Building, performing and educating with musical instruments made from trash since 1991
John Bertles is an experienced and dynamic speaker who tends to turn keynote addresses into performances. Incorporating musical interludes and science demonstrations to illustrate salient points in the presentations, this is not your usual powerpoint-driven lecture!
The arts can be a powerful force to help students understand and explore sustainability concepts, and develop their own personal stand for action on the environment. Using the speaker’s Bash the Trash ensemble as a model, we'll explore strategies for transforming these ideas into teaching strategies.
ARTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT: NATURAL PARTNERS
KEYNOTES
ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT FOR THE MODERN LEARNER: Is anyone paying attention out there?
In this fast, fun and audience-participatory keynote we’ll look at how to engage students who have never known a world without the Internet. We’ll consider hands-on arts integration activities; strategies for engaging different types of learners; and ways to point out and understand bigger conceptual structures to help students navigate a complex world.
EXPLORING STEM TO STEAM
Connecting the Arts and Sciences is nothing new: The ancient Greek word “techne” was also synonymous with “art”. However, the connection has to be made with integrity to both the science and to the art. It’s a circular concept - one needs to understand the science in order to make better art; and in the process become both better artists and scientists.