Science In The News

When it comes to traveling through time it is always interesting to go back and see how much has changed throughout the years. In class we were assigned a project to create a Glogster that has information and different articles that talk about the current topics regarding space and articles that also speak about certain inventions that were created back in the day that relate to space and how we are able to continue to explore it and see it in different ways today.

            After working with one another in our groups we created a Word Cloud that consisted of important words that stood out to us throughout reading our articles that we have chose.  Using word cloud allows you to introduce to your students certain words that they may be reading throughout the work that has been assigned and helps them become familiar with certain words and their meanings. In our group we decided to make our word cloud that shape of earth. Word Cloud allows you to pick and create different types of designs, one group designed a rocket ship world cloud which was clever being that we are talking about space! It is a really engaging way to get students interested and discussing which words they may or may not be familiar with. Using a word cloud is a good way to see which words your students are familiar with and which words they may not know or have trouble understanding. By seeing which words students are familiar with you assess prior knowledge to the words and the topic they may relate with. Using world cloud is a very helpful strategy when you are introducing a topic and trying to familiarize your students with the content beforehand.

            After having a word cloud created we worked in a group of four to create a Timeline based off of the articles we have found that discuss discoveries in space. Our time line was not just a regular time line. We used a website called Tiki Toki to make our timeline a little more interesting and engaging.  When we first began to create our timeline we had a few difficulties figuring out how this program actually worked, but once we made our own discoveries on it we were able to create a timeline with events that have occurred from the 1600’s on.  While using this website we were able to be creative by adding backgrounds and links. Tiki Toki would be very helpful while working with students in the classroom and allowing them to create timelines based on the information they are learning about. It will be a good way to work with one another and it could also be a way to study information throughout the timeline year by year in remembering important events that may have occurred.

            Throughout this assignment the science issue of astronomy is involved. There are many articles that regard astronomy and information from the 1600’s on. The articles that we chose and the topics we chose in our timeline are topics that stood out the most while discussing astronomy. We were able to choose topics for our timeline based off of the articles we each put into our glogsters and the topics that came up most often.  All of these articles informed us with a lot of information on astronomy. This current topic relates to the course because we have currently been speaking out space and galaxies and astronomy fits into these categories. These news articles were full of important information regarding all different types of space discoveries and important information we can teach children such as the invention of the telescope and what we have been able to do ever since then. These articles are great for students to read and obtain information from. These projects were very helpful. 

                                           

                                                                  

Skype-A-Thon

            Who would have ever thought that one day we would have the ability to travel all over the world in just one day virtually? Not me! But today in class we did just that. We were introduced to “Mystery Skype” when I first heard that I wasn’t exactly sure what we would be doing but Dr. Smirnova explained to us that today we would be on Skype with and 8^th grade science class from Kansas. During this Skype Call we were given instruction to answer yes or no questions based off of our location in the world.

            When we first answered the call we were able to see the 8^th grade class in Kansas. They began to ask us questions about our location. With just a simple yes or no question they had a job to do and that was to figure out where in the world we were located.  One of the first questions was a great question to ask and helped the students a lot when it came to determining where we were located. “Do you live in the United States?” that was a big question asked which gave them an advantage right off the bat. This class has been on Skype all day with classrooms all over the world, so figuring out our country early on was important. There were many other questions asked such as, Are you on the West Coast? Are you right of the Mississippi river? Do you boarder the Atlantic Ocean? After all of these questions were asked the students begin narrowing down our area. In front of them they had big maps where they were circling clues to figure out where we were. We were able to ask the students in Kansas questions as well. We guessed their location first and then they were able to come up with where we were located. New York it is kiddos !

            After we figured out our locations there was a lot of talk and information provided to us by Andrea, their teacher. She informed us on how their Skype was set up, where the camera was in the classroom and the significance of having these Skype calls with individuals all over the world. One of the most important things in the world being a teacher is to make sure you have an impact on your students lives. Give them something they are going to remember. Andrea told us “What from your class will students remember 40 years from now?” It is important to make these impacts on children’s lives and to teach in a way that interests them and gives them a memory that will last a lifetime. Global teaching is a wonderful thing. I think it is amazing that children now -a-days are given the opportunity to learn in their class virtually and even learn information from people all over the world. Today we were able to find out how many miles these student have traveled throughout the world today virtually. They still had many more stops to make throughout the day,

            Having children work together to find out information, use their thinking skills and engage with one another to come up with a final answer is all part of the inquiry process. These students are given the ability to engage with one another and interact with us across the world at the same time. The students spoke about a memory that they have form when they were in sixth grade. They spoke about how they came up with ways to help individuals in Africa have clean water to drink by using filters that were made. This was an awesome activity that these students did at such a young age and it is a memory that they have now and will keep with them forever. I loved that we had the opportunity as college kids to Skype will a classroom and ask questions to see how children worked with one another, even in a different part of the country. Throughout this Skype call Andrea encouraged us to use this one day in our classrooms, it is fun and easy to do and the students love it. It gives them the opportunity to use technology, work with one another when it comes to problem solving and interact with people all over the world.

