Welcome to my blog. We now have a new group, and I am excited to be taking classes with you all. Thank you for visiting. I was intrigued by some blogs I visited.

Biome Brochures or Stories

Students like to be creative. Sometimes they like to use their own images and hand writing, and sometimes students want to use computers. Here are some examples of Biomes my students created to show mastery of knowledge.

The students are given options for assessment. Her are a couple of examples. One student creates a Biome story for the Tundra.
The next page was sent via e-mail.

Tundra Biome Project by: Alyssa Holmes
I am the coolest bear on the planet! My name is Bob, and I’m a polar bear. I live in a cold biome called the tundra in northern Alaska. I have extremely thick, white fur which is my adaptation to the tundra. The thickness allows me to stay warm in the cold climate and the white fur helps me blend in so I can sneak up on my prey. I don’t want my food to see me and run away because then I’ll be hungry! When I wake up on an average day in my habitat, I see mounds and mounds of snow. It’s kind of cold when I wake up, but I ignore it because what polar bear is afraid of the cold??? It’s very normal for it to be cold because the temperature, which is an abiotic factor, is usually -20 to -30 degrees Fahrenheit. There isn’t much precipitation here only about 6-10inches a year, that including melted snow.
I’m hungry and I don’t feel like waiting forever for an animal to show up, so I walk to where I can find my favorite berries, which is a biotic factor, called Bearberries and I eat some of those to hold me off. Now that I have something in my tummy I walk to go find some food. As I’m going to find some yummy food I hear a something, I turn and look, there’s an Arctic Fox coming this way. Finally I find some food I start chasing after it and he’s running very fast but I eventually catch up with him. When I do, I attack him. I ‘grrrr’ and ‘rawr’ and I have a nice meal. I am his predator and he is my prey (yummy!) I am at the top of the food chain in the tundra, so no other animal can beat me up. My only real predator is the human, but I can probably take them out too. On my way around my habitat I see an air hole for the Arctic Seal, which happens to be my favorite food of all time. I lay down right beside it waiting for a seal to come up for oxygen. When it does I pounce on it and kill it in 2 or 3 swipes of my paws. When I kill it, it falls back into the water so I dive in to catch it. I can stay under water for about 2 minutes. While I am down there I munch on some seaweed which is pretty good too.
When I am done in the water I walk around and I pass an Arctic Willow. It’s a plant with oval shaped leaves, a wedged shaped bottom, and a little stalk. I am not a producer because I cannot make my own food. But I am a consumer because I get my food from other organisms (I eat them!). I am an omnivore which is a cross between a herbivore- a plant eater- and a carnivore- a meat eater.
I usually wouldn’t see a Snowy Owl until around nighttime but since we’re in the tundra, and everything is all weird here, there isn’t darkness in the winter so he has to go out and hunt during the day. While I am on my way home I see the Snowy Owl flying over me. I would totally eat him but polar bears don’t fly.
I have a niche or a job just like all other living organisms. My job is to make sure there isn’t an over populated species so I eat them. I eat Arctic Foxes, Arctic Seals, and some plants. But in my job the only organism that eats me is the human. I turn my food into energy so I can move around all day. And I reproduce sexually by fertilization, but the females only give birth to 1 or 2 cubs at a time.
There aren’t a lot of plants in the tundra that I live in. That is because it’s cold and because there is permafrost, a layer of frozen ground, under what little soil there might be. So I rarely get to eat plants. But that’s ok I prefer eating other animals anyway because they’re more of a challenge to eat. I have made my way around my habitat eating, swimming, eating again, and living a normal day. I am very tired so I will walk back to my cave and sleep for a while before I do this all over again.

Students learned about biomes, their climates, and organisms. They really enjoyed learning about the types of ights, sounds and smells in the different biomes, and worked really hard to learn the climates. The fun part for my students was the culminating project. The students had choices of creating a travel brochure for their favorite place or writing a story for a Journal as an animal or a biologist.

Students create Brochures.

Inside the brochure.

They had to include the biome name, vegetation, climate, sights, and scenes of the area. The students included things you might want to bring to show they had knowledge of the biome. Students did have an interest in creating the brochure. Many like designing their own work. Sometimes they barely know they are working. They were able to present their project to the class. This seems to assist with encouraging good work. A few of the students did not complete their work. Some created written projects about being an animal in a specific biome.
My students learn better when given options. The backward design is useful because it assist in putting the end goal in mind first and creating steps to get the outcomes wanted for student learning. I will continue to use this method for teaching science to my students.

