Effecting Change

As the only sixth grade science teacher in my building, my only science colleagues are the seventh and eighth grade science teachers. Unfortunately, our eighth grade science teacher, who has been teaching less years than me, refuses to take suggestions or advice from others. He is very dedicated to working straight from the textbook and does not wish to stray from it. Needless to say, he and I do not see eye-to-eye on what science education looks like. I struggle with him on a regular basis as to the progression of science skills students should possess has they move through the middle school. We did however hire a new seventh grade science teacher this past year and she has already tried several inquiry-based labs with her students. It has been great to work with her and share the ideas I have gained through my masters program. Through the next school year, I hope to work with her to develop expectations for our students so that their science skills can continue to grow. In the fall I will be hosting a student teacher for the first time. I believe this will be an excellent opportunity to work with another science educator to share the ideas of STEM and inquiry-based learning.

Where I would like to see a greater connection is with the elementary students. Teachers at the elementary level are required to teach great deals of reading, writing, and math, leaving little time for science or social studies. My hope would be to collaborate with these teachers to develop ways to integrate science into their math and technology time frames. I also believe that pulling science into their reading and writing would be extremely beneficial as it introduces students to informational reading and writing.

I realize that in a district that stresses the importance of reading, writing, and math, science tends to take a back seat. My overall goal is to help others see how science can actually connect to any subject and to stress the importance of our students exploring STEM education.

Is Our Sputnik Upon Us?

Friedman’s article brought up some points that I believe we, as Americans, are sometimes afraid to face. Without a doubt I believe in personal sacrifices in order to help others, but you must wonder how much of help are we? When do we need to step back and focus on ourselves? With national, state, and local budget talks constantly in the media it does concern me that we are sending so much of our money overseas while we have such struggles here at home. I hear within my district and through friends at other schools the cutbacks and layoffs that are taking place. The state of Michigan cut over $100 billion from its school budget this year. I keep thinking, with a lack of money and therefore resources, how can we make such post-Sputnik changes? What will cause us to finally realize that a spark within our own system is needed?

Data and tests show that American youth are below average in math and science in comparison to other countries. Shouldn’t this be enough of a wakeup call? One of the leading countries produces less than average students. Our focus needs to be on these subjects and producing students that possess skills that cannot be outsourced to other parts of the world. Children are our future. Actually, I would change that to say educated children are our future. Educated in such a way that they are prepared for global competition and hold skills that are unique and desired by other countries. I believe a change such as this take both monetary investments and a change in mindset at the federal, state, and local levels.

Building Models - Plate Boundaries

I recently had my small group of students in a science investigations elective research and build plate boundary models. The goal of the activity was to have students use clay (or other materials if they wished) to create a representation of not only the movement of the plates but also the outcome on Earth's surface. Luckily having this extra class I could devote four class periods to the project. The part my students enjoyed the most was the modeling stages. Using clay was a huge motivator for them. Where they struggled was in the planning stages and the determination of how the actually create a three-dimensional model from an image online. There were many on-the-spot alterations needed as students realized that their original design needed to be changed to fit the limitations of their materials.

Continued Support for People of Natural Disasters

With the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the outpouring of compassion for a nation ravished by the disaster is heartwarming. It is terrifying and saddening to see the loss of human life and the destruction of people’s homes and livelihood. Yet, within a matter of a few weeks, we will likely hear nothing of the heartache in Japan on the news. This reminds me of the January, 2010 earthquake in Haiti that also destroyed so many lives. Once we no longer hear about the situation in the news, we often forget about those that are suffering. My goal is to help my students understand that just because we no longer hear about the disaster, the problems associated with it are not over.

The devastation in Haiti continues today. The following link is an article written in January of 2011, one year after the disaster in Haiti. There is still much to be done in the country, yet will hear little of the continued struggles.

A picture of a cathedral in Port-au-Prince after the earthquake.


One year after the earthquake, little has been done to rebuild.


There has however, been improvements to the country of Haiti, yet more work and help is needed. The pictures below shows that life in many areas have returned to normal.

