What’s Our Sputnik?

It seems to me that the youth of today are more concerned with the latest video game, cell phone, or facebook post. It is hard to pull their minds out of the new technology and into the classroom. From reading about the past, it sees the people of the United States loved their country, they found pride in making this country better. Today, it feels like each person is in it for themselves or find a way to take from someone else’s hard work. The terrorist attacks happened at the beginning of my senior year of high school and the war followed soon after. At the time, I felt these attacks would spur our country into World War III which would pull our country together to fight the terrorists. Yes, a war did start, but I did not have a personal connection to it. In order for our school system to prepare students to solve our nation’s problems we need to create a sense of unity in our country. As teachers, we need to get our students to see the importance of creating alternative energy resources, creating new war technology to save our troops, and find ways to make our country less dependent on others. In my classroom, this means we need to spark s person’s natural feeling of competitiveness. We need to get our students thinking outside of the box looking at our nation and start thinking of solutions to our problems. Other countries either want to be us or want to beat us and the way our nation is headed it is going to be easier than ever before.  Hopefully it does not take another World War or another country taking over America to inspire people to look at the bigger picture to motivate our nation to be who we were sixty years ago.

Ask A Scientist~

Ask a scientist, http://www.askascientist.org/ is a website that connects someone to some of the top scientists in the country, and each of them is connected to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. They can answer questions about medicine, human biology, animals, biochemistry, microbiology, genetics, or evolution. During the second week of my class I posted a question about how the human brain cells regenerate. I have waited for the last five weeks to hear back from a scientist, but still have not got an answer.

The idea behind this website is one I like because it can connect our students to real scientists. It also features other people’s questions and answers, science fair projects, careers in science, and homework help. I would give my students this link at the beginning of the year so they can use it as a resource when needed for homework help or other ideas.

Water Cycle Lesson Review

The objective of this week’s lesson was for students to understand the water cycle and be able to explain how it affects out area. This was done by giving students a blank handout of the water cycle and their task was to label and fill in facts while watching a video and through class discussions. We then created a model of the water cycle by using a large bowl, coffee cup, and plastic wrap. When put out in the sun the water from the bowl should evaporate and then condense on the plastic wrap and fall into the coffee cup. Their final assessment was to write a story of a drop of water as it moves through the water cycle including each phase using PowerPoint.

Overall I could consider this lesson to be a success. Students were able to fill out their handout on the water cycle with important facts after watching the video and through class discussion.  Students were able to create the model and explain how the model represents the water cycle. I know students were able to do what I wanted because they have correctly labeled their handout and were able to explain how their model worked using the new concepts they learned.

Students enjoyed the video because it showed computer images created by NASA on the water cycle. Unfortunately, it did not give very much information. Through discussion as a class and a review game of the water cycle I found students were able to get the information they needed. Next time I teach this lesson I would still show the NASA video, but I would also find another one that provided students with more information. I also noticed that my students need more work on their note taking skills. They were provided with definitions that they either did not write down or wrote it down word for word. Students need to learn to get down important facts quickly because some teachers will not wait. They also clearly need to work on their spelling. Even though the words were written in the video and on the board they still did not spell them correctly. Next time I will plan ahead and add these words to their spelling list for the week.

Overall, using the backward design process worked well for me. I liked thinking of what I wanted the students to be able to do by the end of the lesson, the questions asked to lead them there, and what they will be able to do. It was hard to think of an assessment before coming up with the learning process that would lead up to that. However, in the end I found it was easier to write the learning activity when I knew where it was going to lead. Overall it was a successful lesson and with small adjustments it will be more successful next year.

Earth's Layers Lesson Review

The objectives of this lesson was for students to be able to identify the crust, mantle, outer core and inner core, describe the crust, mantle, outer core and inner core, and create a model of the layers of the earth. The lesson was introduced by students using knowledge they gained prior to think of how an apple can be used as a model of the earth. Students then constructed a graphic organizer during the lesson that contained the layers of the earth, labels, and a place to write extra facts. Students then showed what they had learned by creating their own model of the earth using ay supplies they could find in the classroom.

