9-16-08

Today in class was a really productive day. We went over questions that all the students and professor had. Then we went over notes and different upcoming projects that were due.
The rest of the class period we got to color a game board and play it. This is fun in the since that you get to do something fun but it’s also fun to find new and unique ideas to take in to the classroom for the future.
The packet that came with the game was a contract that you can give to your future students and have them sign an agreement to science safety. We also got a lesson plan guide to follow for effective teaching. It also gave many cards that went with the game and at the end of the game you can give your students a "Student Science Safety License."
This is something I will definitely use in the classroom and has brought to my attention that using games that you can make up are effective and interesting for the child.

9-11-08

Today in class we talked about the importance of teaching science well. We talked about how without scientific knowledge we wholly are dependent on others as "experts." Without this scientific knowledge we are empowered to become participants rather than merely observers.
There are many reasons to teach science and to teach it well. In class we discussed a few main ones that include: with science we can improve life in many different aspects, we will help to provide long lasting foundations to theory’s and problem solving.
In class we went over such terms as Theory, Hypothesis, evidence, facts, and scientific claims. Next we participated in another activity that we looked at data with temperature. We used the technology in the classroom to map out our data in a graph. What we did was we stuck an electronic thermometer in cold and hot water and saw how fast it changed and where it leveled off.

9-9-08

This one activity that we did was really hard for my group. We did the first few steps that was pretty simple and then we ran into tons of problems with the technology that we were using. The first steps were to cut out these certain objects and then fold them in a unique way. We got that part done but then when we went to drop the paper copters our computer would not work. However it was fun getting to at least hold the equipment and play with it and see what the computer can all do. The object was to see how fast or how slow the paper would fall down to the ground. We couldn't do any of the other steps which included adding paper clips and making other folds and then time them. The next activity will be better though since we will have been through the process and all.