"What's Our Sputnik" Reaction...

I thought that Friedman's "What's Our Sputnik" article was very thought-provoking and compelling.  I must admit that I agreed with Friedman's views and firmly believe that if the United States doesn't find a way to not only stress the importance of STEM education, but moreover, find a way to spark interest and action, we do not have a hope to become a front-runner in the race to number one.  I think that as a general rule, Americans believe it is our birth right to be at the top.  For the most part, we have become complacent and we no longer seek the more difficult jobs, we no longer delve into inquiry, we tend to think that we are untouchable in this race.  As Friedman points out, I believe that we are currently amidst our "new Sputnik."  We must find a way to increase innovation, motivation, and dedication to science, technology, engineering, and math.  I am reminded of the poster of Uncle Sam pointing that says, "I want you for a career in science!"  It is going to take a collective effort to promote the importance of STEM education.  Science needs to be brought to the forefront and given the focus that it has long deserved.  While English language arts and mathematics are of utmost importance, science needs to be on the same level...and as of now, I cannot see that it is.  The focus on science is crucial if we are to compete with the top nations in the world. 

Earth Science Lesson Using Models

I feel that I may have tried to teach too much of Earth’s structure and processes, but it was necessary to converse about these topics for optimum student comprehension.  Mountain building forces, the different types of faults, and the different plate boundaries are three entities that as an eighth grade teacher, I would spend weeks on.  To teach the three in a two day time period to sixth graders was a little too much.  While I had originally planned to only focus on mountain building forces, the other content came up in our discussions at the beginning of the lesson, and needed to be discussed for background knowledge and to fully comprehend mountain building forces.  If I taught this lesson again, I would take a longer period of time to cover this complex content with a whole class of students.  Without the small group setting, this lesson would not have been so successful. 

Using models help students to understand complex content that can be abstract to them, such as the structures and processes of Earth.  Using models also meets the needs of the group’s diversity.  Giving students a common perspective to relate to allows a universal approach to science instruction.  I attribute the success of the lesson solely to using models.  Without the use of the fault-block models and the sponge rock layers, students would not have the level of the understanding that they did.

Natural Disasters on Earth

By studying natural and man-made disasters students have the opportunity to investigate the causes of these calamities and ways in which technology is able to reduce their effects. They become more aware of the need to respect environmental, structural and safety guidelines and may be better prepared to cope with emergency situations.  By studying events that have happened in the real world, students will naturally become more compassionate and scientifically literate with regard to natural disasters. 

To help students understand these disasters, each disaster needs to be introduce and studied in depth in class.  Technology tools such as wikis, web sites, web quests, streamlined videos, and Web 2.0 media presentations, students will gain a better understanding of natural disasters.  With this deeper understanding, students will gain an appreciation and begin to consider what they can do to help those that have been affected by a natural disaster.  Hosting a disaster preparedness fair for the community and collecting items needed to send for disaster relief are specific ways that students can contribute to help during the aftermath of a disaster.  This type of citizenship and responsibility need to be among the required learning of all students.

My Experience with Ask a Scientist...

So, my first experience with Ask a Scientist was a little bit of a let-down.  At first glance, I was excited about the potential of asking a "real" scientist a wondering question and getting a "real" answer.  I immediately thought of what this would mean to my students...and that excited me even more about the potential of this site.  We were assigned to ask a question about cells.  I asked, "With regard to brain cells, how do multiple hits to the head affect the brain cells?  What are the ramifications to brain cells from concussions or other sports related injuries?"  This is a question that interests me because of my sports history (I played at the high school and college level) and because I currently am a high school coach.  Although I received no answer, I still see the value in this type of site.  If we could be assured of more timely responses, I would definitely use this in my classroom instruction for students to interact with scientists.  Just as students have pen pals and write to authors in ELA, interactions with professionals in the field bring a positive, real-world experience to students. 

Evaluating Web 2.0 Presentation Tools

During the first week of Investigating the Living World, I experimented with five of the presentation tools that were listed on the "cool tools for school" wikispace.  I further investigated Prezi after viewing the tutorial in this week's resources.  Then, I investigated Perzentit, Museumbox, 280 Slides, and finally, Google Sites.

I like Prezi because of the "thinking map" feel of it.  My students are masters of creating thinking maps and I feel that they would not only be able to understand the way that Prezi presents information, but also transfer this understanding to make their own Prezi.  This brings a useable application to my own classroom instead of relying on PowerPoint presentations all of the time.  After viewing the tutorial, Prezi seems easy to use.  I really like the connections that you can make between each focal point.  Prezi will be the presentation tool that I use to develop my course project on the Bog Turtle.

