1) The technology has arrived in the classroom: 5 desktop computers, a lenovo ideapad, and a smartboard! It is impossible not to be excited about this, and I am excited to integrate this equipment into my unit plans. The computers will fit into station activities (a good way to touch on multiple learning modalities within a lesson). The Earth Science students worked on a mineral webquest that required them to collect information about mineral properties, and use a flowchart to identify multiple mineral samples that I provided.
The Global Environment class will be partaking in an energy debate in class on Friday. In order to receive instructions, and prepare their arguments (many are working in pairs), they are required to edit the debate's wikispace. This lesson was adapted and modified from material provided by Rob Woolery (Fowler HS), and the outreach program at SUNY ESF. Check out the energy debate wikispace that my students have using to collaborate with each other: http://willyscienceintro.wikispaces.com/
2. Earth Science students did a lab on mineral hardness. Minerals were located at 8 different stations around the room, students had 2-3 minutes at each station to perform the 4 hardness tests (fingernail, penny, steel nail, and glass plate). There were at least two samples at each station which ensured that all students were able to manipulate the objects throughout the lab. The lab was a success, but two classes needed to finish the questions at the beginning of the following class. For future reference, the lab takes 50 minutes, not 40.
The Global Environment class went to the computer lab to construct excel graphs dealing with carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and average global temperatures. This was great experience for the students as they gear up to prepare their final research projects. All students were able to successfully create charts and graphs with Excel.
3. The mineral notes for Earth Science were long (about 35 minutes in total), and had to be split into portions of two separate class periods. Also, the mineral rap assignment did not generate nearly as much interest as past years. This year I cut out playing the element rap by Blackalicious as an example of science rap in the interest of time. If time allows, I will revisit this idea of art/science and play "chemical calisthenics" for my students. I will definitely include the song in future lesson plans as an anticipatory set and to generate more enthusiastic engagement from students.
I played a Colbert Report clip on coal mining for the Global Environment unit on fossil fuels (http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/261997/january-18-2010/coal-comfort---margaret-palmer). Most students did not find it very humorous, but they did understand how it addressed the concept of external costs for the environment. I knew that this video clip would be a combination of education and entertainment, I just thought it would be more entertaining than educational. That turned out to be reversed.
4. There will not be a reflection next two weeks, as we are taking a family vacation to Aruba. I will be taking a full week-long vacation from technology (no cell phone, no laptop, no nothing). Technology is a great tool, but it can also be very liberating to free yourself from it periodically. In fact, I think that cutting yourself off from technology a few times a year is essential for the maintenance of mental and perhaps physical health. It helps to keep yourself grounded and connected to the natural world. So, until March, keep on keeping on everyone.
5. "Mr. Williams, we are learning about the heliocentric and geocentric models of the universe in global studies, too!" --several students exclaiming about their discovery of a concept that crosses curricula. They learned about these models (and other science experiments) in Ms. Satalin's global studies class.
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