            When our Skype call was coming to an end we were given the chance to ask any questions we might have had for the teacher. She let us know that she is always available to us if we ever have any questions for her and she strongly suggested we use this in our classroom one day, which I believe is a great idea and I would love to do. I think it is so amazing that we have the opportunity to look in on classes all over the world and work with individuals we have never even met before to come up with answers and discuss information with one another. I really enjoyed this today, and I hoped the children in Kansas did as well. At the end of our Skype we all got together and took a picture giving one another high fives virtually through Skype and it is not a picture their teacher has that she can post on Facebook and social media. Today was an awesome and memorable experience! I cant wait to use this in my classroom one day!

                                          

Science Fair

Science fairs are becoming more popular each and every year. Students are finally getting the opportunity to work hands on, on a topic that may interest them. Science fairs are allowing students to be creative and share their ideas with hundreds of people who come to look at each of their individual projects. Science fairs are giving students the opportunity to be creative and to also walk around and see the creativity of their fellow classmates throughout the fair. Students are able to speak about their project and show an example of how their project may work, while also getting the opportunity to walk around and ask questions and obtain information on the other projects that are being displayed throughout the fair. Science fairs are giving students the opportunity to learn and have fun at the same time. Students may find it a lot more interesting to learn information at science fair rather then being given the information in the classroom on a regular day.

While exploring through a Science fair students are able to ask questions and engage in conversation with other students as well as teachers that are walking around looking at projects as well. There are many reasons why schools host an annual science. Elementary schools participate in science fairs for a variety of reasons: to stimulate student interest in science, to provide students with opportunities for research and active inquiry, to publicly recognize students completed projects, and to provide students with opportunities to share their work (Perry,1995). Students are given many different opportunities while participating in the science fair. There are many different parts to a science fair project. It is not just the project itself the project must include things such as an investigation, a written research report, a visual display, an oral presentation, and some sort of assessment they can give the individuals who are viewing their project. Science fairs allow students to be organized with information on a certain topic. They allow creativity along with evidence- based knowledge. The more a student knows about a topic, the easier it is to learn and remember new information (Recht & Leslie, 1988).

Professor Gould, a professor at the University of Southern California believes that science fairs encourage student accomplishment. I agree with this statement. Students will feel accomplished by having their project being shown at the school science fair, some students may even place in the science fair and win for having an excellent project.  Gould believes that science fair projects need to begin in the classroom and that teachers need to be involved with their student’s projects. Teachers should guide their students when it comes to their visual display and help them prepare an oral presentation for the science fair. Gould feels that teachers need to do whatever it takes to make the science fair experience one that children will enjoy and want to repeat in the following years.

If students enjoy science fairs and what they are doing they will want to continue year after year to come up with topics to present about. Many of these articles believe that science fair projects are a great example of the inquiry process. According to the article The Value of a Science Fair Project, it is a very effective instructional method; indeed, it is recommended as a corner stone of successful teaching. If teachers do not use this process it will begin to lower the students interest in the science fair because they will not be able practice and participate on hands on activities that interest them. Students in the elementary school level often become very excited about experiments and working on hands on activities, which is why science fairs are becoming more and more popular among the children of young ages. Students are able to pick any topic that interests them and they are able to work on it and make it into something of their very own without direction from anyone. Students are finally be given the opportunity to use their imagination and create. While working on their science fair projects an important aspect to know is the scientific method, what it is and what it does. It is also important to have these students follow the following steps while conducting their experiment and trying to figure out answers.

         First we are introduced to step one, step one consists of coming up with a good question, next step two comes along where the individuals are asked to do research to form a hypothesis, after forming a hypothesis step three comes along where the student needs to test their hypothesis by doing the experiment and seeing what happens. This allows students to work hands on to find out answers they have been looking for. Finally step four comes where there is a presentation with information on why what may have happened, happened. These steps are allowing kids to come up with a solution and a final answer to their hypothesis to state whether or not it was true. Having an annual science fair really gets children involved and engaged in a number of different scientific activities which will benefit them in the future and provide them with knowledge on certain topics that they may not have already known. Students will feel like they are Scientists and be very excited about that as well.

         What I gather from science fairs is that they are very engaging. From all of this information provided I feel that science fairs are a great way for students to learn and become engaged with one another and certain activities. Having a science fair allows students to take the time to teach something they have become familiar with to other people and feel as if they are being the teacher and everyone else is learning in a fun way rather than just getting a book full of information. Throughout my lifetime I have been to a science fair before in my middle school and my little cousin had created a science fair project this past year and I think it is a great way for students to have fun and learn at the same time! I  guarantee you that students have more fun learning with hands on activities.

