10/30/08

Today's class period consisted of presentation of midterm projects. We are almost done with the presentations. They will end in the next class period. Today's presentations however once again very engaging. The first presentation was over force. These presenters had us construct an activity out of pop sickle sticks, string, tape, a straw, and a balloon. We basically created what looked like a telephone string and taped a blown up balloon to the straw in the middle of the string. We then let go. The balloon went shooting across the string. This was a very engaging activity. Next we moved onto creating guap. We had already participated in an activity including guap. However, the interesting part is that each group presented the activity in a different way. The next group presented over tornadoes. Their activity consisted of taping two bottle of the same size together after filling one bottle with water. We then swished the water around and turned the bottle upside down. A tornado formed within the water. That seemed to be an activity that children would thoroughly enjoy. Finally, we ended the day with a presentation on heat sources. Overall, I have found all of the activities presented to be extremely insightful. Every group that goes focuses on a different grade level and different standards. I find this resourceful. These activities help you learn how to adjust different lessons to meet the different grade levels that you may be teaching. Overall, i have enjoyed the presentations of the lessons. They are very resourceful and they are great ideas to keep around for our own future classrooms.

10/28/08

Today's class period consisted of midterm presentations. I found the presentations today to be extremely engaging and they seemed like a great activity to keep around for my future classrooms. The first project presented today was called elephant toothpaste. The group did a great job at finding a very interesting activity. They were also very prepared in explaining how and why a chemical reaction would occur when you mixed together the ingredients that the presenters had layed out for each of our tables. During the activity, we mixed together vinegar, dish soap, and yeast. This combination caused a chemical reaction to occur. After we combined our materials in a water bottle, the reaction created foam which shot out the top of the bottle. It was pretty cool. The following presentations were over solids and liquids in which we made guap, and finally we ended the day with a presentation over bottle rockets. This group informed us on how to make them. The group then demonstrated how the ingredients mixed together, and shot off a bottle rocket. It actually worked and went pretty high into the air. Overall, i very much enjoy the science midterm presentations. Each presenter gives you a new idea that can be used in our future classrooms, along with highlighting key points to take into consideration such as safety, and construction of the project.

10/23/08

Today's class period was extremely interesting. Today we presented our midterm projects that we have been working on for the last couple of weeks. The criteria for our midterm presentations including completing a lesson plan, and demonstrating an activity that can be used within k-8 classrooms pertaining to science. The activity's had to meet science standards for a certain grade level. The midterm projects help to prepare us for lessons that we will be planning in our future classrooms. The operations behind constructing these projects call for us to take into consideration every aspect that would need to be included as if we were to present this project in a real classroom. You have to take into consideration state standards, rationale, modifications for diverse learners, safety, etc. Overall, I enjoyed putting together the midterm projects because I feel that they introduce us to the preparation that needs to be taken when completing these projects in real classrooms. The presentation of the projects also give us ideas that we can use in our future classrooms. My partner and I did our project over habitats. We first made a power point that covered each area that needed to be taken into consideration when composing a lesson pertaining to the activity. We then began our lesson by introducing books that can be used to grab the students attention and interest them in the activity. We then moved on to discussing habitats and the different animals that you can find in them, the reasoning behind why the animals live their, plant life that can be found there, and more. We then introduced our project which consisted of having the students create their own habitats within a shoe box. We created a video that demonstrated the process behind composing the habitats, along with displaying a habitat that we had already created. Overall, today's class period was extremely fun and insightful.

10/21/08

Todays class period consisted of going over chapters five and six and discussing the reading guide that goes along with these chapters in class. Dr. E. decided to go over the reading guide in class in order to make sure that everyone had an understanding for what the questions were asking, and also to help us understand how to go about answering the questions. After completing the reading guide, we moved on to an in class lab titled, "The Leaping Egg (or Ping Pong Ball)". The purpose of completing this lab was to help us understand the different labs that can be used in order to help students gain an understanding for class topics, along with learning to use alternative materials in order to make certain labs work. After completing this lab acitivity, we then took the time to answer the follow up questions as a class. One quesiton asked, "What makes the egg jump out of the first glass?" We answered this question by stating that air gets under the ball, exerting a force that pushes the ball out of the glass. The follow up questions at the end of the lab helped us to gain an understanding for the lab, and develop an understanding for the events that took place within the lab. Overall the class period was very successful.