The Perzentit was interesting because you can work with a team at the same time to update the presentation.  I think that Perzentit was a bit more elementary.  I did not see many features in my investigation, but I do think it would be useful if assigning a group project that needed to be completed outside of class.

The Museumbox was really cool.  It is good to pinpoint specific topics, or perhaps detail the life of a scientists.  I found Museumbox to be geared a bit more to the social studies/history areas.  Also, your school has to be approved before you can use it.  I think it is a really neat idea, but it also appears to be more difficult to use.

The 280 Slides seems very easy to use.  It looks a lot like PowerPoint, but much quicker when uploading pictures and videos.  I liked the ease of this site, but if given the choice between 280 Slides and PowerPoint, I would choose PowerPoint at this time because I did not see anything that really stood out on the 280 Slides.

Finally, the Google Sites presented a neat, FREE way to develop web sites.  This was a really cool presentation tool.  I really liked the layout of the classroom site and I thought that the Science Fair Project Template would be very useful to develop to give guidelines, post due dates, answer parental or student questions, and posts grading requirements and rubrics.  Google walks you through the free set up of the web site, so it seems very easy to implement.  This is a site that I will definitely be back to.  For some time, I have been interested in developing a classroom website.  I am excited about this venture. 

21st Century Topics and Tools

A specific content area of physical science that I wanted to focus on is energy.   Although the lesson from this week on chemistry intrigued me, or lit a fire, if you will, to learn what I have forgotten, and to learn more about chemistry, my focus will be on what my own students’ need- energy.    Energy concerns are becoming prevalent and  very real for students of all ages.  I know that my twin boys that just finished third grade constantly discuss renewable and nonrenewable energy, what can we do to help for our corner of the world, and what it means for their future. 

The following are some websites that I use to supplement my unit on energy.

http://www.nmsea.org/Curriculum/Primer/forms_of_energy.htm

Defines the basic types of energy in an easy way to understand.

http://library.thinkquest.org/20331/types/

Looks at energy in terms of fossil fuels, renewable sources, and nuclear sources.

http://www.learnaboutenergy.org/renewable_energy/RenewableEnergy3.htm

This website takes a look at hydropower, bioenergy, wind energy, geothermal energy, and PV cells.

With this topic being controversial and so political at the moment, I think it would be a great teaching tool for students to understand these implications of different forms of energy and what they mean to our future, as citizens.  Students could watch some parts of “An Inconvenient Truth” and well as conduct research to create a standpoint on these energy topics.  Because this is such a hot topic in today’s scientific world, as well as political world, students that are prepared to discuss and know about these topics will be capable to be the promising leaders of tomorrow. 

Through my experience with blogging, I think that students would truly learn from and enjoy blogging about important science topics, such as energy.  Students could participate much like we have.  They would be assigned to groups so that everyone’s thoughts (blogs) would be read and responded to.  Students of the middle level would love to not only be able to voice their opinions, but also feel validated when their peers respond to their blogs.  I worry some about integrating blogging because of the limited use of computers in my school.  We are a K4-6^th grade school with only one computer lab to use.  With so many computerized tests that are administered throughout the year, it would be difficult to schedule regular time in the lab.  As crazy as it seems, I also worry about some parents not willing to allow their child to participate.  In the intense rural area where I teach, there are a lot of parents that just aren’t ready to buy in to technology.  (Again, I said it was crazy.)  But it is still a very real problem for me.

Heat Transfer

For this inquiry experiment, I used cotton cloth, a wool scarf, a fleece scarf, and aluminum foil to test which material was the best insulator of heat.  I filled four identical mugs with one cup of 130 degree water.  I covered the mugs with the four materials and then waited for thirty minutes.  After the half hour, I measured the temperature of each cup with a thermometer and found that the water covered by the cotton cloth was 100 degrees, the water that had been covered with the aluminum foil and the wool scarf was 82 degrees, and the water that had been covered with the fleece scarf was 78 degrees.  My results were surprising to me, and not at all what I had expected or predicted.  I definitely want to repeat this experiment on my own to make sure that my results stay consistent.  I tried to keep every other variable constant, but with my prediciton being so far off the mark, I wonder if I did something wrong by mistake.  I always tell my students that it is okay to be wrong in science as long as they communicate that in the conclusion.  We discuss that doctors and researchers are wrong daily about what type of medicine may cure a disease, but they do not let that stop them from continuing their research.  It is important to communicate what works and what doesn't so that others can try something new instead of repeating something that is known to not work.  In this experiment, I was wrong.  I would love for my students to complete this experiment to find the material that is the best insulator.  Having the opportunity to choose the materials that are tested would be fun and interesting for the students, and truly engage them in the experiment.  I would also love to complete the activity in the What's Hot? What's Not? article.  The hook of the story, and then the engagement of testing actual porridge would immediately grab and hold students' attention.