After the Earthquake - January 2010


One Year Later - January, 2011


I would be interested in using a website such as DonorsChoose.org to raise money for a project involving a classroom in Haiti or Japan. Through the study of either country, I would allow my students to select a project to help a fellow classroom in a natural disaster ravished area. Through this project, students would become more compassionate and understanding of human needs.

Ask a Scientist

Unfortunately I did not receive a response from Ask a Scientist regarding ability of bdelloid rotifers to survive extreme conditions. I also asked a question last Monday as to why dominate traits mask recessive traits, yet failed to receive an answer.

As far as how I would use this in my class, truthfully I probably wouldn't. The site sounds like a great idea, but after hearing that many submission go unanswered, I would not put my students up for the letdown of not having their questions answered.

I did find a site that allows students to email scientists that specialize in a specific field. This is something that would be worth trying! The site can be found HERE. Happy asking! :)

Evaluating Web 2.0 Tools

Prezentit - The website is set up in Spanish. Change to English from the drop down menu in the upper-right corner.

Pros:
- Presenit is free and very easy to get signed up. You just have to have an email.
- It is a slide-based presentation that makes it quick and easy to add a photo or text.
- You can change the background colors of each slide or use a photo as your background.
- Some of the slide transitions rival PowerPoint, especial the box transition that you can see in the example below.
- You can get an embed code for your presentation and add it to your Prezi, Weebly, Wikispaces, Blogger, or other platform.

Cons:
- VERY limited in what you can do.
- Videos cannot be inserted, only photos can be placed on your slide.
- Limited font types.
- You cannot insert embed codes or link to websites.

Overall, Prezentit provides a quick and easy way to create a slide presentation. With its many limitations in mind, I would not suggest it for use with our class project. It would be great however to use with elementary students since it is not as overwhelming as PowerPoint for younger learners.




VoiceThread

Pros:
- You can comment on each slide using either your phone, microphone, or webcam.
- You can also comment through text.
- Video and pictures can be uploaded to the slides
- I discovered that you can upload a PowerPoint and each slide of your presentation is a slide from the PowerPoint.
- VoiceThread allows you to collaborate with other people about your slides.
- They give you an embed code for your presentation.

Cons:
- The sign-up processes is a bit lengthy, but with a school email address you can get a free, limited subscription.
- You can only call in your comment three times before the site asks you to pay. (Microphone and webcam comments are free and unlimited)
- You can not add text to the slides, only text in the way of comments.

Example Using Voice


Example Using PowerPoint


After review of these Web 2.0 tools, I think I am going to try VoiceThread. I envision creating a PowerPoint first and then commenting on the slides through a webcam. It would come out like a real presentation where you have the visual and comments of the presenter.

I have used Prezi in the past and really enjoy it. My students even used it to present a project last year. It can be a bit tricky at first, especially getting used to the circular control panel, but it more exciting than a boring PowerPoint. Below is a Prezi presentation I used to introduce my students to a PSA project last year.

Energy Transfers and Transformations

To investigate energy transfers and transformations, it took much searching to find suitable online links. I have listed four websites I found that will be very useful when introducing this topic to my eighth grade students.

Energy Skate Park - This is a PhET simulation that allows students to manipulate a skater on a half-pipe. Students are able to observe the energy transfer between potential and kinetic energy.

Energy in a Roller Coaster - Again, a great simulation to observe the transition between kinetic and potential energy in roller coaster. The drawback with this site is that is member-based and only allows seven views before having to pay.

The Science of Snowboarding - An amazing site put together by NBC and the National Science Foundation to observe the science behind the Olympic games. There are several videos available for many sports. Also, I found videos that link NFL football with Newtons Three Laws. Those can be found here. Talk about a perfect way to spark student interest!! :)

Building the Basic PVC Wind Turbine - This was the best find!! It is an inquiry-based investigation into wind turbines. Students create blades for the turbine and then test them in terms of the amount of electricity produced. The great part is that the directions for building the base are easy and the materials needed are readily available. This is an investigation I will be doing with my students.