Modeling: Rock Cycle

This week, I implemented an instructional plan that involved using models.  My students modeled the Rock Cycle.  They created cartoon storyboards that detailed the journey of a rock through the rock cycle.  The cartoon storyboard included illustrations.  Students found the lesson engaging.  This model helped the students learn the Rock Cycle process.  The model helped me to determine whether they understood the concept.  Modeling can provide valuable feedback about modifications that need to be made to the lesson.  Some students did not want to add color to their cartoon storyboard.  Why?  I can not explain it.  Some students did not add captions or humor.  However, they identified the three types of rock and captured the cycle correctly.  Next time, I will reiterate the importance of neatness, correct spelling and punctuation in my instructions.  Students should take more pride in their work.  Otherwise, I will use models for future instructional plans.              
            

Fostering Humanitarian Efforts after a Natural Disasters

Throughout the world, people are experiencing natural disasters at various times and locations.  Although these scientific phenomena  may be on the other side of the world, it is affecting other human beings.  As teachers, we focus on developing students who are scientifically-literate.  However, there is a need to cultivate students who are compassionate about fellow inhabitant of the world.  During lessons that investigate scientific concepts related to weather, temperature, and/or climate is an appropriate time to infuse examples of how working together as a community helps to expedite the recovery process.  Incorporating lessons that encourage students to examine recent and past natural disasters can drive home the need for them to get involved in charitable work in their community or abroad.  Exploring natural disasters that have affected their community and global communities provide a broad perspective of how the natural laws of science touch lives near and far.  Perhaps, students have personal stories about natural disaster experiences they would like to share with their classmates. 

Educators can do several things to enhance their students’ cultural awareness, encourage compassion and understanding of the needs of others, and inspire involvement.  For example, use an activity that connects students to community organizations that provide support to victims of natural disasters.  Students can research legitimate organizations like the American Red Cross that provide relief to victims of natural disasters.  Then, students can brainstorm how they can contribute as a school or community to assist victims after a natural disaster such as sponsoring a fundraiser, collecting donated items, or donating time to clean-up/recovery efforts.  In addition, students should research things that can add to the chaos or hinder the progress of the clean-up/recovery efforts.  

  

"Inquiring Minds Want to Know"

Brain Cells 

Fat Cell

Recently, I visited the Ask a Scientist website in search of an answer to one a question.  The question that I posed to the scientists was  “Why do brain cells die and cannot be regenerated and fat cells do not die?”  I was concerned to find out that I could lose brain cells, however; my fat cells are destined to stay with me unless I had them surgically removed.  This is quite disturbing to say the least.  I would prefer retaining my brain cells and losing some fat cells.  As soon as I receive a response from the Ask a Scientist website, I will post it.   

Meanwhile, I am including a website that students may find engaging.  The link is http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/plantanimaldif.html

          

Evaluating Web 2.0 Presentation Tools

Test Drive New Tools That Are Engaging    

Teachers need to stay abreast of the latest presentation tools, so it can be helpful to try them out.  After auditioning a few of them, I found that I was drawn to presentation tools that have tutorials or demos.  Generally, the tutorial will provide vital information about their functionality, ease of use, potential for collaboration and file sharing, and cost of use.  My course project requires me to choose a presentation tool.  If you have grown tired of PowerPoint presentations, there is another tool that will add a fresh touch to your presentations while capturing the attention of your viewers.  This tool is called Prezi. 

Prezi is appealing to me because it provides ease of use.  Therefore, this will lower my anxiety about using it.  I will be able to create a presentation that stands out from the standard PowerPoint presentation.  The content of the Prezi can be arranged to tell a story in the order that I select. Collaboration is possible through publishing the Prezi where others can view, edit, or add it to a blog.  As long as the internet is available, Prezi is accessible.  To cut cost,  presentation can be published publicly.  However, there is a charge involved if a private setting is chosen.  Some users may want to protect the content of their presentation, access support, or acquire additional storage.  I will be using Prezi for my course project presentation. 