Balas, A. K. Science fairs in elementary school. Retrieved November 21, 2016, from ERIC Digest, http://www.ericdigests.org/2000-1/fairs.html

   

       The Value of a Science Fair Project 

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/scifair_value.shtml

Holt, L. (2006). Elementary Science Fair Planning Guide. Retrieved November 20, 2016, from http://www.utelementary.org/ourpages/auto/2013/1/9/54511288/ScienceFairGuide 2013.pdf

Six Kingdoms

Before we left for Thanksgiving break we were told to make groups with individuals we may have not already worked with this semester. After we broke into these groups we quickly assigned areas of the six kingdoms that each of us would be working on before we meet again on Tuesday. The group was split up into six different sections, representing the six kingdoms. I will be working on Eubacteria. My job is to gather information on Eubacteria, this information will include the following, the definition of the word, the cell type, the number of cells, type of nutrition, and the cell wall. Each individual in my group will come up with this information based off of their section in the six kingdoms. The Six kingdoms are  Archaebacteria, Eubacteria, Protista, Fungi, Plantae and Animalia. It will be interesting to find out the information on each of these areas being that I do not know much about any of these kingdoms. Once we meet together on Tuesday we will discuss the information that each of us has gathered and work together to come up with a way of explaining each of these sections to the class. I think it is very interesting when we work on a section of science that i do not know much about. I obtain a lot of information while working with the members of my group and it keeps me informed about each of these section and what they are made up of. I am looking forward to working with the group of girls I am doing this activity with!

Facts Behind Astronomy

This week in class we have been given the opportunity to work with many different people. We have broken off into different groups and worked with our classmates to complete assignments. On Thursday I was given the opportunity to work with Kristen, Bridget and Elizabeth. We were given an assignment on Astronomy and we were asked to create a timeline to provide the class with information from different years. We worked together to find information that went all the way back to the 1600's and on. We added important facts along our timeline and we also created a word cloud to share with the class to see if anyone else was familiar with the words we have provided for them. We asked if anyone knew any of the words we had posted or had use the same words in their word cloud as well. When it came to presenting our timeline to the class we took turns speaking about 2 or 3 events that have happened in history that had an impact on science, such as the creation of the telescope. We were able to present a timeline to our classmates and provide them with information that they may not have already known. Throughout the semester we have been introduced to a number of different virtual sites that we can use to create timelines, powerpoint, videos and so much more. I think it is great that we have had the opportunity to test these different websites out and become familiar with how to use them so that we are able to use them in our own classroom experiences one day. I am excited to keep learning about more websites I can use in my classroom one day to provide my students with the information that will need to learn and know in a fun virtual way!


                                       

Galaxies and Constellations

This week in class we were given a task that involved a powerpoint presentation and a partner to work with. Bridget and I were assigned the topics Galaxies and Constellations. We were given the time in class Tuesday to finish up any remaining detail that we wanted to add to the slide before presenting the topic to the class. We worked together to come up with information for the class that they may not have already known about the galaxy and constellations. Together were created slides that would capture our classmates attention. The first three slides had to go with galaxies, these were the slides I talked about. I started off by giving the class the definition of galaxy and informing them of what the galaxy is. I then went on to my next slide where I explained to my classmates that the galaxy is classified into three main types, Spiral Galaxy, Elliptical Galaxy  and the Irregular Galaxy. I explained a little bit of information about each of these types and then i went on to show the class what these galaxies look like. The next three slides focused on the constellations. Bridget introduced these slides to the class and spoke about what a constellation is. She then went on to the second slide where there were three links posted that the individuals learning about this topic could click on and be brought to a game a video and other interactive sites that provide them with information on constellations. We taught the class about the Ursa Major, this is something I learned more about myself. I think sharing these slides with the class is helpful and really helps us get a feel of being in front of the class and teaching a certain topic. It gives us the feel of teaching individuals and we are able to be creative in our slides as well. I really enjoyed learning more about this topic as well as teaching a little bit about it to the class.


                                    
       

Presenting in class

Throughout the semester we have had many times to present in front of the class. In the beginning of the semester everyone seemed to be a little intimidated by their peers in the room, but over  time it got easier. When we first started presenting we all had certain things that we needed to fix over time, our posture, speaking loud and clear, unfolding our arms and opening up to the classroom. Throughout the semester we have learned the importance of opening up to the class, being confident when we speak and being creative with our work and how we present it to the class. On Thursday we were given the opportunity to present in front of the classroom, but this time with different groups than the ones we have already been working with. This gave us the opportunity to work with different people and become comfortable with the different ways that all individuals like to teach. We presented a power-point on the Earth’s Surface, we spoke about topics such as pangea and Alfred Wegener, something I am comfortable with from fieldwork. My group let a power-point with information play as our peers read the information and answered any questions we may have asked them at the end. Once the power-point was over we had a kahoot for the class to participate with. I personally love kahoot, I think it is a great and fun way for individuals to review and answer questions quickly while having fun at the same time.  Working with different people in the classroom helps you learn new strategies it also helps to sit back and watch other groups present as well. Everyone’s creativity throughout these presentations is wonderful, it really keeps the class interested. I think we all learn a lot from one another and we still have more time to learn!