class 9/30/08

Today's class period consisted of online assingments. The first thing we did was complete a reading guide questionnaire regarding chapters three and four of "Ready, Set, Science!" This questionnaire really made us apply the information we acquired from reading these two chapters. The reading guide took a while to fill out, however, it was a great review of the information that was covered within chapters three and four. An example of a question stated, "How can educators harness young children’s shared base of understanding and skill to help them learn science?" I answered this question with information I came across pertaining to the book. I believe that was the main goal of the assignment. Instead of just reading about the chapters, we learned how to apply the information to situations as well. I should briefly cover the importance of these two chapters. Chapter three pertained to foundational knowledge and conceptual change. The importance of this chapter was to understand to not look at children ideas of the world as misconceptions, they should be looked at as stepping stones on a path towards more accurate knowledge. We can help children gain an understanding for the world around them by using these preexisting ideas and elaborating on them. We can also restructure a network of concepts, achieve new levels of explanation, and more.

Chapter four of the text pertained to organizing science education around core concepts. The important part of this chapter was to understand the benefits of learning progression to students. It highlighted the benefits of focusing on core concepts and learning progressions. I have a feeling that we are going to see a shift from standard classroom teachings to learning progressions in the near future. Because of this, it is important to understand the concepts behind this form of teaching. In the end, all of this information is extremely important to understand as future educators. This helps to provided our students with the best possible education we can provide for them.

Along with completing the reading guide, we also completed the weekly discussion. This discussion focused on the advantages and disadvantages of incorporating science technology within the classroom. This was a very interesting topic of discussion. However, there was a ton of information to address and talk about. Overall, today's out of class assignments covered a ton of important and insightful information into the field of science!

Class 9/25/08

Toady's class period did not consist of actually meeting within the classroom. Those who were able to make it attended a web seminar titled, "Celebrating Astronomy: A Star's Story." In order to attend this web seminar, we signed up online in advance. After signing up online, we received e-mails with instructions to follow pertaining to setting up the needed program to view the seminar on your computer. Tuesday night around five fifteen...my friend and I logged into the seminar. Both of us sat, computers in hand, ready to participate. I have to say that the seminar was pretty cool. It started off with a short seminar pertaining to how to use the tools provided such as typing, stamping, and so forth. For example, after signing in, we were asked to stamp on a map of the United States, where we were from. From this stamping, we were able to see that people all over the United States were signed in and ready to begin the seminar. After these brief instructions, the seminar began, and the two presenters took over. Dr. E started off with an introduction to the International Year of Astronomy 2009. The presentation then began which covered a wide variety of information pertaining to stars. During this seminar we learned statics stating things such as, "Stars are made of 70-80% hydrogen, 20-30% helium, and 1-2% metals." Definitions were also given. For example, the definition of a star can be defined as a massive, hot glowing ball of gas. We learned about start nurseries, and that stars are born in the Orion Nebula, in the Orion constellation. Other information we learned included information pertaining to high and low mass stars. High mass stars are bright and burn rapidly. An example includes the Rigel in the Orion constellation. Low mass stars are less bright and can burn for billions of years. An example of this type of star includes the sun. We also learned how to classify stars. One thing I found particularly interesting pertaining to this seminar included information on the Helzprung Russel Diagram. We learned that this diagram is to astronomy as the periodic table is to chemistry. Another piece of information I found interesting informed us listeners that planets form around stars from accretion of smaller bits (planetesimals) after the central star forms, or from a clump orbiting the main star (Jupiter). The speakers then provided videos to demonstrate this. We also learned the ways that stars die. For example, massive stars die in an energetic explosion, medium sized stars become whiles dwarfs, and we are still looking for answers as to what happens when low mass stars die. During the seminar, the speakers took time to answer questions that anyone attending the seminar may have. Some people came up with great questions. Towards the end of the presentation, Dr. E provided the listeners with resources for teachers such as thePhysicsFront.org and other places pertaining to science. We were able to applaud the speakers through an applaud button. All in all, the maximum number of attendees reached was about 80 people, a pretty good number. Looking back on this experience I can say that it was not only a great way to incorporate technology, but was also a great educational opportunity. Through attending this presentation, I was able to learn a great deal of information pertaining to stars including formation, death, and everything in between. Overall, it was a great educational opportunity.

Class 9/23/08

Today's class period started out answering questions as usual. After this task, we moved onto our lab pertaining to acid. The title of the lab was "The Acid Test". This lab was very interesting and engaging not only for us, but for our future classrooms. The lab began by collecting various materials including plastic cups and bottles, baking soda, vinegar, and water. We then began testing the acidity of these different materials. When we mixed 5 milliliters of vinegar with a scoop of baking soda, a chemical reaction took place. We did this same process again but substituted water in for vinegar. No reaction took place. When then did this same process, however, instead of pouring the vinegar into an open plastic cup, we used a syringe to inject the liquids into a closed plastic container. After we injected the vinegar into the container, the reaction would cause the syringe to fill with air. The higher the reaction, the more the syringe would fill with air. We then repeated this process with lime juice, white grape fruit juice, pink grape fruit juice, and orange juice. The results for each of these varied depending on the acidity of the juice. For example, the lime juice had the most acidity due to the reaction with baking soda, and the amount of air that filled the syringe. After the chemical reaction took place, the syringe was filled a little over half full of air. Out of all of the liquids tested however, the vinegar seemed to be to most acidic, filling the syringe almost completely full of air after the chemical reaction. We then moved onto using actually chunks of fruit and testing the reaction of the pieces with baking soda. The reactions were much less severe than with the juice. We determined the reasoning behind this was because of surface area pertaining to the pieces of fruit vs the liquid. However, the over goal of today's lesson was to gain an understanding of acidity of the acidity of foods. We accomplished this through using different fruit juices. We learned that fruit juices are more acidic than regular liquids because they are more concentrated. Through completing this lab, we also determined that some fruit juices are much more acidic than others. Overall, this lab was quite interesting. I feel that it is a great way to engage the students. It is also a great way to include the children in a hands on activity and provide them with an up close and in depth experience dealing with acidity in foods.