Overall I would consider this lesson a success. Students were actively engaged and participating in the activities and discussions. Students were intrigued by the idea that an apple can be used as a model of the earth. Students seemed to enjoy creating their own graphic organizer. They showed this by staying on task, following directions, and we using the new concepts correctly as they were putting it together. Students seemed to pick up on the new concepts quickly and those that were struggling were able to discuss any confusion they had with a friend and get an understanding. At the end of the lesson when I told students they were going to create their own model of the earth using the new information given they were surprised that I did not give any more specific directions. When given the go ahead students quickly jumped up and began looking around the room for any materials they wanted to create their model.

After the lesson was over and students handed in their graphic organizers and model I was pleasantly surprised with what they had created. Overall students put together and labeled their graphic organizers correctly. They were then able to transfer this information into creating their own model. One thing I found very important was to have students share their own models. Originally looking at the models they created it was easy to interpret it different then what they intended. Once the student explained the model, told which layers was which, and why they chose it, it was clear how their model looked like the earth. It was interesting to see how differently students took the freedom to create their own model and what final products they came up with.

Even with students meeting the lesson’s goals there is one thing I would change. My IEP student appeared to struggle with putting together the graphic organizer and labeling the parts. With the guidance of her neighboring students and me she was able to put it together. Next time I would print out the main ideas for each layer and have them cut out and glue to the correct place. I have found I also need to review note taking skills with my students. Some students write down word for word everything I put on the board. In the future I have found that no teacher is going to wait that long for students to take notes, and they are going to have a more difficult time studying them for a test. Other students would only write down a few words and leave out some important information. I feel the students would benefit from a quick note taking review which will also help them in the future.

Unfortunately we currently do not have a way to see inside the earth and no exactly what it looks like under the crust. It can be hard for students to understand something they cannot see which can lead to misconceptions or quickly forgetting the information. A scientific model is a representation of a system that includes important parts of that system to help us think about the phenomena (Kenyon, Schwarz, & Hug, 2008). Giving students a way to see what each layer of the earth looks like and what happens in each layer gives students a visual understanding of what they are learning. When students can use a model they are able to notice patterns and develop and revise representations that become useful models to predict and explain making their own scientific knowledge stronger (Kenyon, Schwarz, & Hug, 2008).

Overall I feel this lesson was successful because students were able to meet the lesson’s objectives using models and graphic organizers. In the future I would consider giving the students the tools they need to create their own graphic organizer as well as giving them more freedom to show what they learned during the lesson.

Reference:

Kenyon, L., Schwarz, C., & Hug, B. (2008). The benefits of scientific modeling. Science&

Children, 46(2), 40–44.

Natural Disasters

             Living in central Oregon, we are always at risk of several natural disasters especially volcanoes and earthquakes. Being a teacher it is important for students to understand what these natural disasters are, the scientific processes behind them, and how it can affect the local area and the world. The first step is getting students to understand what these disasters are. Driving around our area there are several old volcanoes within a 30 mile radius, plus when you head to the Bend Oregon area there are several volcanoes there including Bachelor, Sisters, and an old cinder cone just outside of town. There are several links that students can explore to learn more about how volcanoes and earthquakes work. One site for volcanoes is by discovery located at http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/pompeii/interactive/interactive.html that teaches students how volcanoes work, where volcanoes are, the types of volcanoes, and then has them create their own. Weather WizKids also has information and other links to help students understand located at http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-volcano.htm. Earthquakes are a second big disaster that could happen in our area. Websites that can help students understand this can be found at Weather WizKids at http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-earthquake.htm and information on vocabulary associated with earthquakes can be found at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/animations/.

Students should be aware of these natural disasters around the world. One website is found at Earth Observatory Natural Disasters, http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/. This shows current natural disasters happening around the world. Students can study the effect of these disasters, and I would have my students focus more on earthquakes and volcanoes. Students can learn how each of these disasters affects the people and the environment. I would let students pick a specific event and have students present their findings to the class.

Once students understand what these natural disasters are and how it has affected other places around the world I would have students brainstorm how a natural disaster could affect us locally. This would then lead to safety plans that students can teach their families at home and what they would need to be prepared. To contribute to our community I would have my students take their new knowledge to other classrooms in our school and teach other students about these natural disasters and what we can do to be prepared for one and how to stay safe.