The other tool that I toyed around with was Ustream.TV.  It is important for teachers and students to collaborate with their colleagues.  Therefore, this platform fulfills this desire because it provides a video conference venue.  A video can be created that can be shared with others around the globe.  This site offers each user a channel for others to view the video or chat through a URL.  This tool allows students and teachers the option to share resources and experiences about learning.  This is a tool that I see my students using to interact with their peers who are learning the same material in another district, state, or country.  I look forward to introducing it to my students.  For me, this will be a great collaboration tool.                          


References
Prezi.(2012). Step by step tutorial. Retrieved from http://prezi.com/learn/getting-started/
UStream.TV. (2012). Tutorial. Embedding video. Retrieved from http://blip.tv/the-clever-sheep/embedding-video-with-ustream-tv-833613

21st Century Topics and Tools

During my internet search, I discovered a website http://www.strangematterexhibit.com/whatis.html which features materials science and materials scientist.  This website has information about this interesting field for students, parents, and teachers.  Material scientists give insight into their world of science.  This interactive website offers visitors a wide array of games, activities, experiments, and videos.  This website will allow students to view 21st century skills being used in the workforce.  The terminology in this website will afford them the chance to enhance their scientific literacy.  This website can be used in a lesson to connect students to authentic science experiences.  The only challenge that comes to mind is access to laptops.  However, if the computer lab is in use, I can schedule the mobile laptops for my class.  

Braincake is another website http://www.braincake.org/default.aspx that I think will make an impression on middle school students.  Especially, girls will find this website appealing.  This website is tailored towards the need to draw more females into the fields of math and science.  This website provides a resource for girls to locate programs that educate and groom them for careers in math and science.   

Another website http://www.learner.org/interactives/parkphysics/ that will capture the attention of middle school  students is Amusement Park Physics.  This interactive website is a great tool to use when teaching physics law.  Students design their own roller coaster which enables them to grasp the physics laws involved in amusement park rides.  This website can be used to engage students in collaborative learning.

The Heat Is On

In this guided inquiry, I chose four different materials to use in the experiment such as aluminum foil, cotton washcloth, newspaper, and a nylon sock.  Through this demonstration, I will ascertain which material will provide the best insulation in keeping the liquid warm longer. 

The water for this experiment was heated to the boiling point.  The same amount of water was placed in each mug.  Each mug was covered with a specific material. After thirty minutes had passed, I removed the covers off the mugs.  I placed the simple thermometer in each mug to measure the temperature.  The temperature of the water in the mug with the aluminum foil was 42 degrees Celsius.  The second mug was covered with a cotton washcloth.  The temperature of the water in mug was 44 degrees Celsius.  So far, the cotton washcloth was the best insulator. The third mug was covered with newspaper.  The temperature of the water in the mug measured at 41degrees Celsius.  The final mug was covered with a nylon sock.  The temperature of the water in the mug measured at 41 degrees Celsius. I expected the foil to outperform the other materials.  However, the cotton washcloth was a better insulator.  The nylon sock was the poorest insulator.  This experiment did not pose any challenges for me. 

Through this guided inquiry, my students will see how heat and temperature plays a major role in our daily lives.  I want my students be critical thinkers and problem solvers.  Guided inquiries offer students an opportunity to perform the same task scientists do.  To extend this learning experience, I would ask the students to choose their own materials.  Students want to have a voice in what and how they learn.  Generally, they will invest and participate more in their learning when they help plan it.  

MOMENTUM

How do different surfaces affect the momentum of marbles?


Part of my guided inquiry requires me to focus on one of the questions from the selection.  My interest was lies in investigating how momentum influences our daily lives.  The connection I can draw from is riding in a car or walking down a ramp.  The only items I need to conduct my experiment were one small marble, one large marble, timer, two meters sticks, and extension cord.  The surfaces I choose to use in this lab are carpet, vinyl flooring, and laminate counter top.  My observation reveals that the speed of the marble was greater when the mass of the marble was larger.  The investigation also demonstrates that marbles travel a greater distance and move faster on vinyl floor.  Naturally, friction is a factor when the surfaces are not smooth.  When using this inquiry-based learning experience in the classroom, students will gain a more in-depth awareness of momentum.  To extend this lesson for students, I can supply students with other round objects that roll.  This will grant students with further exploration opportunities.  I think it is important to allow students to determine what modifications they want to make to the investigation.  It provides them with responsibility of taking ownership of their education.                      