10/16/08

Today's class period was very interesting. We had class in the computer lab today since we were going to be interacting with websites. Today's activity consisted of learning how to stay safe online which is extremely important when working with technology in the elementary classroom! Dr. E provided us with a link to a Doug funny website for children on safety. We took the time to explore the website and the information it had to offer. It was full of safety information for children when it comes to staying safe online. This website is extremely insightful and a great website to have children explore before allowing them to take part in online simulations. After going through this website, Dr. E provided us with another link in D2L which took us to a website on all sorts of safety from stranger safety and home alone safety, to water safety and health safety. I found this website very interesting as well. Overall, both websites were great tools to use in our future classroom when educating our children on different aspects of safety. I really appreciate the websites that Dr. E provides us with. All of them are great resources to use in our future education classrooms.

Class 10/14/08

Today's class period began by reading a science story titled, "States of Matter and Scrambled Eggs: An Eggsperiment." The entire class took turns reading this story aloud. After completing the reading, Dr. E explained how the science story related to our midterm science lessons. She explained that we were going to follow somewhat of the same format first by picking out a topic and making sure it relates to the science standards, then, by making a story out of our lesson. Dr. E also explain to the class that kids love to tell what their thinking aloud. She informed us of many ways in which this can be done including science journals, stations, clay, and sentence strips. She also stressed that models help as well. From this we went on to discuss the process of making a video which is a component to our project. We Then went out the discuss the format of the lesson plan and what is expected. The remaining time was a work day to get together with our partners and get as much done as we could for our midterm project. My partnerand I had our outline done so we moved onto the creating the lesson plan, and discussing projects that we would use within our presentation. Overall it was a very successful day.

Class 10/0/08

Toady's class period was an out of class lab that consisted of two different assignments. The first was to meet with our partners and form and outline for our upcoming midterm projects. My partner and I decided that we are going to do our midterm project over habitats for children in grades 2-3. We determined which standards we could meet throughout the unit, along with topics we were going to cover, activities we could do for the lesson, and more. We then submitted our out line to Dr. E The next assignment was to explore a web link that Dr. E had provided for us on D2L. This title of this link was Integrating the Internet Wonders of Science. The link provided us with many different websites to explore pertaining to different areas of science. Certain websites provided us with information on science fairs such as the benefits of science fairs, what makes a good science fair topic, examples of science fair displays, and elementary, middle school, and high school science fair levels. Another link took us to a website titled, "The Adventures of Cyberbee". This website provided us with many different paper airplane links to click on, along with lessons we could use over paper airplane science. The Cyberbee website also took us to a web page that provided a ton of different science topics raning from different topics of possible study such as endangered species to the Cornell Theory Center Math and Science Gateway. All of the links were very interesting and great sites to bookmark for future use in our classrooms. One website i found particularly interesting was called Cells Alive which provided animations of how cells work! It was cool. A final website provided by the Cyberbee introduced us to incorporating a treasure hunt into science. Overall, I thought all of this activity was great. It helped us to explore the different ways in which we can integrate the Internet into our science activities. The websites provided prove that there are many great educational websites out there that can greatly benefit our future students. Overall, I found the websites to be extremely insightful and will definitely book mark these sites for future use!

