challenges With Gaming This Earth Day

    Explore New Worlds and Solve Environmental Challenges With Gaming This Earth Day

    Reading Time: 7 minutes

    Summary

    • Explore games that allow players to explore and engage with the natural world
    • Help Duriel sacrifice his horde as they donate buckets of maggots to Tiggywinkles animal rescue hospital
    • Learn about a new building at Rare, which has sustainability at its heart

    At Microsoft we have made bold commitments to improve the impact of our business on the environment. Consequently, Xbox has made strategic, innovative and meaningful investments that scale up across the gaming industry:

    • Our Shutdown (Energy Saving) power mode, Active Hours and Carbon Aware console updates have made the use of our consoles more energy and emissions efficient. 
    • The Xbox Sustainability Toolkit has empowered game developers to optimize their game code for energy efficiency on Xbox consoles and beyond. 

    In addition to these software innovations, we are making advancements in hardware and infrastructure spaces as well:

    • The Xbox Wireless Controller – Remix Special Edition was an exercise to explore ways to use less new plastic and reduce waste.
    • We are supporting impact reductions in-office, with Rare unveiling a new LEED Gold accredited building on its UK campus — Xbox’s first mass timber building in Europe for Xbox Game Studios.

    As important as it is that we make these material changes, one of the great benefits gaming can have on environmental issues is often overlooked!  The medium of gaming can act as a tool which provides world exploration for those that may not easily access the natural environment. It also fosters outside of the box thinking, empathy, and team action – all necessary ingredients to solve environmental issues. Gaming can unlock the world, break the barriers of what is possible and inspire environmental action for generations to come.  

    Read on to learn more about gaming as a medium for environmental change and how Xbox is celebrating Earth Day.   

    Play

    Explore Sustainability with Minecraft

    Bring climate and sustainability science to life with incredible animals. Minecraft Education Planet Earth III created in partnership with BBC Earth engages students with a free curriculum that includes lesson plans and discussion guides. Explore the way these animals’ lives are intertwined by playing as both predator and prey, parent and offspring, friend and ally, and discover the precarious balance of survival.

    Research climate change while learning the principles of AI. With Minecraft Education AI for Earth students will learn principles of AI while taking their first steps into this exciting realm of computer science. Learners will use the power of AI in a range of exciting real-world scenarios, including preservation of wildlife and ecosystems, helping people in remote areas, and research on climate change.

    Explore games with environmental themes on Game Pass

    Simulation games provide a unique ability to explore and grow environments while also managing and regenerating natural resources. Check out these games that highlight these themes within their mechanics and stories:

    • Lightyear Frontier (Game Preview) (Available with Xbox Game Pass on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Cloud) – Build a sustainable ecofarm and carefully manage your relationship with the ecosystem in this peaceful open-world farming adventure on a planet at the far edge of the galaxy. This game encourages sustainability efforts, including planting trees to replace those you harvest and cleaning up pollution. Invite up to three friends to create a flourishing homestead.
    • Coral Island (Available with Xbox Game Pass on Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Cloud) – Play a part in conserving native flora and fauna, dive into the seas to clean up the coral reef, and pick up trash all around the island in this family-friendly farming simulator inspired by Southeast Asia. The development team from Indonesia included themes of conservation in the way players must maintain the island’s ecosystem all while encouraging you to form a bond with nature.
    • Stardew Valley (Available with Xbox Game Pass on Console, PC, and Cloud) – You’ve inherited your grandfather’s overgrown farm plot and with a little dedication, you might be able to restore Stardew Valley to greatness! With an anti-consumerism plot against the JoJa Corporation and a whole lot of land to explore, Stardew Valley showcases love of nature and focuses on life’s simple pleasures.