Today's class period was very interesting and engaging. The class period began with a look into the South Dakota science standards for k-12. We briefly discussed each standard and them put them aside for future use. We then moved onto an interactive activity. In order to complete this interactive activity, we went to the website of http://www.Fossweb.com. Here we were introduced to different scientific topics pertaining to different grade levels. We focused on grades three through six. Some activities that we were able to choose from included landscapes, environments, and more. We chose to focus on health. The website provided many different activities pertaining to the exploration of health. For example, one program we worked with had us compile of meal using different foods to meet a certain caloric intake, and grams pertaining to protein, carbohydrates, and fats. We then analyzed different meals that we composed, and tried to figure out how we could substitute in different foods to reduce the caloric intake and so forth. We were also provided with packets to fill in when interacting with the websites. The packet provided us with information pertaining to nutrition. It also informed us on the recommended calories per day for boys and girls. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this class period because is focused on nutrition and involved interactive learning opportunities which i think is always a good way to engage students.

The assignment for yesterdays class period was to read chapters 1 and 2 out of Ready, Set, Science! Chapter one of the text was basically a review of our discussion from last Thursday which covered topics pertaining to the importance of teaching science well, what scientists really do, and so forth. I covered this information in my previous blog. Chapter two covered the four strands of science learning. Strand one pertains to understanding scientific explanations. Strand two covers generating scientific evidence. Strand three is reflecting on scientific knowledge. Finally, strand four consists of participating productively in science. The book informs us that, "Proficiency involves using all four strands to engage successfully in scientific practices." The book takes an in depth look into each strand to help the reader gain an understanding of each process. The book then provided a case study, in which you could see the four strands of scientific proficiency at work in the classroom. I found that to be insightful.

Yesterdays class period began with a basic overview of chapter two and the four strands of learning. Our notes began by understanding the new views and ways of thinking about science. Our teacher informed us that proficiency in science is a view of science as both a body of knowledge and an evidence based, model building enterprise that continually extends, refines, and revises knowledge. After this introduction, we then moved onto an in depth look into the four strands, similar to what the book covered. Closing out the class period, we put together a science safety game that we could use in our future classrooms. This board game pertained to science safety. It is a fun and engaging way to interest students in not only having fun playing a game, but it also provides them with a meaningful learning opportunity. The importance behind today's lesson was the understand the four strands of science learning, and how the interconnect with each other.

Class 9/11/08

Today's class period mainly consisted of notes, something we usually do not do. However, the information presented was important. The class period consisted of taking notes presented off of a power point. The first slide discussed the importance of teaching science well. As future educators, this information is important for us to know. One note that i put a star next to stated, "Science in this sense is more than a means for getting ahead in the world of work. It is a resource of becoming a critical and engaged citizen." We then went on to discuss the four reasons to teach science well. One reason stating, "Science may provide a foundation for the development of language, logic, and problem-solving skills in the classroom." Next we went on to discuss science as a new paradigm. Following that we discussed what scientists really do. Most people have the wrong imagine of scientists in their heads. We learned that real scientists use a wide array of methods to develop hypothesis, models, and formal and informal theories. Next we moved on to the language of science, and the importance of understanding it. One note stated, "It is important for educators to be clear about specific scientific usage to avoid confusion." I completely agree. Finally, we took down notes on conflicting definitions including evidence, scientific claims, and facts. The day ended with a quick run through on estimation in which the entire class made estimates as to which class container had more Hershey's kisses. Our teacher informed us that the lesson pertains to volume to surface ratio, and that spherical houses hold more. In the end, the importance of today was to gain an understanding of what science actually is and the importance of us as future educators to have an accurate understanding of the many topics we covered within class.

Class 9/9/08

Today's class period consisted of a video titled, "5 Minute University". After watching this video we moved on to completing an in class lab in which the main focus was learning about and calculating out response time. We began the period by breaking into cooperative groups and assigning each person a role. After gathering all materials we then began the lab. During we lab we used a graphing calculator and a thermometer to measure the temperature when moving the thermometer from cool water to warm water. The graphing calculator than displayed a graph of the data. Obviously from moving the thermometer from cold to hot water the graph went up, and then eventually leveled off. By reading the graph and using a formula, we were able to measure the temperature response time. After completing the lab we moved on to answer questions pertaining to the lab. An example of one of the questions states, "Determine probes response time by subtracting 20 seconds from your value for the elapsed time when the maximum temp was released". In order to do so we took our elapsed time of 177.5 -20 and we came up with 157.5 for a response time. Since we finished this lab early, we then moved on to the second lab in which each person in our group held the thermometer in our hands until the highest temperature was reached. We then added together the total of every ones highest temp and divided by 4 to find the team average. At the end of the day, us students walked away with an understanding of temperature and response time, along with an understanding on how to integrate technology into the curriculum.