Sputnik

Spuntnik

In the article by Friedman, brings up a lot of interesting ideas.  I found it very interesting how our counrty changed directions when the Germans developed Sputnik.  I was also interesting that our country came together to advance our science, math, and technological skills. I agree with Friedman that we need to quite worrying about overseas and take care of us first.  We are falling behind as a nation and it is now effecting everyone living here.  Our school systems are not equip to teach curriculum using new advanced technology. Furthermore, I agree with Friedman that we need to take the money that we are spending in Afghanistan and put it to use here in the states to better educate our children in Mathematics, engineering, and technology.

Lesson Plan

My lesson plan was over the structures of space, specifically the Earth, Moon, and Sun.  I utilized two different models. The first one was Engineering Interact.  This website allowed my students to have a visual of the sun, moon, and Earth and how they work together.  I also utilized a hand-on activity in this activity students had to cut a sun, moon, and earth out.  They then had to us bass pins to put them together.  This replication showed how the Earth revolved around the Sun  and the moon revolved around the Earth.  One aspect of this lesson plan that surprised me was that my students were very engaged  during Engineering Interact however, they really did not get the concept behind the hand-on activity.  One triumph that I had was when I was utilizing Engineering Interact my students were up pointing to different aspects of the website and you could see the light coming on in their face  when they understood the concept. 

Natural Disasters

In today's world mother nature is more unpredictable than ever.  We have more Hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, and earthquakes now than we have in the past. 

To help develop more scientific literate students which in turn will create more compassionate citizen, I would have students research a natural disaster of their chose.  They would have to create a presentation to present to the class.  In this presentation they would give pictures, videos, and if possible statements from some of the victims.  They would also have to research how and why this particular phenomena occurred.  Once all students have presented to the class the class would compare these disasters to each other. They would explain how they were different and how they are similar. Then as a class we will research current disasters and pick one that we would like to help out. 

As a class we would present this information to our Principal and discuss ways that we can contribute.  Some ideas that I have come up with:

1. Pennies Save Lives.  As a school we would collect pennies and cash them in to send to our desaster releif fund.

2. Pay it Forward: A can good collection.  We would collect can goods and non parisiable items to send.

To get our community involved with our cause I would have the students develop flyers to send home and put up in our local area.  If possible I would contact our local media to do a story on how are students are uniting to help people around the world.  This would allow my students to witness our community coming together to help others in need.  

I would explain to my students the importance of helping others.  Because there may be a time when we need help and if everyone took a little time to give then our world would not be so divided. 

Evaluations of Presentation Tools

This week I had to research different presentation tools.  The first tool I researched is the Prezi.  I am very unfamiliar with this tool.  However, I felt that through the use of the instructional video that I could over time become familiar with the program.  There are few special features that this program had to offer.  One is the versatility of the  text box that you can choose how your presentation will flow.  It also allowed you to up load pictures and YouTube video with ease.  Because of the newness of this program I am unaware of how easy it will be to share your presentation. This will have to be one of the items that I need to further investigate.

The second presentation tool that I research is Mixbook.  I am familiar with this program and it is extremely easy to use.  One great benefit is that once you have created your presentation you have an opportunity to have it published as a book for a small fee.  Also in this program you are able to upload pictures and design the text.  However, I do not believe that you are able to upload videos to this program.    This program can also be shared with your colleagues and students.

The final presentation tool that I researched is  webtools4u2use.  I was surprised that this is actually a wiki.  In our school district we are now implementing wikis in every thing we do.  However, we have had some complications with these types of programs.  One is that you have to approve everyone individually.  That can be a benefit however, if you want to share with colleagues outside then this can be difficult and time consuming.  A positive of this program is that you are able to insert blogs, daily reports, pictures, videos, streaming, and also chats.  This can be very beneficial to students as well as colleagues. 

All of these programs you are able to access from home and school.  The only program that may have a cost is Mixbook and that is only if you decide to publish a book or album. 

The 21^st century teaching is all about integrating subjects with technology.  In today’s teaching this can sometimes present problematic for some.  This is due to the lack of technology in the school.  However, in an idealistic world every student would have access to a computer to benefit their learning. 

I teach a third and fourth grade split class.  I teach all curriculum areas.  I have researched different ways to integrate technology into my classroom.  My students have little to no background of computers.  They come from very low income homes. 

I picked my third grade science class to research new ways to present the phases of the moon.  During this lesson I would have the students keep a journal for a month documenting the phases of the moon.  To enhance their learning I also found websites that would allow my students to interact with to see what the phase of the moon is on that particular date. This would allow my students to gain the 21^st century understanding of how they can take their data and analyze it with what the data is on the internet. 

http://stardate.org/nightsky/moon

http://www.science-class.net/Astronomy/MoonPhases.htm

http://www.neok12.com/Moon.htm

Heat Transfer

This week we had to do an experiment on heat transfer.  The four material I chose was aluminum foil, plastic wrap, coffee filter, and a cloth. My results showed that the cup of hot water with the coffee filter on it lost more heat than the rest.  The other three materials were about the same.  I chose these four materials from what I had in my home.  The experiment I conducted heat was transfered by two methods conduction and convection.  The third type of heat transfer radiation was not present in this experiment. Due to I conducted it in my kitchen with the lack of sun light. 
If I were to repeat this experiment I would use the aluminum foil, plastic wrap, wax paper, and a ziplock bag.   I would also heat my water in the microwave prior to covering the cups.

This week we did an experiment using batteries, wires, and nails.  I found it to be interesting.  However, after I completed the experiment I was thinking of different ways that I could enhance this activity to make it more interesting to students.  Any suggestions????