    Give

    The Seattle Aquarium uses Xbox Controllers to research the depths of local waterways

    Xbox is excited to spotlight and support the incredible underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) research work of the Seattle Aquarium—a program designed to inform habitat restoration efforts throughout the region and reverse the decline of local kelp forests. The aquarium’s ROV Nereo, named after the scientific name for bull kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana), is a small, customizable, and easily maneuverable device that can dive up to 100 meters deep and transmit live video and data to the surface. Our favorite part? The researchers use Xbox controllers to pilot the ROV Nereo and navigate through the dense and dynamic kelp forests in Elliott Bay, the waterway surrounding the aquarium.

    In addition to providing food and shelter for hundreds of marine animals, bull kelp also sequesters carbon from the water and locally mitigates the effects of ocean acidification. While some regions in the Salish Sea have thriving kelp forests, other regions are seeing up to a 95% decline, and researchers aren’t always sure why. The aquarium’s ROV work helps researchers survey declining kelp ecosystems and the factors that impact their health so the   broader Washington kelp conservation, restoration, and management community can work towards restoration.

    To expand the scope and scale of this work, the aquarium is collaborating with the Tulalip Tribes Natural Resources Shellfish Program to help them get their own ROV program up and running. The aquarium is also partnering with state agencies and Reef Check to compare ROV and scuba diving as methods for collecting data, and to evaluate the effectiveness of different environmental monitoring strategies. By using Xbox controllers to operate the ROV, the aquarium is not only making research more fun and accessible to future generations of marine conservationists, but also demonstrating the power of technology for environmental conservation and education. Through education and outreach events with a variety of local organizations, the aquarium hopes this program will inspire more people to appreciate and protect the kelp forests and the marine life they support.

    To learn more about the Seattle Aquarium and the work they do visit seattleaquarium.org and watch our Xbox livestream at the Seattle Aquarium from Earth Day 2023.

    Diablo IV: Duriel’s Offering to Tiggywinkles

    Duriel the Maggot King has enlisted Diablo IV fans to help sacrifice his horde. For every 25 likes on the Earth Day post from Diablo’s X account, Blizzard will be donating a bucket of Maggots to Tiggywinkles, up to 666 buckets of maggots, to help feed their bird nursery. With each bucket containing roughly 45,000 maggots, you could help Blizzard fund Tiggywinkle’s bird rehabilitation program for more than two years by simply liking their post.

    Tiggywinkles is a specialist animal rescue hospital in the UK. They are dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating all species of local wildlife. Every animal brought to the hospital is given a chance and treated with the best available care. Any animal or bird unable to be released back to the wild is maintained at the Hospital, in as natural conditions as possible. Head to the Diablo X account to help turn likes into buckets of maggots for the birds.

    Engage 

    Barn X on the Rare Campus

    Xbox has constructed its first mass timber building in Europe at Rare, the Xbox Game Studio and creator of Sea of Thieves. The new solar-powered studio is already inspiring game developers to create unique shared experiences for players.

    Located in Twycross, Leicestershire, Rare’s new building – called ‘Barn X’ – was opened in early 2023 on the Rare campus, which is surrounded by nature in the heart of the English countryside.

    Rare’s Studio Head, Craig Duncan, said: “Our new barn is a demonstration of leading-edge sustainability and environmental design, creating a model green workplace.  The opportunity to expand our campus by building a state-of-the-art environment for our teams while supporting Microsoft to achieve its sustainability goals has been genuinely rewarding. The new space design promotes collaboration, creativity and wellbeing, which are essential ingredients for a team to create fun experiences for players everywhere.”

    Barn X has recently been certified LEED GOLD for its design and construction – a worldwide-recognized symbol of sustainability achievement and leadership. It is one example of how Microsoft is implementing sustainable solutions for the future as it pursues its goal to be carbon negative by 2030.

    You can read more about the new building and how it is enabling creativity and enhancing wellbeing here.

    Playing for the Planet Annual Impact Report

    As a founding member of the Playing 4 The Planet Alliance, we are excited to share the 2023 Annual Impact Report. The report includes:

    • A measure of progress towards Playing 4 the Planet’s strategic goals.
    • Updates on focus areas, such as decarbonization, The Green Game Jam, and more.
    • A review of members’ commitments towards sustainability.

