11-25-08 Science Fair

Our class met in Elk Point today to judge a science fair competition for middle school students. It was a very unique experience and I feel that some of the students put forth extremely impressive effort and time to make their projects. On the other hand, for every outstanding project their was a project that lacked motivation and time, which made our job as judges very difficult. We wanted to remain as positive as we possibly could with our feedback, however some of them were extremely difficult to judge in that way. Overall, it was an awesome experience that will prepare us for what we will likely see as future teachers.

11-20-08 Final Presentations

Today we had a work day to begin working on our final presentations of a lesson plan. Every group in our class got a grade level and was to link their lesson to the previous grade and topic in some way. Our group had eighth grade density, so the only group we had to match up with was 7th grade volume. Since you cannot discuss density without bringing up volume our work very logical. It was useful for us to link to previous lessons because we will have to do this everyday within our own classrooms.

11-18-08 Seamless Assessment

For class today we were to have completed a quiz over the first few chapters of the seamless assessment textbook. The five E model was a key portion of the reading and how it is used within a classroom to create a better learning environment for students. Each lesson that was identified in the chapter involved each of the five steps and provided excellent examples of how to use the five E model effectively.

11-13-08 Performance based...

We again took a look into the importance of performance based assessments and students active participation in assessment. We also worked on group lesson plans that integrated a children's book as a supplemental resource. It provided us with a challenge, however it a great way to approach multiple subject areas in the same time slot.

11-11-08 Five E Model

The five E model includes Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate. These five elements should be included in every assessment that a teacher distributes or participates in. The first two elements are the most important for the students in my opinion, as students will have a hard time remembering and learning information if they are not engaged in an activity. For a student to be truly engaged I feel they must explore a concept themselves and consruct their own knowledge and material.

11-6-08 Performance Based Assessment

Today in class we began talking about performance based assessments and how they can be used in the classroom to supplement student learning. Performance based assessments can be exremely useful in science classrooms because they allow students to demonstrate their knowledge with being tested in the form of objective items such as multiple choice or completion questions, but rather completing meaningful tasks that reinforce learning.

11-4-08

Today we reflected on the midterm presentations and what was good about the experience, as well as what could have been improved on. I learned alot through the presentation process, including the variety of different ways to make learning science fun and engaging.

10-30-08 Midterm presentations continued...

We continued through our midterm projects today, more specifically, a group made a presentation about tornadoes. They used a couple plastic bottles half filled with water and taped them together at their lids. When the bottles were inverted and swirled, a funnel formed in the water, which is very similar to a tornado. This experiment was alot of fun for everyone and age appropriate to a variety of students.

10-28-08 Midterm Presenatations Continued

We continued our midterm presentations in class today. We had presentations about mixtures, and elephant toothpaste. These two presentations have been the two most ineresting thus far. The mixtures activity creatred "Ooblak" which is a mixture of cornstarch and water that is really cool! The elephant toothpaste was also very exciting because it used yeast and hydrogen peroxide to create a chemical reaction with ALOT of foam. Very fun class today.

10-23-08 Midterm presentations

Today we listened to midterm presentations from our classmates. Some of the presentations included mixtures, bouyancy, and living and nonliving things. The activity on mixtures was especially interesting because it allowed the students to make jello in the classroom, and rather than waiting for the jello to get stiff, the presenters had jello cups for the audience. Overall, the class was spend well as the students who were not presenting got many good ideas for future lesson plans.

10-21-08 Leaping Egg

We started this class with questions and clarifying many of the upcoming assignments. This took alot of the classtime, although it seemed it was necessary. Towards the end of class we did an activity called "Leaping Egg" in which we used air to move a ping pong ball from one glass to another. It was unique because the shape of the glass allowed for the air to move around the glass and move the ping pong ball the opposite direction we were blowing.

10-16-08 Continue Midterm...

Today we had another work day to help further develop our Midterm projects we wil be presenting next week. It was a reltively slack day because my group had mostly everything finished prior to class. We fine tuned our lesson plan and added a few extra details. Also we took the time to ask Dr. Ezrailson our questions and clarified our goal. Overall it was a productive day.

