Class Blog 12-2 and 12-4

For our last two class meetings our groups got together to discuss and work on our final projects. Our group finished our lesson plan and powerpoint and submitted them through D2L. We also divided up each part and found standards to fit our lesson.

Class Blog 11-25

Today was a great experience. We traveled to Elk Point to judge the school science fair. We began the day by getting our name tags and experiencing a school lunch. After that we were briefed on our expectations for each grade as judges. After the discussion we went out to see the projects, there were a lot of different projects at a wide variety of levels. I enjoyed a project called "Flushed Away" where a girl tested papers and their durability and resistance to water to see which would be ok to flush down toilets. Overall, it was a great experience and I learned a lot. It was definitely a fun experience to have embedded within the course.

Class Blog 11-13

Today was a work day for our second lesson plan and presentation. My partner was not here so I worked with our standard and came up with ideas for building upon it. Our standard involves animal instincts so I thought that a book I had read for tutoring would be appropriate. The book is titled "Black Bear Cub," and it involves the survival strategies that black bear cubs use in their early years. I delivered the idea to my partner so we will be building upon that.

Class Blog 11-6

We began class today by going over the agenda for the next few weeks. It has been confusing and difficult to keep up with the material for some people so Dr. E passed out a paper that went over the expectations for the next few class weeks. After explaining the agenda we moved into another lecture about the 5 E model and an activity related to the model. We were given a lab activity but we were asked to use the materials to develop our own lab that would reflect each component of the 5 E model. The expectations were a bit confusing but we figured it out and developed a good assessment for the model. Our problems came with finding out how much salt to place in the water to make the piece of potato float.

Class Blog 11-4

Today's class brought the conclusion to the midterm presentations. The last groups had the opportunity to teach their lessons. One group let us make a bottle rocket and go outside and launch them off. That was a lot of fun. After all the groups were done we moved into a lecture where we discussd the 5 E model. Dr. E introduced the topic as being a constructivist model with the 5 E's standing for Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. We went over each component of the model and discussed how each E involves the educator as well as the students.

Class Blog 10-30

The presentations in class included my presentation with Ms. Murphy. There were also presentation about heat and light sources, tornadoes, and taste buds. I enjoyed the taste bud activity because it let the class sample jelly beans and identify which taste buds were activated. The tornado presentation was also very interesting but messy. I thought that Ms. Murphy and my presentation went very well. The class seemed like they enjoyed playing with the "Magic Muck."

Class Blog 10-28

Today's presentations in class did not go as smoothly as planned. Most of the groups needed the projector to deliver their presentations so the groups were slow to get started. After awhile, Dr. E was able to get the projector to work and presentations began.

Each group did a great job of presenting. The groups delivered activities like Elephant toothpaste, effectiveness of Oil and Water on the Environment, Ooblack, and Bottle Rockets. The group with the Bottle Rockets displayed their example for us at the end of class. We were going to be able to perform the experiment at a later time.

Class Blog 10-23

Today in class groups began presenting their midterm projects. Catie and Becca began by presenting a lesson involving mixtures. The activity explained what mixtures are and some examples of familiar ones. We then took a quiz and watched a video on making jello.

The next group to go was Lindsey and Melanie. They presented a lesson on habitats. The two talked about the different types of habitats and provided an example of a good project to show students' knowledge of habitats.

The next group was Kelli and Angie. The two presented on the concept of sink or float. They discussed objects that sink or float and we tested objects to see if they sank or float. The objects we tested were: toothpick, pencil, cotton, grape, crayon, playdough, and paperclip.

The next group was Brooke and Megan who presented on Oil and Water. They showed how oil and water do not mix. They then dropped in blue food coloring and they to show that some blue would sit in the oil but completely cover the water.

The last group of the day was Danielle and Whitney who presented on Living and Non-Living things. The two gave an idea for students to show their knowledge of living and non-living things. The activity involved cutting out pictures of objects from the two categories and then pasting them under their appropriate labels.

Class Blog 10-21

In today's class we began by looking at the chapter 5 and 6 reading guide that must be submitted by next Monday. We went through the questions as a class and Dr. E explained her expectations on the assignment. She also made it clear that we need to include examples from the text to support our answers.

Next, we did a ping-pong ball activity where we placed a ping-pong ball in a cup with a funnel and then placed another cup an inch or so away. By blowing on the cup under the ball, we were able to jump the ball across to the other cup. Through our experiment we found that if you blow under the ball it would jump, but if you blow breeze over the ball, it caused the ball to go backwards.

Class Blog 10-16

Today's class was in the smartroom where we did an activity on the internet that involved safety. The internet activity involved lessons in safety and common rules such as not talking to strangers or downloading software without the support of an antivirus. We were also given the rest of the time to continue planning our midterm projects.

Class Blog 10-14

Today in class, Dr. E described the expectations for the midterm project more thoroughly. The concept of a science story was not very clear to me, however, Dr. E provided an example of a science story for us to read and get an idea what is expected for that portion of the project. After reading the science story, we were given the rest of the class to work with our partners on the midterm project. My partner and I developed the outline for our project based on the outline that Dr. E provided us.