    Xbox won the Green Studio of the Year award at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2023. We thank the industry for recognizing our green gaming efforts, but we can achieve more when we work with others.  That’s why we’re excited to welcome Activision Blizzard, one of America’s Greenest Companies 2024, to Team Xbox. We look forward to collaborating with our new teammates from Activision Blizzard and King, who are already improving the impact of gaming.

    And even more from Team Microsoft: Visit Microsoft Unlocked to explore innovations across  Microsoft products, partners and customers that are helping to achieve our carbon goals!

    Website: LINK

  • Repair cafés in computing education | Hello World #19

    Repair cafés in computing education | Hello World #19

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Many technology items are disposed of each year, either because they are broken, are no longer needed, or have been upgraded. Researchers from Germany have identified this as an opportunity to develop a scheme of work for Computing, while at the same time highlighting the importance of sustainability in hardware and software use. They hypothesised that by repairing defective devices, students would come to understand better how these devices work, and therefore meet some of the goals of their curriculum.

    A smartphone with the back cover taken off so it can be repaired.

    The research team visited three schools in Germany to deliver Computing lessons based around the concept of a repair café, where defective items are repaired or restored rather than thrown away. This idea was translated into a series of lessons about using and repairing smartphones. Learners first of all explored the materials used in smartphones and reflected on their personal use of these devices. They then spent time moving around three repair workstations, examining broken smartphones and looking at how they could be repaired or repurposed. Finally, learners reflected on their own ecological footprint and what they had learnt about digital hardware and software.

    An educational repair café

    In the classroom, repair workstations were set up for three different categories of activity: fixing cable breaks, fixing display breaks, and tinkering to upcycle devices. Each workstation had a mentor to support learners in investigating faults themselves by using the question prompt, “Why isn’t this feature or device working?” At the display breaks and cable breaks workstations, a mentor was on hand to provide guidance with further questions about the hardware and software used to make the smartphone work. On the other hand, the tinkering workstation offered a more open-ended approach, asking learners to think about how a smartphone could be upcycled to be used for a different purpose, such as a bicycle computer. It was interesting to note that students visited each of the three workstations equally.

    Two girls solder physical computing components in a workshop.
    Getting hands-on with hardware through physical computing activities can be very engaging for learners.

    The feedback from the participants showed there had been a positive impact in prompting learners to think about the sustainability of their smartphone use. Working with items that were already broken also gave them confidence to explore how to repair the technology. This is a different type of experience from other Computing lessons, in which devices such as laptops or tablets are provided and are expected to be carefully looked after. The researchers also asked learners to complete a questionnaire two weeks after the lessons, and this showed that 10 of the 67 participants had gone on to repair another smartphone after taking part in the lessons.

    Links to computing education

    The project drew on a theory called duality reconstruction that has been developed by a researcher called Carsten Schulte. This theory argues that in computing education, it is equally important to teach learners about the function of a digital device as about the structure. For example, in the repair café lessons, learners discovered more about the role that smartphones play in society, as well as experimenting with broken smartphones to find out how they work. This brought a socio-technical perspective to the lessons that helped make the interaction between the technology and society more visible.

    A young girl solders something at a worktop while a man looks over her shoulder.
    It’s important to make sure young people know how to work safely with electronic and physical computing components.

    Using this approach in the Computing classroom may seem counter-intuitive when compared to the approach of splitting the curriculum into topics and teaching each topic sequentially. However, the findings from this project suggest that learners understand better how smartphones work when they also think about how they are manufactured and used. Including societal implications of computing can provide learners with useful contexts about how computing is used in real-world problem-solving, and can also help to increase learners’ motivation for studying the subject.

    Working together

    The final aspect of this research project looked at collaborative problem-solving. The lessons were structured to include time for group work and group discussion, to acknowledge and leverage the range of experiences among learners. At the workstations, learners formed small groups to carry out repairs. The paper doesn’t mention whether these groups were self-selecting or assigned, but the researchers did carry out observations of group behaviours in order to evaluate whether the collaboration was effective. In the findings, the ideal group size for the repair workstation activity was either two or three learners working together. The researchers noticed that in groups of four or more learners, at least one learner would become disinterested and disengaged. Some groups were also observed taking part in work that wasn’t related to the task, and although no further details are given about the nature of this, it is possible that the groups became distracted.

