October 23, 2008

Today in class we listened to our classmates Midterm Group Projects. The first group's lesson plan was called "Mixtures". The presentation and lesson was designed for the third grade. They discussed what a mixture was and what properties a mixture has. We then made jello that helped to show students what a mixture really is. The second group's lesson plan was called "Habitats". The presentation and lesson was designed for the fourth grade. The group discussed the different habitats and the animals and plants that living in these certain areas. They then did a project where they made a model of a habitat and that is the project they would do with their students. The third group's lesson plan was called "Sink and Float". This group discussed the properties that made objects sink or float. This lesson was designed for first graders. The activity we did was to put objects into water to see if they either sand or floated. We then discussed why these objects did what they did. The fourth group's lesson plan was called "Oil and Water". This lesson plan was designed for kindergartners. The group discussed why oil and water do not mix. The activity we did was putting water in with oil and seeing what it would do.

October 21, 2008

Today we discussed what we need to do for our midterm project. We also discussed our reading guides and the questions that we will be asked on them.

We then did an activity called "The Leaping Egg". We first put a small funnel into a glass. Then we put a hollow ping pong ball into the funnel. After this we blew onto the ball as hard as we could to see if it would "leap" into another glass. It did!! We figured out that when air gets under the ball, it makes the ball jump because of the force of the air. The flowing air creates a current.

October 16, 2008

Today in class, we talked about staying safe online. We visited a website that helps children learn about safety when they are using the Internet. The website tells children not to meet anyone they do not know but have met online. The site also tells children not to respond to anyone they do not know, when they feel uncomfortable tell an adult, when they see something wrong tell an adult, etc. We then discussed how important it is for children to understand how unsafe the web can really be.

October 14, 2008

Today in class we talked about our midterm project. We discussed possible ideas and thoughts. We also talked about the rubric and what is expected of us. We then broke up into out midterm project groups. In our groups, we figured out how we wanted to do during our project. The day was overall very productive.

Mystery Box

Mystery Box is a great online activity for students to use during school. The website has students make shapes that are supposed to lie directly on top of a hidden shape. Then you are supposed to use the beam to determine if your blocks are in the correct spot. By using the beam, you are able to use your thinking and reasoning skills when trying to figure out the "mystery box". This online game is great for all students and it really helps them to sharpen their thinking and reasoning skills.

cyberbee.com

The website, http://cyberbee.com is a really great resource for all content knowledge elementary education teachers. The site offers curriculum ideas, research tools, treasure hunts, web projects, web links, etc. The site also offers teachers ideas based upon which content area you teach. This website would also be great for students to be able to use as a resource for school projects, getting ideas, making presentations, etc. This is a fun and easily accessible website for everyone.

October 2, 2008

I was not in class today because I was on the Rosebud internship trip. Other students in the class said that the activity for the class was the Mystery Box. They said that they had to shake a black box and guess and make predictions about what was in the box. Everyone said that they really enjoyed the experiment.

The Amazing Food Detective

The Amazing Food Detective is an online game about health, food, and nutrition. During the game, the player is the detective and has to figure out how to help each suspect in the line up. The line up consists of children who are not eating properly, not doing portion control, not exercising enough, etc. As the detective, you have to help the children make good choices and help them with their exercising and eating habits. This website would be amazing for students to do because it allows students to get a more in-depth understanding of health, food, and nutrition. This also allows students to learn more about themselves and what they should be doing and not doing.

October 7, 2008

Today in class, we went over our midterm project. We discussed safety considerations when performing science experiments. Students need to know what is exactly expected of them before, during, and after the experiment. Many potential hazards can be eliminated if you have an organized disciplined classroom. We then discussed how to properly judge a Science Fair fairly.
Also in class, we did an activity from FOSS. We talked about how learning is a skill that is enhanced by repetition. Also about how memory is enhanced by active firsthand experiences, multiple senses, and emmotional engagement. The activity we did was called Mirror Writing. The activity was set up by using mirrors that are tilted on a piece of blank paper. During the experiment, the person could only use the mirrors to see what they are writing. This activity helps students learn how to write by looking in a mirror.

Webseminar--NSTA

I was unable to be an active member in the webseminar, therefore I watched it at a later date. The seminare was about the International Year of Astronomy. The seminar discussed star birth and formation, stellar classification, star spectra, planet information, when stars die, and some more resources. The seminar then went on to discuss how stars are formed and what the most important factor in how a star evolves and eventually dies-- initial mass. It went on to explain that a star is born from collapsing cold clouds of interstellar gas and dust, clouds rotate as they collapse which conserves angular momentum, and then forming the smaller clumps that will become starts. The seminar then went on to discuss how to classify stars. We classify stars based on their spectra which provides us with information on temperature, composition, brightness, and distance. The seminar then went on to discuss aboutl ight and energy. The also discussed how planets form around stars, which happens from accretion of smaller bits after the central forms or from a clump orbiting the main star. They then went on to discuss about when stars die. It was a very interesting and information filled seminar.