Class Blog 10-9

In place of today's class Dr. E asked us to visit the Cyber Bee website. When I visited the website, I found several links that could be helpful in my experiences in the future. The link to the website is http://www.cyberbee.com. I found the curriculum idea section of the website to be the most helpful because the link contained activity ideas for not only science, but the areas of math, social studies, and language arts.

Class Blog 10-7

For today's class we began by discussing any unclear information regarding the quiz, reading guide, and the midterm project. After discussion we moved to a PowerPoint regarding safety considerations for the classroom in regards to experiments. The next slide we looked at discussed the expectations for our "Midterm Safety Through Science Stories" video project. Next, we looked at the handout that we grabbed at the beginning of class that went over some tips for judging a science fair since we would be involved in judging a fair within the next month.

Our last activity for class was a mirror drawing activity. Our group was given a mirror, index card, paper, and a pencil. The pencil was poked through the index card and the mirror was held up by a partner. Our goal was to write our name or draw figures without looking at the pencil and using only the mirror. The figures needed to be drawn exactly like they would appear normally but looking through the mirror. The task proved to be more difficult than I thought it would be. Each time I needed to move the pencil in a certain direction, I ended up moving it in the opposite direction.

Class Blog 10-2

For class today we began by over viewing chapters 3 and 4 in "Ready, Set, Science." We briefly looked at a few PowerPoint slides regarding childrens' capabilities to learn and understand science. I learned that before school, children are able to understand their own ideas and beliefs regarding knowledge. Dr. E said that we should "never lose sight of what it's like to be a kid." I found that quote to be really important and relevant to myself in regards to teaching now and in the future.

Next we discussed "Plato's Allegory of the Cave." I had never heard of the idea before and found the video to be very interesting. "Plato's Allegory" involves prisoners in a cave being locked up with their heads faces a stone wall. Behind the prisoners, a fire is burning. When people walked by, their shadows would display in front of the prisoners. That was the only vision of the world that they knew. So when they were released they were basically blind and unaware of what they were seeing. To recreate "Plato's Allegory," our class did an experiment regarding mystery black boxes. We had to figure out what was in the boxes without being able to see. My partners and I thought that there were different objects in the boxes and not that there were objects places at different angles in the box to make the marbles move differently.

Class Blog 9-30

We had class online today where we looked at a module and answered guided reading discussion questions regarding Chapters 3 and 4 in "Ready, Set, Science." The chapter discussed how children are able to understand science based on knowledge that they are embedded with naturally. Even before school, children have qualities that they are able to use and put forth towards learning science. The module and questions were lengthy but I found it to be very informative and the questions covered the information that seemed pertinent in the reading.

Class Blog 9-25

For class on Thursday we met online for a Web-Seminar. A Web-Seminar was like an online lecture where everyone is involved and interactive with the topic. The topic of the seminar was "The life of a Star". There were professors from across the nation, including our own Dr. E, who helped regulate the discussion. The seminar discussed the life of star and included information like how a star is formed and what a star is made of. Everyone attending the class had the chance to provide input and ask questions. There were also points in the seminar where we had chance to give our own personal reactions and see how everyone else answered.

I learned alot from the seminar and thought it was a really interesting way to provide information. I thought it was great how people from all over the world could come together and attend the same class and discuss information. This was the first time that I have attended a web-seminar and I enjoyed the experience. I would enjoy having another seminar in the future.

Class Blog 9-23

Today in class we learned more about foods as an extension of our last class period. We performed an experiment that displayed how much acid is in common fruits and liquids. Experiments were performed using baking soda reacting with vinegar, water, a 50-50 mix of both, lime, lemon, and fruits like grapefruit and orange. Using the vinegar and baking soda, the most pressure and acidic reaction was apparent. We found that the lime was also very acidic, along with the grapefruit. The experiment was great because it made the acidic reactions visual to students so they could see exactly how much each object contained. The experiment was also very user friendly and easy to follow.

Class Blog 9-18

Today class was held in the smart room where our professor guided us to a great website that provided an interactive lesson to healthy eating and nutrition. I found the website to be a great resource for myself in the classroom. The site was colorful and seemed that it would be very inviting to younger users. I enjoyed how you were able to click and drag food onto the man's plate and with the food you didn't want you could drag and feed it to the dog. I felt that the students would really enjoy this aspect of the website. I enjoyed the nutrition information and I know they will too.

Class Blog 9-16

Today in class we were provided with materials to make a safety game appropriate for teaching students proper safety and behavior within the classroom. The game took me the class hour to complete assembly so I have not yet had the chance to play it. I did have the chance to read some of the spots to land on the board and the rewards and concequenses that were labeled on each. I found the spots to be very creative. I look forward to playing the game and also using it in the classroom because I feel my students will enjoy it and learn at the same time.

Class Blog 9-18-08

Class today was very basic and covered questions regarding the Easy Temp in the beginning. We also discussed our roles as educators in the field of science and what needs to be done to keep our students interested in the topic. Even though we touched on the topics briefly, I'm sure more of the information will come in class on Tuesday.

Class Blog 9-16-08

I enjoyed the lab that we did on Tuesday 9-16. It gave us a chance to use the temperature probe and the tools and programs that came with it. It also allowed for me to see how this type of technology can be used in the classroom.

The Easy Temp and Lab Quest allowed for instant data collecting so that the students could see visually what was happening. The program was confusing at first, but I'm sure it wont be the last time I use it.