Ask A Scientist Experience

My experience with ask a scientist did not go well in my opinion. In fact it never went anywhere, these are the questions I submitted. How will the oil affect the offspring genetically of wood storks living in the oily marshland? Can oil residue left behind cause cancer or other mutations in the wood storks? What types of genetic mutations will the oil spill cause for all life including humans? Can genetic disorders occur because of things ingested from the parent to the offspring during pregnancy?
Each question gained the same answer stating; “Congratulations!Your question has been submitted Successfully. We will send a confirmation via e-mail and get back to you with a response as soon as we can.”
I have not received an e-mail confirmation or response from any of my questions. Therefore, I am frustrated. Maybe my questions were not suitable for the type of assistance provided from this particular web site. As I view other responses from colleages about their topics; I noticed their questions were more generalized about genetics and I revisited the site with this question; What are genetic disorders caused by? My response finally has some action. There is still no answer to my direct question; however, these are the related type of questions.
Is it possible to cause depression, bipolar disorder, and other such mood disorders by thinking? Could people who have larger numbers of synapses firing at once—more than the average person—be overusing or using up neurotransmitters in their brains, causing the proper proportions of these chemicals to change?
In the movie Lorenzo's Oil , parents were able to stop the progression of their son's genetic illness by using a refined complex lipid from olive oil. Is it possible that the function of complex lipids is impaired in people with autism? If so, could that be linked to vaccinations?
What is the genetic mechanism of Huntington's disease? What genetic tests are available that detect predisposition to Huntington's disease?
What kind of genetic tests are available that detect predisposition to heart arrhythmia?
What is the genetic mechanism of fragile X syndrome?
If protein aggregation is the main cause of both prion diseases and Alzheimer disease, why are prion diseases transmissible and Alzheimer is not?
How do the hippocampus, glutamate, and dopamine work in the brain?

This indicates that the questions I posed were not specific enough for the scientist for certain types of disorders. This experience spiked my curiosity. It made me ask several questions and keep going back for more. It has assisted me with the knowledge that when students ask questions they do not get answers for creates frustration and interest for knowledge.
I will use this site with my students as a class and for individual lessons. I will show them how sometimes you have to search more than your original question in hopes of countering their frustration levels. I believe it will be a good tool for students to use and learn from real world scientist. It will also assist in non traditional gender stereotype issues with science and technology careers.




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Presentation Tools Review

I tried several websites including Prezent it, My Brain Shark, and Prezi.
The use of Prezent it was very agonizing. I could not find a tutorial. I usually like tutorials, so I became frustrated quickly. I would rank Prezent it as unfriendly. Therefore, I moved on to My Brain Shark.
I browsed my brain shark some. I thought it would be a great tool to use. I was excited about being able to voice over the power points I already have. I like the idea of being able to embed videos in the PowerPoint also not just a link to a website that may not be available when you need it. I still think this will be a great tool, but feel it will possibly take more time than I currently have to learn. Therefore, I will be checking it out more during the next break. I did notice that there fees with My Brain Shark if you want your material secured from the public and even more if you want their website to store your work.
I went to the Prezi website next and decided to try it. I downloaded the software and proceeded to work on a short presentation. It is user friendly, and has great effects. I did have a bit of trouble with the actual show after I placed my path. I will have to try to work on that detail. Although having a minor set back , I enjoyed using this site. I would rank it user friendly and enjoyable. I like the open canvas type style to work on. I hate everything in one position. I am not sure this has very much option for collaboration because I did not see any reference to it. I know it is accessible from home and I am still checking to see if the school will let me use it. There is a block on anything like this unless approved by the board of education. Just a bit of red tape, but reasonable. I think it will get the students attention with the movement and progression of views. Keep it short and sweet. Add lots of color and action. I did not find where it would do short videos or sound, but will be looking to see if I can use those with it. It does have fees; however, it seems to be free for educators. This site deserves a plus in my book.

21st-Century Technology in the Classroom

Creating areas of 21st century technology for students seems to be something students are already to engage. Most students love to explore computers and what can be accomplished on them. I found two new exciting websites contributing to force and motion. The first website connects to previous information from this physical science course http://classroom.jc-schools.net/sci-units/force.htm#8 where there are opportunities to construct a roller coaster. However, I found many other areas to explore on this site such as a skateboarding video with force and motion information as well as STEM career information. I found where there are gradient and speed and velocity areas too. This is an interactive site with teacher lesson plans and activities available. The second site I found was from a high school website www.physicsclassroom.com/class/newtlaws/. by a teacher who has it interactive with animation. I found interesting and engaging. I will be able to incorporate it in my classroom. I found some power points and other demonstration type of websites that I will include at the bottom. However, I think we have been exposed to many good sites from this course we are taking.
I problem I may have in implementing these website is the new school I will be at will have limited access to technology in the classroom. There is no LCD in my room and only seven for the entire school. I will find a way.
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000084
http://www.practicalphysics.org/go/Topic_3.html
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/forcesandmotion/http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/project706_57.html