    The findings from this project suggest that learners understand better how smartphones work when they also think about how they are manufactured and used.

    Further investigation into effective pedagogies to set group size expectations and maintain task focus would be helpful to make sure the lessons met their learning objectives. This research was conducted as a case study in a small number of schools, and the results indicate that this approach may be more widely helpful. Details about the study can be found in the researchers’ paper (in German).

    Repair café start-up tips

    If you’re thinking about setting up a repair café in your school to promote sustainable computing, either as a formal or informal learning activity, here are ideas on where to begin:

    • Connect with a network of repair cafés in your region; a great place to start is repaircafe.org
    • Ask for volunteers from your local community to act as mentors
    • Use video tutorials to learn about common faults and how to fix them
    • Value upcycling as much as repair — both lead to more sustainable uses of digital devices
    • Look for opportunities to solve problems in groups and promote teamwork

    Discover more in Hello World

    This article is from our free computing education magazine Hello World. Every issue is written by educators for educators and packed with resources, ideas, and insights to inspire your learners and your own classroom practice.

    Cover of issue 19 of Hello World magazine.

    For more about computing education in the context of sustainability, climate change, and environmental impact, download issue 19 of Hello World, which focuses on these topics.

    You can subscribe to Hello World for free to never miss a digital issue, and if you’re an educator in the UK, a print subscription will get you free print copies in the post.

    PS If you’re interested in facilitating productive classroom discussions with your learners about ethical, legal, cultural, and environmental concerns surrounding computer science, take a look at our free online course ‘Impacts of Technology: How To Lead Classroom Discussions’.

    Website: LINK

  • Young people’s projects for a sustainable future

    Young people’s projects for a sustainable future

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    This post has been adapted from an article in issue 19 of Hello World magazine, which explores the interaction between technology and sustainability.

    We may have had the Coolest Projects livestream, but we are still in awe of the 2092 projects that young people sent in for this year’s online technology showcase! To continue the Coolest Projects Global 2022 celebrations, we’re shining a light on some of the participants and the topics that inspired their projects.    

    Coolest Projects team and participants at an in-person event.

    In this year’s showcase, the themes of sustainability and the environment were extremely popular. We received over 300 projects related to the environment from young people all over the world. Games, apps, websites, hardware — we’ve seen so many creative projects that demonstrate how important the environment is to young people. 

    Here are some of these projects and a glimpse into how kids and teens across the world are using technology to look after their environment.      

    Using tech to make one simple change 

    Has anyone ever told you that a small change can lead to a big impact? Check out these two Coolest Projects entries that put this idea into practice with clever inventions to make positive changes to the environment.

    Arik (15) from the UK wanted to make something to reduce the waste he noticed at home. Whenever lots of people visited Arik’s house, getting the right drink for everyone was a challenge and often resulted in wasted, spilled drinks. This problem was the inspiration behind Arik’s ‘Liquid Dispenser’ project, which can hold two litres of any desired liquid and has an outer body made from reused cardboard. As Arik says, “You don’t need a plastic bottle, you just need a cup!”

    A young person's home-made project to help people get a drink at the press of a button.
    Arik’s project helps you easily select a drink with the press of a button

    Amrit (13), Kingston (12), and Henry (12) from Canada were also inspired to make a project to reduce waste. ‘Eco Light’ is a light that automatically turns off when someone leaves their house to avoid wasted electricity. For the project, the team used a micro:bit to detect the signal strength and decide whether the LED should be on (if someone is in the house) or off (if the house is empty).

    “We wanted to create something that hopefully would create a meaningful impact on the world.”

    Amrit, Kingston, and Henry

    Projects for local and global positive change 

    We love to see young people invent things to have positive changes in the community, on a local and global level.

