Top Down or Bottom Up

I have recently read a New York Times article called, "What's Our Sputnik?" by Thomas L. Friedman (2010. It was not exactly what I was expecting by the title, but it was very thought provoking none the less. I will forgo commentary on the purely political side of things and focus on how we get the scientific side of things ignited. What needs to be done to create excitement and financial backing for science education in the United States, like that after the launch of Sputnik? Is there a change that needs to take place from the top down? Is it the responsibility of the President and those in Washington DC to inspire, motivate and finance us to move forward in science education? Or is it us, the science teachers of America, who hold the key to inspiring, motivating and finding financial support for the backing of science education? I think it is both. In order for science education to be a prevailing thought in the minds of our society, we need more than passionate teachers who reach their few. We need to hear from those we look up to and admire that science education is important to the nation. We need national unity and cohesiveness that can feed our competition to be ahead of other nations in STEM learning.
Personally, I get a bit concerned over the unity of our nation. Very few of my students watched World Cup Soccer last year. Very few were interested in the most recent Winter Olympics. It seems that we are raising a generation that are not nationally minded. How do we change that?
I do think that, as teachers, we do have the capability to inspire students to love and pursue science. I think we can mold minds to problem solve, be inquisitive and value scientific thought. I think we can expose students to what others are inventing and working toward, but I do not think teachers alone can recreate the "Sputnik" moment.
I think our students think that technology is cool, but I do not think that they are as "wowed" by it as we are because it is all they have known. Perhaps it will take a "Sputnik" to bring us back to focusing on building our national resources, including the minds of our youth.

Friedman, T. L. (2010, January 17). What’s our sputnik? [Op-Ed]. The New York Times [Late Edition (East Coast)], p. WK.8.

Using Models in Earth Science

This week I designed a lesson on plate tectonics centered around the use of models. The essential question asked what the theory of plate tectonics was and how it affects land formations. I did a quick review through the use of a note-taking guide and the students watched a brainpop on plate tectonics. Then the students did a structured inquiry called candy bar tectonics. The students completed a formative assesment, and then worked in small groups to create a poster using pictures printed from their lab to make a longer lasting model.
I think the lesson was successful because students did well on their assesment. There were some holes apparent in their learning during the post lab questions, so I am not sure how affective the model I used was. I did feel rushed for time and even with a 70 min. class period, the students did not complete their extension activity. If I were to do the lesson again, I would try to find more web videos to show a simulation of how the movement of plates creates different land formations. I would also spend more time discussing the students reflections so that I can hear any misconceptions they may have and address them.

Scientifically-literate and Compassionate Citizens

Living in inland Georgia, we typically do not experience too many natural disasters. When we do, it is generally hurricanes and more often flooding. In September 2009, the metro Atlanta area experienced significant flooding that led to deaths by drowning.
The students I teach would benefit from learning how to read and understand weather web sites, including doppler radar and knowing the difference between weather watches and warnings. I would like to expose them to the power that weather has, but at the same time I understand that some children already have significant fear of bad weather. To what degree would it be important to show them the serious affects that hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, earthquakes,and the like have on the environment - including people? I am not sure. But I do think that it is important for them to know the science behind how they form and how unpredictable they can be.
Practically, I think students would benefit form learning how to swim and more importantly, learning water safety and water rescue. I doubt that most of my students have been in the water fully clothed. That in itself is difficult to deal with, yet that is the position my students could find themselves in during a flash flood situation. I also think students need to be aware of how to prepare and operate in conditions where they have no electricity for several days. When students have an understanding of these things, I am certain that the majority of them will want to teach and help others in the same way.
In the community, students could raise money or find volunteers to support free swimming clinics for our community. They could also work together with our local hospital or firemen to put together basic flood safety emergency kits, that can be given away at booths during our community events. I think the students would enjoy sharing the importance of what they have learned and feel successful that they have become part of the solution to making our community better equipped for flooding.

Presentation Tools

This week I dabbled with two presentation tools; Prezi and Zoho. We are leaving for a family trip tomorrow, so I chose packing as my topic and made the mock presentations based on how and what to pack as a family of three young children.
I signed up for a 30 day free trial with Prezi. I had already watched the tutorial our course provided, but there is another one online that was additionally helpful. I found inserting and rearranging text to be a breeze. I inserted pictures with ease as well. I did not try inserting video, although this program is capable of doing so. I also found it simple to create the paths. The one thing I found difficult was framing. I do not think the tutorial was really clear about those instructions. It looked easier to do than it really was for me. Overall, I really enjoyed using this tool and found it much more diverse than some of the others. I will probably use this tool for my course project.
The other tool I experimented with was Zoho. It has more of a Power Point feel. Inserting text was easy, but very standard. You can vary the text with size, font and color as you would in a typical document. There is also the ability to use a variety of symbols. I had a difficult time arranging pictures on the slides. There is no way to apply video that I could find. Overall, I would not recommend using it for a course project, simply because it is a bit cumbersome and monotonous.