Inquiry Lesson Reflection

The lesson this past week centered on force and motion.  The students were adept in  overcoming the challenge of designing and constructing a balloon car that capitalized on the beneficial forces and reduced the damaging friction to thrust their balloon car the greatest attainable distance.  As an activating strategy, students viewed pictures of the World's Fastest animal, car, etc. to tap into prior knowledge about force and motion.  The students were able to make everyday life connections between force and motion by designing their own balloon car racers.  Prior to this lesson, students had learned that the amount of force acting on an object will affect the speed and motion of that object.  They had acquired a previous understanding that friction is a force that counters the motion of an object. The students were successful in demonstrating that they had a concrete grasp of the forces that were acting on the balloon car.  

Melting Icebergs Experiment

This week's assignment opens my eyes to the effects of global warming and its issues.  Likewise, this experiment will bring awareness to students about global warming.  In this experiment, we create our own icebergs using ice cubes.  After lumping ice cubes together in a bowl the night before per instructions, I let them freeze overnight.  The next day, I place the lump of ice cubes into a bowl.  Then, I pour water in the bowl until it reaches the top without overflowing.  The next step is to form a hypothesis and observe what takes place.  My hypothesis is that the melting ice produces excess water in the bowl that will eventually cause an overflow of water from the bowl.  From what I observed, some of the ice was extending beyond the top of the water.  As time elapsed, I witnessed water overflow from bowl.  However, only a small amount of water overflowed.  Afterwards, we are to respond to question number nine.     

9. Extended Questions
 
a. What happens if the polar ice caps melt?
The melting of the ice caps will affect on humans, wildlife, sea levels, and global temperatures.  The affect on humans will be unstable weather patterns that threaten lives, cause damage to structures, and food supply shortages.  Wildlife will experience extinction of some species, loss of habitats, and loss of food supply.  The increase in sea levels  can result in destructive flooding.  While the loss of glaciers and sea ice along with pollution contributes to the rise in the planet's temperature which affects the Earth's climate.  

b. What other questions do you have about this Science Inquiry Experience?
How will global warming and disasters affect how we erect buildings such as houses, schools, shopping malls, grocery stores, warehouses, civic centers, and government facilities?
How will humans and wildlife adapt to the changes brought about by global warming?
What changes in species will take place as a result of adapting to new environments?

Reflection: STEM Strategies Lesson Plan

Reflection: Lesson Plan

Hello Fellow Bloggers,
Welcome.  I am looking forward to a sharing my teaching experiences and graduate school experiences with you.  To recap, I am a Certified Science teacher in Georgia.  It is a joy to teach science and work with middle school students in a science classroom.  Obviously, I hope my passion for science will spread to my students and they will share the same enthusiasm for learning as I do.  
On the other hand, I want to reflect on this week's application.  Our assignment was to use a Science Lesson Template to plan a lesson that centered around Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) strategies for diverse learners.  We were given the 5 E's Strategy to assist us in this process. 
The following will explain the terminology:
Engage - Hook
Explore - Experiment
Eplain - Introduce New Material
Elaborate - Real World Connections
Evaluate - Assessment
Candidly speaking, it was an extremely frustrating and overwhelming at times planning this lesson using this new strategy.  I really could have used a face to face group meeting or an exemplar.  This assignment would have made an excellent cooperative learning experience.  Consequently, I did not feel confident that I had completed the Science Lesson Template correctly.  After another colleagues, and viewing questions that were posted on Q&A I gathered I was not alone.  It seemed that with all the planning I did for the lesson plan, the template and the plan just were not a match.  
Time was a factor in completing this application.  Time is valuable not only to a teacher, but in general.  Time would be a factor trying to perform this lesson in a classroom given some classes are not an hour long.  There were some parts that seemed redundant. Although, there were sections that were helpful.  I can see where the historical perspectives and real-world context could be a challenge in come cases.  Just like our students, on some assignments, I think we need that constant feedback and collaboration that comes from being in a group or in pairs.