Evaluating Web 2.0 Presentation Tools

This week I reviewed two different presentation tools to use for my course project. I picked these two based on what I had heard from a colleague and what caught my attention when researching using the internet. The first presentation tool I went to was PreZentit which can be found at prezentit.com. I watched some example videos and found the final project to be engaging and fun to watch. This tool is free and can be assessed anywhere with Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 1.5+, and Camino 1.5+. It has a storage space of 250MB and no limit to the size or duration of the presentation. Presentations are always available online for viewing or editing so it is easy to collaborate with a colleague from anywhere. When collaborating with a colleague it is possible to edit slides online and with other simultaneously. The downfall to this tool is there is currently no user guide. I tried to create a couple of slides and found it difficult without directions.

The second tool I looked at was Prezi located at prezi.com. This program is supported by Internet Explorer 7 or higher, Google Chrome, Firefox 3 or higher, and Safari 3 or higher amd is free to public level users. However, if you are an educator with an educator e-mail address can get the next step up for free. This provides core features, larger storage space, prezis can be public or private and there is premium support in less than 24 hours. Collaboration is easy whether it is across the room or across the country. It provides videos for every stage of development and even has a written manual. This tool allows the creator to insert images, videos, YouTube videos, PDFs, and other kinds of media. In order for this program to work properly on your computer you will need Adobe Flash Player 10 or higher installed, minimum 1GB memory, and a scroll mouse or touchpad.

After viewing the final projects completed by both programs I have decided to use Prezi. This tool provides videos and tutorials to help me create an amazing project that I can incorporate videos and other media into. I am excited to see the final project this tool helps me create.

Newton’s Laws of Motion

This week’s assignment was to find technological tools that will help motivate students in a topic found in physical science. For my topic I chose Newton’s Laws of Motion and I found interesting activities, lessons, and videos to use in the classroom. For this topic I was looking for simulations that I could use with my sixth grade class. A lot of simulations I found for this topic were geared more towards high school students unless it was tied into a game (see below). The other challenge at the school I currently teach at is not having computers that can be used for class. Our computer labs are booked with other classes such as foreign language and computer skills classes. Unless you teach one of those classes, computers are not always an option. Because of this I found activities that can be used in your classroom and that can be used to teach skills such as creating graphs, data tables, and understanding their results before they learn to create them on a computer.

These are some links I found that can be used on a computer:

http://science.discovery.com/interactives/literacy/newton/newton.html - Newton’s Law of Motion Interactive

                This is a great way to introduce Newton’s laws or to use as a review before students can use the computer to further their understanding. Students are involved in the demonstrations and explain the topic so it is easy to understand. This website has a quiz at the end to check students understanding.

http://www.learner.org/interactives/parkphysics/bumpercars/

This website is a great way to look at Newton’s second and third laws. It explains the situation of the two bumper cars and based on what you know through background experience or by Newton’s laws you choose what you think will happen when the two bumper cars collide.

http://www.popsci.com/adam-weiner/article/2008-09/playing-games-science-n3wton

This game focuses on Newton’s third law. The goal is to hit the opponent out of the box before you get hit out of the box.

http://www.urlwire.com/news/070605.html   

This game is called 3 Puck Chuck. Players earn points by knocking the goal puck into a target and opponent’s game pucks into traps. Obstacles and varying surfaces cause players to account for Newton’s Laws of Motion as they make the necessary adjustments to speed, direction, and physical properties.

Here are some links that can be used in the classroom:

http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/661.html - Six Mini Labs on Newton’s Laws

                For these activities you group students into six groups and have them rotate after a certain amount of time. These activities work great if you have a small classroom budget because these items can be found at home or a Dollar Store.  It provides questions to check for understanding at the end of each activity or when all the activities are completed.

http://www.neok12.com/Laws-of-Motion.htm - Videos

                This link has videos that show Newton’s laws of motion and several other physical science topics. They are engaging and can catch the student’s attention.

All of these tools will help students be successful in the 21^st-century. For sixth graders, many of them are still learning the basics of how to use a computer. These activities will help build their computer skills while still learning about science. I feel it is important for my sixth grade students to have a basic understanding of how graphs and data tables are created and what results they show before going to the computer lab to create them. If they have a good foundation by the end of middle school and the beginning of high school then the higher level teachers will be able to easily teach the students how to create graphs and data tables on a computer. If I was to use the links above I would first teach the basics of Newton’s laws and include the videos for examples. The next day I would take them to the computer lab to complete the activities found on the computer. When students return for the next science class we would discuss how these activities relate to Newton’s Laws. Students can then complete the six mini labs to discover what law relates to each activity and why. By using several different types of activities my students will be successful in learning more about this topic.