Effecting Change

As I near the end of my program, I have been reflecting on the ways I have learned about or have actually effected social change- which is key to Walden's mission.  In the most genuine way, I have gained the knowledge and resources necessary to ensure the equitable education of science for all students.  Beyond the inquiry-based learning I incorporate in my own classroom, I have found the Action Research process to be very beneficial in solving my problems with implementing Science Notebooks.  As part of my Individual Learning Plan Major Assessment, I will be holding a professional learning opportunity for staff members at my school to learn the benefits of Science Notebooks and strategies to implement for easy use.  I have found this tool helpful in student reflection and integrating writing for communicating scientific ideas and believe other teachers and students can benefit from such a tool.

Also since beginning at Walden, I have established a functioning school garden and Garden Club where students from all grade levels use hands-on inquiry to foster an understanding and appreciation for the environment.  I have also applied to participate in two professional learning courses next summer to gain further information on gardening and integrating science and math.  I feel confident in the learning I have acquired through Walden and plan to share my ideas on STEM education and equity in science education with others. 

As with any new initiative, I expect others to be concerned with the time and effort required to change instructional methods.  By modeling small, realistic steps I hope to prove that improving science education is both necessary and beneficial. 

What's Our Sputnik?

After reading Fiedman's (2010) article, I both agree and disagree with several of the points he makes.  First, I believe that his generalized comments on spending on war vs. spending on technology does not take into consideration that underdeveloped countries are now more capable than ever of posing a real threat to America and have in fact acted upon their hatred of our country.  Some level of defense must be present against terrorism for the forseeable future.  Will there come a day when it is not needed? 

When it comes to our global competiveness, or lack thereof, I agree with Friedman that we cannot blame others or our own lack of resources.  "They got rich digging inside themselves, unlocking their entrepreneurs, not digging for oil. They took responsibility. They got rich by asking: "How do I improve myself?" Not by declaring: "It's all somebody else's fault. Give me a handout." His quote regarding Taiwan must become again the spirit of Americans...willingness to roll up our sleeves and put in the hard work required for success.

Friedman did not provide many solutions for the problems our country faces.  As educators we are the "front line" in developing the next generation with the mindset that can pull our country into greatness.  Federal and state funding for education cannot continue being cut.  Schools must play their part in bolstering science education.  I believe private corporations should play a greater part in funding projects that benefit the greater good.  Ultimately, fostering 21st century skills for innovation and STEM learning will ensure that America will again have a "sputnik".

Friedman, T. L. (2010, January 17). What’s our Sputnik? [Op-Ed]. The New York Times [Late Edition (East Coast)], p. WK.8.

Modeling Plate Tectonics Lesson Reflection

I enjoyed teaching my lesson this week using scientific modeling.  I used graham crackers and frosting to model Earth's plates and their movements at different boundaries.  The students began by sharing what they knew about mountains, volcanoes, and earthquakes on a KWL chart.  We watched a Brainpop video on plate tectonics and students recorded what they were wondering and wanted to know on their KWL.  Students had some difficulty developing questions, so next time I will record key words and phrases during the video then replay it for students to have a better grasp of the concepts.  Here's a photo of a completed KWL:

I gave students the materials for creating the model and a worksheet I created for them to record illustrations and explanations.  Students spread frosting on wax paper and placed graham crackers on top.  We pulled the plates apart (divergent boundary), pushed together to create mountains and volcanoes (convergent), and slid back and forth to create earthquakes (transform).  Here's photos of a some students modeling and their recording sheet:

Overall, the lesson went smoothly and was a good introductory lesson on constructive and destructive forces.  Students will continue learning about weathering, erosion, and deposition and can do independent research on volcanoes, mountains, earthquakes and tsunamis.  After recording what they learned on their KWL sheet, students got to the best part- EATING!

