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.

Heat Transfers

While completing my experiment for this week, I decided to test the following materials: plastic wrap, aluminum foil, cotton, and wool. I discovered that the wool held in the heat of the water the best followed by the cotton. To my surprise, the change in temperature with the foil was only 1.5 degrees Celsius lower than the wool sock. I came to understand that the foil created an air tight seal around the cup to lock in the hot air, but as a conductor allowed the heat to move through it easily. The wool on the other hand, is a great insulator but because it is a porous material, allowed the warm air to escape. If I were to repeat this experiment, I would combine the foil and wool together and predict a greater heat retention.

If I were to complete this activity in my class, I would integrate technology in the use of temperature probes. The probes would allow students to track the heat transfer throughout the 30 minute period. Also, it would be interesting to see if the heat loss is constant or greater at a specific point. Heat transfers are a concept I cover with my sixth graders and I look forward to incorporating many of the ideas from this week's resources into my classroom.

Guided Inquiry

For the guided inquiry activity, I investigated how the mass of a pendulum affects the time it takes to come to rest. I tested three washers of different masses by hanging them by a three foot string from a door frame. With the back of a chair as a reference point, I released each bob of the pendulum and recorded the time it took for the bob to become completely still.

When I first started this activity, I hypothesized that the bob with the greatest mass would take the longest time to come to rest. This was proved true through my investigation, but what I did not anticipate was the time it took for the bob with the greatest mass to stop. The average time for that bob was over thirteen minutes. I'm surprised I didn't hypnotize myself from staring at a swaying object for so long! :)

My experiment went very well. I did have to change the bearing of the pendulum from tape to a nail hammered into the door frame. The main problem I had with my experiment was the inability to calculate the velocity of the pendulum. Through my research, I discovered that the reason the pendulum with the greatest mass took the longest to come to rest was due to the fact that it had the greatest momentum. Momentum is simply the mass of an object multiplied by its velocity. Since I did not have the velocity, I could not factor this aspect. I did however use this website to compare the velocity of pendulums of various mass and found that if a pendulum is dropped from the same angle, various masses will always have the same velocity.

I could see myself exploring this same investigation with my students. I would however help my sixth graders design the experiment as a whole class since they have not had much practice creating a procedure. To help aid in their understanding, I think that a virtual pendulum like the one I explored would be a great supplement after the hands-on experiment. To pull in a connection to student's lives I could compare it to the pirate ship ride, like that from the resources from this week, or connect it to a person on a swing. We could even walk to the elementary school and use the swings to explore.