The Heat Is On.

In this experiment I tested four items as insulators; aluminum foil, house insulation, a cloth ovenpad, and a silicone oven pad. because of the dificulty I had in securing some of my test items to the mug, I found my results to be inconclusive. I did notice that heat was being transfered by conduction as the heat from the water in the mugs rose up through my testing substanse and I could feel the heat above the mugs.
One spin that I think would be interesting to test would be to change the material of the mug instead of the of the enclosure material. One could test styrofom, stainless steel, porcelin, and double insulated plastic mugs toped with aluminium for ease to see which mug was a better insulator.
I think to make this fun and engaging for the students, we could one day examine their lunch bags and see what they are bringing in for lunch. (I still have about 9 students who bring lunch from home.) If no one is bringing in hot food - we can discuss why. Maybe they can't find an insulator that works well for them? Then we could discuss what they would bring in if they could. I picture that we could end up testing bagel bites, pizza rolls, mini corn dogs, etc. in different types of insulators. Of course we would have to chose the variable . . . either the type of food or the typr of material, but the students could determine that.

Fav Online Physical Science Resourses

Hey! Sorry for the delay in posting . . . . I hope I have not thrown any of my Walden classmates off track. It was a big week with those 3 applications due! Those took alot of time and when I was done, I did not correctly compose this blog. So here I am today, a little less tired and frustrated. :)

One of the web sites I found most helpful, because I am a visual/auditory learner, was www.howitworks.com. I incorporate this address into many of my lesson plans during the engagement portion, because having a bit of background helps students to be unafraid to come up with good solid questions and ideas and thus, truly engage in inquiry. However, my big idea in researching online resources was magnetism and here is what I found . . . .

My favorite web site in the end was wwww.bln.gov/sls/interactivewebsites.asp#Magnets. This was my favorite for a couple of reasons. One is that it is basically a link page to several other user friendly pages. One page has a simulation of attraction and repulsion by magnetic poles and other higher level tutorials. One has a simple read on the basics of magnetism and a little on-line quiz at the end. Another has a great FAQ page which could really spur on some good inquiry in our classrooms. There is also a link to a very elementary magnets and springs game that could be something for early finishers to do just for fun. Because these links vary so much, they can be used in many different ways throughout a lesson. Which ones you use really depends on the learning styles of your students and the focus of your lesson.

Engaging in Guided Inquiry

The question I chose to explore for this guided inquiry was, “How do different surfaces affect the momentum of marbles?” To answer this question, I rolled a marble across three surfaces; cement, dirt, and carpet. To keep from having too many variables, I shot the marble with a spring loaded “Nerf” type gun of my son’s. I took three measurements on each surface. The measurement is as follows:

Surface - Trial 1 - Trial 2 - Trial 3

Concrete - 198.5” - 208” - 219.75”
Dirt - 6.25” - 17.5” - 20.75”
Carpet - 41” - 43” - 51.25”

Data shows that smooth surfaces provide less friction and allows the momentum of the marble to carry the marble farther. I also discovered that with each trial, on every surface, the distance increased. This information is interesting to me and if I had more time, I think I would continue on other surfaces or with subsequent rolls of the marble on the same surface.
I did face some challenges in the experiment. One was that I could not be certain that the entire length of each surface was 100% level. The second was that the angle in which the “bullet” hit the marble was not always the same and thus the path the marble traveled was not always the same.
I really enjoyed taking part in this guided inquiry. If I were to complete this activity with my class, and if they were to notice the pattern in the data collected, I probably would have used that as an opportunity to have them write “I wonder” questions. (Banchi & Bell, 2008) Although setting up this experiment from the given question was very easy for me, I think it would have provided a challenge for many of my students unless they had been given ample practice in using the scientific method. I know they would enjoy working through the process and would gain much more than just information or finding a “right” answer. They would have the joy of engaging, exploring, investigating, searching and they could connect it to their real world. (Kuhlthau, Caspari, and Maniotes, 2007)

References

Banchi, H., & Bell, R. (2008). The many levels of inquiry. Science & Children, 46(2), 26–29.
Kuhlthau, Carol C., Maniotes, Leslie K., & Caspari, Ann K. (2007) Guided Inquiry: learning in the 21st century. Libraries Unlimited.