Teaching on Natural Disasters

For my application assignment this week I researched historical temperature data for my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.  I used data from my lifetieme (1983-2012) to help determine how global warming is affecting me.  A major indicator of global warming is more severe weather which ties in nicely with our other assignments this week on natural disasters.  Unfortunately, our students will have to deal with even more dangerous acts of nature as they get older and it is important that we educate them on what they can do to minimize the effects of global warming and how to be prepared and safe during severe weather. 

I found several engaging websites for students to find out more about global warming.  The EPA's site explains how greenhouse gases impact weather and why it's important for students.  It also informs students of what they can do now and how to prepare for the future (EPA, 2011).  NASA also has a very informative site and I really enjoyed the interactive lesson from eSchoolToday. 

Teaching students to be proactive toward global warming and natural disasters and to encourage others to do the same is critical.  Students can educate others on the importance of alternative energy and conservation.  Families can be better prepared for extreme weather from the information students share with them.  When disasters do strike, students should understand the need for compassion and assistance.  Learning to Give is a great resource for philanthropic education and Kid's Health offers more suggestions for how to help others.  I am proud of the efforts my school has done in disaster relief.  We held a penny drive for victims of the Haiti earthquake in 2010, a school supply drive for a local school that was flooded, and continued clothing and food drives for non-profit organizations in our community.  I firmly believe we must teach both a child's mind and heart, and reaching out to others is a significant act of selflessness that we could all use a little more of.

Backward Designed Lesson Reflection

I enjoyed teaching my lesson this week on microorganisms and composting using the backward design process.  Compost Stew was a great way to lead into the lesson and get students engaged.  The author's website has a lot of great resources for composting and technology extensions. 

Students enjoyed saving their food scraps and adding them to the compost bin in our school garden.

Students did well making observations and recording in their science journals as well as writing letters to the principal to convince him to begin a composting program at our school.   

These websites were used for student research and to make connections between beneficial microorganisms and composting:

http://www.biology4kids.com/files/micro_main.html  http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/science/living_things/microorganisms/play.shtml http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/microorganisms.html

I hope you also find these resources helpful and are able to use them with your students as well!

Ask a Scientist

Last week I tried to post my question to Ask a Scientist but the site was busy and did not allow me to submit.  I asked, "How do antibiotics 'kill' disease-causing bacteria cells without harming other cells in the body?"  Fortunately, Dr. Lyman provided some insight from his microbiology background and I learned that antibiotics interfere with the cell walls of prokaryotic (bacteria) cells because they are made of peptidoglycan.  Eukaryotic cells in our bodies are not affected because they do not have cell walls. 

I also did further searching on the Ask a Scientist website by altering the wording of my question, and was able to find out that antibiotics can also keep the bacteria from reproducing by preventing it from making new proteins (Larson, 2006).  Read more from  http://askascientist.org/askascientist/answers/20071115-166.html.  This website and others like it would be good places for my students to research and find scientific information.  The wide range of topics would require students to pinpoint specifics or keywords related to their search to make their findings more meaningful. 

This inquiry has ultimately led to a new wondering of "What is the difference between 'good' and 'bad' bacteria?  How do we have bacteria that is actually helpful?  Have there been mutations between the two kinds as our bodies have adapted over the years?"

Larson, M. (2006).  Why are our body cells not damaged by antibiotics?  Retrieved from http://askascientist.org/askascientist/answers/20071115-166.html

Image retrieved from http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/cells/bacteriacell.html

Evaluating Web 2.0 Presentation Tools

I began my evaluation of the web tools with Prezi.  I have heard of this website before, but never used it for myself.  After watching the tutorial and trying it out for myself, I really enjoyed how the presentations zoom rather than being more linear like typical slide presentations.  I think this would be very beneficial for visual learners.  You can even collaborate in real-time with others anywhere with an internet connection! 
Pro:  Search through pre-made Prezis & tutorial videos
Con:  Pay to use upgraded features

If you can use Power Point, then Prezentit is a breeze!  This tool is web based so you can access your presentation anywhere...no software needed.  The format is simple and easy to maneuver.  With one click you can add/ delete images, easily cut, copy, resize and send forward or back on your presentation slide.  Like Power Point, Prezentit allows transitions between slides and you can preview before publishing. 
Pro:  Choose your language & share online
Con:  Not many bells and whistles