Class 10/7/08

Today's class period began with answering questions pertaining to assignments due. We also discussed upcoming events such as the science fair we will be judging in Elk Point in November. We then discussed our upcoming midterm project. This information pertained to the content we were to choose, the standards we were going meet, expectations and more. After addressing these two topics, we moved onto a power point presentation over safety considerations for science labs which is extremely important to be aware of when conducting any labs! Highlights of these notes included information stating, "Teachers should explain the need for protecting clothing, eyes, use of safety equipment, reading directions, and interpreting symbols". Also, Dr. E stressed the importance of NEVER leaving the classroom during any form of lab activity. If we need to talk with someone have them enter the classroom. Another important note that Dr. E informed us was that many safety issues can be eliminated by using organization or be organized. Following this discussion, Dr. E provided us with a website including examples for teaching science safety. Next we began our lab which focused on perception in which we learned is how you perceive, and how your body reacts to perception. We were provided with a lab manual to instruct us on how to complete the lab. We first took a pencil and poked it through a note card. We then used a mirror to look into to guide our writing. We then attempted to write our names, fill our a sheet that Dr. E printed off with different shapes for to try to create and more. This lab was extremely interesting. Before we began we thought it would be extremely easy. However, once we started, we realized it was very hard. The focus of this lab was for us to understand that learning is enhanced through repetition. Also, that the sensory input that results in the most effective memory retention is different for different people, that memory is enhanced by active firsthand experience, multiple senses, and emotional management, and more. As a class, we were able to gain an understanding for this information through completing the lab activity.

class 10/2/08

Today's class period consisted of a couple different activities. The class period began with Dr. E answering any questions we may have pertaining to science which is always helpful. We then took a few notes over chapters three and four. The information that we covered during this time was found in the text of chapters three and four. It was a nice review. During our in class discussions Dr. E elaborates more on the concepts covered within the chapters. This allows us to develop a better understanding for the information. During this time she also introduces us to new information. In today's class period, she talked about how science can be used in a way that all people can communicate such as through mathematics, or classifying things. This communication is a way to bring together diverse groups of people in helping them all find a common ground. Its crazy that this can all be accomplished through science! Throughout our discussion we took notes on information pertaining to the four domains of science. The first domain being simple mechanics of solid bounded objects. Other interesting information that Dr. E presented included information stating that when it comes to scientific reasoning, pre-verbal infants have ideas on cause and effect. The goal of today's review of chapters three and four was to help us develop a sold understanding for foundational knowledge and conceptional change in students, along with organizing science education around core concepts. Both of these chapters are very important to use as future educators. After completing our note taking we were introduced a video on Plato's a Allegory of the Cave. I liked how Dr. E used this video/story to relates Pluto's view of living in a cave and only being able to see shadows, to different parts of science that we have no yet been able to explore. Instead, we have to use models. This tied in well to the activity that wrapped up the class period. We finished the day with an investigation into model boxes. There were four models boxes labeled, A,B,C,D. Each student took turns shaking the box, making hypothesis as to what sort of shape was in the box. During this time we conferenced with other people in our group, conjuring up guessing or ideas as to what sort of shape we believed was in the box. This process tied into the four strands of knowledge. Overall, this class period emphasized on, and introduced us to much important information.

The Amazing Food Detective: One assingment for this class was to partake in an online activity titled, "The Amazing Food Detective". This activity was extremely intresting and insightful. The acitivty introduced you to about eight different children, all with different health problems. I took a look into the health problems of five different children. The first child was Althea. Her health problem was that she skips breakfest. She is energized in the morning, but crashes right before lunch time. This makes it hard for her to concentrate on school because she is hungry and crashing. The acitivty on Althea had us choose different breakfests that she could possibly eat. Depending on which item you choose, the detective would inform you of the benefits or downsides to what you choose. This information was pretty intresting. Another students case that I found to be interesting was Matthew. He was tired all the time. The detective informed us that Matthew would be more energized throughout the day by incorportaing more activity into his schedule. Overall, the online activity gave us much insight into different health situations raning from the downsides of skipping breakfest, and the importance of portion control to the importance of activity in your daily life, and how to turn these negative health concerns around. This website informed on how to make better health choices through eating the right foods, to participating in different activities. I believe this online activity is a great learning opportunity for studetns of any age.