Heat Insulators

In the experiment exploring heat transfer, I used four identical mugs, four rubber bands, a four-cup measuring cup, and the microwave. The insulators I decided on were a chamois cloth, freezer baggie, printer paper, and heavy-duty foil. I chose these thinking they would be close because of the thickness of material. I hypothesized that the aluminum foil would be the best insulator. I found two comparative results in my experiment. I first used the microwave to individually heat up each cup, but they did not come out to be the same temperature. I had to start over and use the four cup measuring cup to get them all the same temp. I did the experiment three times. I discovered the paper and plastic were close in comparison when temperatures were taken with an average of 84 degrees F, as well as the foil and the chamois cloth with an average of 98 degrees F. I found my hypothesis was true the foil was a better insulator three out of three tries. However, I noted that the chamois cloth was the same temperature as the foil two out of three tries. This knowledge assist in recognizing the chamois and foil are both good insulators for heat transfer during the cooling process (Tillery, Enger, & Ross, 2008 p.83).
Observations I noted on each time I checked the experiment was the chamois cloth would absorb the condensation from the molecules that had been evaporated in contrast to the foil and plastic which collected the condensation on the insulator. I had expected the chamois to trap more heat than the paper; however, I had not expected it to insulate as well as the foil. I realize the thickness of the cloth assisted in the insulation for this experiment, and the types of insulator used affect heat transfer.
I specifically want students to learn the differences in conduction, convection, and radiation. I think I now understand it better since I teach seventh grade Life science. When I had to write it in my response for class, I had to be able to understand it. I think this is a good experiment to get the students to understand the differences and I think I reached my goal to understand them. I would like student s to be able to connect this information to their everyday life whether they are cooking, trying to keep food from spoiling, taking a trip to friends; I think understanding the differences in the insulators and how heat is transferred will assist them in taking care of personal needs.
I concluded there were three types of heat transferring energies in this experiment starting with conduction where the water particles respond to other particles in the cups and insulators where heat transferred to the solid. The second came as convection happening in gases and liquids only rolling the molecules that are cohesive (Tillery, Enger, & Ross, 2008 p. 77). The third type of heat transfer was radiation happening in the empty space between the water and the insulator where water vapors are free to move around rapidly bouncing off one another (Laureate Education 2007).

Swinging Pendulums

The question I chose was which pendulum will come to rest more quickly a lighter or heavier pendulum? I created a test using the materials from the science kit from Walden materials. The materials include three washers of varying masses, nylon string one meter in length, one broom handle, two chairs, data table, and stopwatch. I created a data table to record findings and used a stopwatch to determine the period for each pendulum in motion. I began by placing the broom handle balanced between two chairs, a string 17 centimeters long tied to the broom handle in the middle and a washer tied to the other to create the pendulum. I raised the washer to 22 centimeters high and let it swing. I used a stopwatch to time the movement of the different washers. I tried the experiment with three different mass washers, and tried the experiment three times for each washer. I recorded each washer’s movement time. To my surprise, the washer with the least mass came to rest quickest. This required me to do a bit more research in my book. I thought the mass had to be part of the missing link for me. I found force equals mass times acceleration, but could not understand how gravitational pull had not stopped the larger mass quicker. Then upon reading over the second law of motion, I found that inertia was the factor I had not accounted for in my hypothesis, “The greater the mass the greater the resistance to change in velocity” (Tillery, Enger, and Ross, 2008 p. 41). What I discovered was that the more mass something has the more force it takes to move it. However, it also takes more force to stop its momentum, which was the answer to why it takes the washer with more mass longer to stop its momentum. As I realized I was trying to use the wrong equation, I discovered the momentum equals mass times velocity or p=mv; therefore, the answer makes perfect since that the washer with more mass will stay in motion longer because it has more momentum” (Tillery, Enger, and Ross, 2008 p. 43).The experiment went well as a whole. I think it is simple enough for students to get the understanding. The only problem with the experiment is getting the string the same length every time you change the washers. It is difficult to perform the experiment by oneself, so I would use partners.Since I learned much from the experiment and had little difficulty the set up and performance of the task I would not make any changes. I would have to explore if I needed to give more instructions to my students. I came up with the experiment; therefore, I am not sure if the students would devise a different plan. I would try it and then revise accordingly. Since I teach Life Science and very little physics, I would have to try it with students before I could make specific changes.I would set this experiment up using the internet site from this week’s resource by having students predict what the outcome of the swinging motion results from different lengths of a mass. I would also have students do some reading about inertia and momentum. These are particular helpful in this assignment.An area this affects students personally is potential energy changed to kinetic energy. They could transfer knowledge that even though once the washer is let go and there is kinetic energy it lessens with each swing. We would discuss why one should not step out in front of a child that is swinging. We could discuss what size child the student might be able to stop swinging without being hurt. Then students could develop a model of a ride in an amusement park that used the energy from a pendulum motion.