Finally, I tried out Museum Box.  I was immediately drawn to it's creative title and the website did not disappoint.  This website is like a virtual show-and-tell allowing the creator to select a topic and add images, text, videos, and documents to a box.  Multiple layers allow for more or less information to be added (a great differentiation tool).  After exploring this site more, I may decide to use this for my presentation instead of a Prezi!
Pro:  Creative!
Con:  Login required to add videos and links

I am looking forward to exploring more tools that I can use for my project, classroom instruction, and with my students!

21st Century Skills

While researching resources for 21st century skills, I came upon a great website for both teachers and students.  NeoK12 is useful to grades K-12 and integrates technology into multiple subject areas including science, history, and english.  I chose to focus my search on the topic of magnetism since I will be implementing the instructional plan I created in a few weeks.  This website offers online games and puzzles, video clips, and perhaps most impressive is their photo gallery that my students can use to create presentations.   

For more general searches of 21st century skills education, teachers will find The Partnership for 21st Century Skills very useful.  After going to Tools & Resources for Educators, the Exemplars link directs you to Route 21.  This pages offers even more resources and lessons.  I came upon an excellent blog listing 30 multimedia resources for teachers and students to incorporate more inquiry, collaboration, and problem solving.   

Having such a wide range of technological resources to use in the classroom will help students become better prepared for their futures using 21st century skills.  Going forward, the challenges will be the amount of time necessary for searching for the type of activity I would need and preparing for the event that technology unexpectedly does not work. 

Heat Inquiry

For this week's inquiry experiment I used 4 identical coffee mugs, one cup of hot water, and covered each mug with a different material: a plastic Tupperware lid, plastic wrap, aluminum foil, and a potholder.  I thought that the potholder would prevent the greatest heat loss because of what I know about insulators and how we use potholders.  After thirty minutes, I measured the temperature of each mug.  To my surprise, the mug covered with the potholder was the coolest of all four, and the mug with aluminum foil ended up being the hottest. 

After doing a little research, I learned more about latent heat of vaporization and how evaporation causes cooling.  As the water evaporated from each mug, the different materials covering allowed for more or less evaporation.  The potholder absorbed a lot of the heat that was escaping, while the foil held it in.  The condensation on the foil may have even fallen back in the cup thus reducing the cooling effect.

I thought about this experiment this morning on my way to church.  I often put instant oatmeal in a coffee mug and take it with me in the car to eat on the go.  This morning my oatmeal was too hot to eat right away so I let it sit in the cupholder to cool a bit.  I began wondering how the temperature of the oatmeal would different from the water in my experiment if left to sit for 30 minutes.  Also, would oil hold heat longer than water? 

I enjoyed gaining a deeper level of understanding of heat and hope to convey this to my students as well.

Guided Inquiry on Momentum

This week I chose to explore whether a heavier pendulum or lighter pendulum would come to rest more quickly.  My initial hypothesis was that the heavier one would rest faster due to the pull of gravity.  After testing washers with two different masses, I found that actually the lighter washer came to rest in a quicker time (in about 4 minutes versus about 7 minutes on the heavier washer).  The variables were a little difficult to control such as the length of the string and being able to tell when the pendulum had come to a complete rest. 

I am having a hard time making parallels to my own classroom because we do not cover Newton's laws in third grade.  I could somehow integrate magnetism into this lesson and have students make connections to different size and strengths of magnets and how they may slow a pendulum.  This would meet my standards as well as prepare students for momentum in fourth grade.

Ultimately, I learned that a greater mass produces greater momentum.  This momentum takes longer to slow.  If I conducted a similar guided inquiry lesson with my students using magnets, I would want them to discover that a stronger attraction will cause the pendulum to slow more quickly.  This could be applied to real-world tools and machines that use magnets.