    This year, Sashrika (11) from the US shared her ‘Gas Leak Detector’ project, which she designed to help people who heat their homes with diesel. On the east coast of America, many people store their gas tanks in the basement. This means they may not realise if the gas is leaking. To solve this problem, Sashrika has combined programming with physical computing to make a device that can detect if there is a gas leak and send a notification to your phone. 

    A young person and their home-made gas leak detector.
    Sashrika and her gas leak detector

    Sashrika’s project has the power to help lots of people and she has even thought about how she would make more changes to her project in the name of sustainability: 

    “I would probably add a solar panel because there are lots of houses that have outdoor oil tanks. Solar panel[s] will reduce electricity consumption and reduce CO2 emission[s].”

    Sashrika

    Amr in Syria was also thinking about renewable energy sources when he created his own ‘Smart Wind Turbine’.  

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKAhNK31x9s?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    The ‘Smart Wind Turbine’ is connected to a micro:bit to measure the electricity generated by a fan. Amr conducted tests that recorded that more electricity was generated when the turbine faced in the direction of the wind. So Amr made a wind vane to determine the wind’s direction and added another micro:bit to communicate the results to the turbine. 

    Creating projects for the future  

    We’ve also seen projects created by young people to make the world a better place for future generations. 

    Naira and Rhythm from India have designed houses that are suited for people and the planet. They carried out a survey and from their results they created the ‘Net Zero Home’. Naira and Rhythm’s project offers an idea for homes that are comfortable for people of all abilities and ages, while also being sustainable.

    “Our future cities will require a lot of homes, this means we will require a lot of materials, energy, water and we will also produce a lot of waste. So we have designed this net zero home as a solution.”

    Naira and Rhythm

    Andrea (9) and Yuliana (10) from the US have also made something to benefit future generations. The ‘Bee Counter’ project uses sensors and a micro:bit to record bees’ activity around a hive. Through monitoring the bees, the team hope they can see (and then fix) any problems with the hive. Andrea and Yuliana want to maintain the bees’ home to help them continue to have a positive influence on our environment.

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_hbfiAgwAI?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

    Knowledge is power: projects to educate and inspire 

    Some young creators use Coolest Projects as an opportunity to educate and inspire people to make environmental changes in their own lives.

    Sabrina (13) from the UK created her own website, ‘A Guide to Climate Change’. It includes images, text, graphics of the Earth’s temperature change, and suggestions for people to minimise their waste.  Sabrina also received the Broadcom Coding with Commitment award for using her skills to provide vital information about the effects of climate change.

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    Sabrina’s project

    Kushal (12) from India wanted to use tech to encourage people to help save the environment. Kushal had no experience of app development before making his ‘Green Steps’ app. He says, “I have created a mobile app to connect like-minded people who want to do something about [the] environment.” 

    A young person's app to help people connect over a shared interest in the environment.
    Kushal’s app helps people to upload and save pictures, like content from other users, and access helpful resources

    These projects are just some of the incredible ideas we’ve seen young people enter for Coolest Projects this year. It’s clear from the projects submitted that the context of the environment and protecting our planet resonates with so many students, summarised by Sabrina, “Some of us don’t understand how important the earth is to us. And I hope we don’t have to wait until it is gone to realise.” 

    Check out the Coolest Projects showcase for even more projects about the environment, alongside other topics that have inspired young creators.

    Website: LINK

  • Computing and sustainability in your classroom | Hello World #19

    Computing and sustainability in your classroom | Hello World #19

    Reading Time: 5 minutes

    Issue 19 of our free magazine Hello World, written by and for the computing education community, focuses on the interaction between sustainability and computing, from how we can interact with technology responsibly, to its potential to mitigate climate change.

    Cover of issue 19 of Hello World magazine.

    To give you a taste of this brand-new issue, here is primary school teacher Peter Gaynord’s article about his experience of using an environmental case study to develop a cross-curricular physical computing unit that gives his learners a real-life context.

