10-23-08

In class today we viewed about 6 groups of two teaching a ten minute lesson. The lesson could be about anything as long as it had a hands on activity and you had to teach about safety in the lab. My partner and I were teaching a mini lesson on mixing oil and water. We had students mix oil into water then we had students add food coloring and have them record their observations. All and all it was a really fun experience and was glad that I got to see the others in the class teach theirs. Next class we will finish the rest of the classes mini lessons.

10-21-08

Today in class we went over some notes and looked further into our midterm project and got a little time to talk to our partners. We also as a class discussed some notes from the chapter and sort of talked about the where to find the answers to the new reading guide that we got. Then after that did a short, fun and unique little lab. What we did was get two small containers and placed a funnel in one of them and then placed a ping pong ball in the funnel. We then blew into the funnel and tried to get get the ball into the other container. We then talked about air and how the ball would get to one place to another.

10-16-08

Today in class we went down into the computer lab and looked at different web sites that had to deal with safety. We got a worksheet that we had to fill out and this was something that we could save and give to our future class. This one worksheet had to deal with safety online. Then there was a really good site that had a ton of links that had to deal with weather, biking, and a ton of other things that had to deal with safety. Then after we looked we had to in our pairs look for a good web site that had to deal with science safety in the lab setting. All and all it was a fun class that we got to really look into fun things about safety.

10-14-08

Today in class was just a really good opportunity for us students to focus on our upcoming midterm project. It was a work day if you want to say that. We got the chance to talk about it further in class and with the teacher then had the time to sit with our partner and talk about what we are all going to do. Those sort of days are always well appreciated because we have so much stuff going on outside the classroom that having that time to sit and just discuss projects are a definite load of the shoulders.

10-9-08

Today instead of class we got a huge list of fun websites that were really interesting to view. These were all very good, fun and educational sites for students and teachers to view. There was some on the how beneficial science fairs are and how you should go about providing elementary, middle, and high school science fairs. "The Adventures of Cyberbee" was a site that had many links to view many different things. Some were on paper airplane links that had different activities and different lesson plans. The Cyberbee website also looks at web pages that provided a ton of different science topics ranging from different topics endangered species to the Cornell Theory Center Math and Science Gateway. All and all this was a really good experience for us to see and think that the things on the Cyberbee makes science fun for teachers and students.

10-7-08 Web seminar

Today I reviewed a web seminar on stars. This was the first web seminar that I have even seen. I was really surprised because I learned a lot and wish that instead of reviewing it I could have actually participated in it. I really liked it because it was interesting and it was like you were in the classroom but in the comfort of your own home. The discussion between the four people talking and the talking between everyone else was neat to see. I liked how you could actually respond to the questions and see other answers. It was fun to see the presenters could actively point out important things or where you should be looking at. I would really like to see more of these and to someday when I am teaching try this out in some way. Plus it was interesting to see the movies and to hear professionals talk about a topic that they are very well in knowledgeable about. This is a really great way to maybe introduce a lesson or to end one. This is a great use for technology and I think that more classes should integrate this in to their classroom.

10-7-08

Today in class we first went over all the next few topics that are coming up soon. However are one project that we did in class was a really fun one and one that i would really love to do with students. We took a mirror and held it with one hand and then took a note card and poked a hole in the middle and placed a pencil in it and tried to write something, for example our names, but had to write it so it read right in the mirror. It was really hard to try and fix our mistakes and it was hard to find where your pencil started and which direction it went. Then we got a paper that had different objects like a star and we had to try to duplicate that image in a box right next to it. It was really fun and we learned a lot. I like doing projects like it so ya!!

10-4-08

I took the time and looked at the adventures of the food detective an interactive computer program that looks at 8 different children that need some help with their lives. Some of the kids needed help to add more protein to their foods, some needed more calcium, others needed help with their exercise routine and the others needed to slow down to get some food for breakfast and more. This was a really good program to show kids and let them explore it. It case studies for the children to look at and helped by giving hints. This is something that you could build a lesson unit around and at the end have them put it all together and do this program. It also had print outs and mini activities for each of the children you helped. I really recommend it for teachers and students.

10-2-08

Today in class we learned about Plato's allegory of the cave. It was really interesting and we also watched a video it was about the idea of people who were chained one way for many many years and could only see shadows. It was a fun thing to think about. So the lab we did for the day way to pass around little black boxes and to talk with in our groups where the restricting areas were so that the marbles could only go so many places with in the box. It was a fun activity and we had fun talking about it in the group as well as in the whole class. This would be a neat activity to do with just about any grade level with some adaptations.

10-1-08

Today instead of the class meeting face to face we had a web assignment that took me like two hours, however it was a good two hours that i was able to sit down and think about the world of science. I liked reading all the case studies because it really puts you into the science classroom and that makes it more fun to read. I learned that even at an early age you should be teaching towards the future and getting them ready to think outside the box. I also read about how you as the teacher can become a better teacher if you sit down and listen to the child and hear what he or she thinks about science and mold that into something that works in your own classroom.

9-23-08

Today in class we did a fizz project it was really fun and really organized so that made it easier to do. It was a neat project that I am sure many young students would enjoy it; I mean I am a college student and I did. What we did was use different types of acid. They included vinegar, orange juice, grapefruit juice, and others and we also used chunks of fruit. We put the baking powder into a closed container and then squeezed all the different types of juices into it at separate times and saw how much the acid raised the air pressure. It was really interesting. The one that had the most of a rise it was in vinegar and the ones with the least result was the chunks of fruit but maybe that was because it was really hard to measure those because we were just looking at the reaction instead of having something more concrete as a rise in air pressure. I recommend this experiment to other teachers it was fun and enjoyed recording the information.