10-14-08 Lesson Planning

Today in class, we began directing our thoughts towards our upcoming midterm projects. We got together in groups and discussed our lesson plans. My group specifically is planning on teaching forces of motion. Our activity will be based on how far a balloon can make a straw move down a string, and the amount of time it takes to get there.

10-14-08 Cyber Bee

Our assignment to do before class today was to check out the Cyber Bee website. This website is very interesting, as many different activities could be implemented into the classroom. This website could serve as an excellent teacher resource as I will hopefully enter into my first year of teaching this next fall. This website could easily be linked to many subject areas and topics.

10-13-08 Web Seminar Make-up

Since i was unable to attend the Web Seminar, I looked through the website that was provided via Dr. Ezrailson and search through the powerpoint presentation. By studying the presentation I learned that stars are giant balls of burning gases (Helium and Hydrogen mostly.) I also learned about the life of a star and the different rates in which stars burn gas. We classify these stars according to three characteristics: Brightness, temperature, and composition. I also learned how planets form around each star, which in turn made me wonder about possible life somewhere? I think there has to be, there are SO many stars just in our galaxy...let alone the entire universe!

10-7-08 Mirror Image Activity

Today we discussed saftey precausions that need to be taken in lab procedures. We learning about the possible damage that can be done to your eyes and clothes. We then did an activity that demonstrated the difficulty of trying something new for the first time. We took a mirror and a pencil and had to write our name and a sentence so it appeared correctly through the mirror. This activity was very challenging and provided an interesting insight into the learning process of students.

10-2-08 Allegory of the Cave

Today we began our class with questions about D2L and then moved into a powerpoint about Plato's Allegory of the Cave, which described two prisoners who could only see the shadows of those who walked by. After one prisioner was released her came back to the cave to the other prisoners and tried to tell them everything he had seen in the world outside but they could not define his shadow or understand his words. We then took four mystery boxes and had to draw and describe what was in the boxes. After making our own conclusions we discussed upon a group analysis and presented it to the class.

9-30-08 Online Class

Today we had an online assingnment today. We were asked to read chapters 3 and 4 and then discuss the chapter. The chapter was over students misconceptions about science and how these misconceptions can lead to further their learning. These misconceptions often allow for a base of understanding that the students can build upon. From a constuctivist view, the students misconceptions are thier schema and that knowledge helps to guide them throughout their careers as students.

9-25-08 Web Seminar

Today we did not have class, as there was an online seminar. I was unable to attend the online seminar due to a conflict in my schedule. I will make up this assignment at a later date.

9-18-08 Nutritional Values

Today in class we discussed the various nutritional values of a variety of foods. We used a computer program that was directed at younger students to identify a combination of foods that would meet certain criteria. For example, we had to pick out four foods for breakfast that had a certain amount of protein and under a specific amount calories. This program provided a unique way of learning the nutritional values of certain foods. It is a fun way to get students actively involved in learning.

8-16-08 Safety Game Activity

In class today we discussed the problems that various individuals were having with D2L. After, we were given a board game and class time to color the board, glue it to a folder, and prepare it for future classroom use. The board game had game spaces that were full of ways to keep a science lab a safe and fun place to learn.

9-11-08 Notes

In class today we had a discussion and took notes regarding the importance of science. Reasons included becoming active participants in the class, rather than being passive observers. Also if we so not participate we rely solely on the "experts" and we never really know for ourselves.
We also did an activity that used the LabQuests to test the temperature of the hands of our groups members. We decided that Amanda had the hottest hands in our group. We also used the LabQuest to test the temperature difference on the probe, as we plaed the probe into hot and cold water.

9-9-08 Unseen forces

In class today we began with an activity about unseen forces, more specifically, air resistance. In this activity we made three identical test copters from 8.5" X 11" paper. These copters were then dropped from 3 meters in the air and the time was recorded. We then answered questions regarding the how and why the results were different on each individual test. We cam to the conclusion that air resistance was the biggest factor in determining the outcome. Other things such as human interference with the timer and also human error accounts for some variance.