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.