Week 9 October 28,2008 (Post 1)

Today, we did more Science midterm projects and I just wanted to make my comments upon some of the projects. I personally thought that the video the Brittney G did on the Rocket lab was so cute and funny. I think that the video and project will go over very well with the kids if I ever decided to incorporate this in my classroom say 4th or 5th grade it will also spark their interest based upon the entertainment factors I thought that it was great because it had me guessing what will happen before they even explained what was going to happen this is an exciting lab for kids too! I also like the lab using cornstarch and water who thought this combination would occur in this manner? I think the consistency was funky and fun to play with because it was like a liquid and a solid put together in the same project and students are going to wonder how this occurs it will stimulate farther discussions and thinking Great Job Elly and Loree. Kelli

Week 8 October 23, 2008 (Post 2)

On Thursday's class we started our midterm projects which were informational and fun to do. This was a great opportunity to get the class thinking as a whole and building upon experiences for actually speaking and playing the educator role. As seen in class there is alot of information and work that it is put into planning for a lab experiment and some groups really organized the information and lab well so we could all learn as a community of learners. My opinion of something that I could have changed about my lab experiment was that I would have been more explanatory about how to get students to drop each item in the water one at a time instead of dropping all the material in at one time. Overall ,these Science experiments really helped me to learn something new about Science and they are fun. n There are many more to come in the next few weeks and I am excited to learn more ways to apply new things to my own classroom. Kelli

Week 8 October 21, 2008 (Post 1)

Today we conducted the lab using the Ping Pong Ball, Glasses, Straws. The experiment's objective was to make the ball jump or hop from one cup to another with out touching the ball. (could also be done with an empty egg) As we conducted the experiment we used the straw to exert a force of wind in the direction of the cup to move the ball from cup one to cup two. We quickly learned that the force had to be a strong quick current to get the ball out of the cup and moving. We had many failed event before we actually decided that there was a certain way to push the air through the cup and keep it moving. The shape of the glass had a big impact upon how the ball got out because otherwise in a regular drinking glass the air would not get underneath the ball. I thought for sure there was no way we could move the cups more than a couple inches apart and still land the ball in the opposite cup but we proved ourselves wrong. The key to the lab is persistence and exact materials for reproduction of the experiment.
Kelli Leander

Week 7 Post 2 October 16

This Thursday we went into some interactive websites and did some hands on fun with a worksheet. I thought this was a great idea. As we followed the safety site we were take to many different links that offered a learning experience as you followed. For example, my partner and I followed the bike safety link and learned about using a helmet, crossing rods and looking both ways before crossing. I was also able to follow the link about pool safety, which suggested to the children how to enter and exit a pool, rules and precautions to look out for while playing, and reinforced the suggestion to have an adult present at all times. I thought this was a very helpful web quest for students because it gives them the opportunity to see that what their parents say to the about keeping safe really is truthful and valid. Good thing to use before starting a lab. Fun I will suggest to my field based supervisor! Kelli

Week 7 Post 1 Oct. 13th

I am going to reflect upon the reading from the Ready, Set, Science Chapter 6. I would like to comment up the author's opinions on middle school students using statistical data to find means, and ranges of information. AS discussed in the book there are many different types of graphs used for demonstrating mathematical data and students providing a more descriptive and detailed record of the information they have obtained. Yet, teachers need to make the connection to the students that these mathematical models are just a simpler version of a more complex model. I also agree with the information as the author states that "Students are better able to understand data if as much attention is devoted to how they are generated as to their analysis". When they develop the information from their own experiments and activities they will understand the chart, and use it in the future better than if, the student just records information they see in a book or from the board. The experiences derived from actual experiences are going to be of more value to the students understanding. Kelli Leander

Thursday October 9th (post 2)

After visiting the "Apples for Teachers" website I began planning my lesson for Internship, I felt like it had many great ideas. I went in and played the wildlife word find, I thought this was a great idea, but did not pertain to the content areas. I did find the kindergarten lesson file helpful, as it suggested teaching methods, skill building activites, imagination tasks ect. I thought that the lessons were age approprite and had an appeal to differnt learning styles. I also liked that the site gave permission to print, or copy information as needed; this helps cut the costs. I thought it was interesting that the site organized the subjects accoring to the differnt content areas, as well as Language Arts. The interactve teachnology seemedweak and like it could use some improvements. Overall, Good site! Kelli

Week 6 (post 1)

this Tuesday was good for playing catch up. I enjoyed playing with the mirrors and writing my name, the task got easier as I kept playing with it, although I still can not make the star or the zig zag lines. I think the perfect age to use this with would be 3rd-5th because it offers a challenge to those students. I ll keep practicing