    Peter Gaynord.
    Peter Gaynord.

    Real-life problem solving

    The prospect of developing your own unit of work from scratch can feel very daunting. With the number of free resources available, it begs the question, why do it? Firstly, it gives you the opportunity to deliver computing that is interwoven with the rest of your curriculum. It also naturally lends itself to a constructionist approach to learning through meaningful engagement with real-world problem-solving. In this article, I am going to share my experience of developing a ten-lesson unit of physical computing for students aged nine to ten that is linked to the more general topic of the environment.

    To engage children in the process of problem-solving, it is important that the problem is presented as a real and meaningful one. To introduce the topic of the environment, we showed pupils a video of the Panama Canal, including information about the staggering amount of CO2 that is saved by ships taking this route instead of the alternative, longer routes that use more fuel. However, we explained that because of the special geographical features, a moving bridge needed to be constructed over the canal. The students’ challenge was first to design a solution to the problem, and then to make a working model.

    An model of a bridge.
    One bridge model from Peter’s class.

    The model would use physical computing as part of the solution to the problem. The children would program a single-geared motor using a Crumble microcontroller to slowly lift and lower the bridge by the desired amount. We decided to issue a warning to drivers that the road bridge was about to close using a Sparkle, a programmable LED. Ultimately, the raising and lowering of the bridge would happen automatically when a ship approached. For this purpose, we would use an ultrasonic sensor to detect the presence of the ship.

    Building the required skills

    To develop the skills required to use the Crumble microcontroller, we led some discrete computing lessons based largely on the Teach Computing Curriculum’s ‘Programming A — Selection in physical computing’ unit. In these lessons, the children developed the skill of sensing and responding differently to conditions using the selection programming construct. They learnt this key concept alongside controlling and connecting the motor, the Sparkle, and the ultrasonic sensor.

    A learner does physical computing in the primary school classroom.
    Physical computing allows learners to get hands-on.

    For students to succeed, we also had to teach them skills from other subjects, and consider at what stage it would be most useful to introduce them. For example, before asking children to document their designs, we first needed to teach the design technology (DT) objectives for communicating ideas through sketches. Most other DT objectives that covered the practical skills to make a model were interwoven as the project progressed. At the end of the project, we guided the children through how to evaluate their design ideas and reflect on the process of model making. Before pupils designed their solutions, we also had to introduce some science for them to apply to their designs. We covered increasing forces using levers, pulleys, and gears, as well as the greenhouse effect and how burning fossil fuels contributes to global warming.

    An end pivot model of a bridge.
    Another bridge model made in Peter’s class.

    It is very important not to specify a solution for students at the beginning, otherwise the whole project becomes craft instead of problem-solving. However, it is important to spend some time thinking about any practical aspects of the model building that may need extra scaffolding. Experience suggested that it was important to limit the scale of the children’s models. We did this by showing them a completed central bridge span and later, guiding the building of this component so that all bridges had the same scale. It also turned out to be very important that the children were limited in their model building to using one single-geared motor. This would ensure that all children engaged with actively thinking about how to utilise the lever and pulley system to increase force, instead of relying on using more motors to lift the bridge.

    If you want to finish reading Peter’s article and see his unit outline, download Hello World issue 19 as a free PDF.

    Discover more in Hello World 19 — for free

    As always, you’ll find this new issue of Hello World packed with resources, ideas, and insights to inspire your learners and your own classroom practice:

    • Portraits of scientists who apply artificial intelligence models to sustainability research
    • Research behind device-repair cafés
    • A deep dive into the question of technology obsolescence
    • And much more

    All issues of Hello World as available as free PDF downloads. Subscribe to never miss a digital issue — and if you’re an educator in the UK, you can subscribe to receive free print copies in the post.

    PS: US-based educators, if you’re at CSTA Annual Conference in Chicago this month, come meet us at booth 521 and join us at our sessions about writing for Hello World, the Big Book of Computing Pedagogy, and more. We look forward to seeing you there!

    Website: LINK