Science Biomes

Making Our Voice Thread

This week Mark and I created a voice thread on the tundra and rainforest biomes. Mark did all of the research reagrding the two types of biomes and eveything said in the movie is from his work. We both found some suitable pictures and created the voice thread. When it came time to record Mark's voice we had a very hard time. We ended up recording it onto my cell phone and transferring it to voice thread. That is why it may sound a little scratchy! Despite that, I think we did a great job on this collaborative project. I know I learned alot! Mark had already been studying biomes, so he was an old pro, but I think he had lots of fun too!

Here's the link to our movie! Hope you like it!

Collaborative Project - Touring CCMS

This Thursday, April 9, I was able to tour the Corpus Christi Montessori School. It was a great experience! The school was unlike any other I had ever seen. Students worked quietly on the floor or at tables. They were busy and looked engaged by their assinments. Many were working in their socks! Miss Sylvia, the school's principal, showed us around enthusiastically. The lower grades worked with many manipulatives, while the older children did more group work and experiments. The three of us on tour were also treated to a look at the student's garden and PE area.

I really appreciated the peace and unity that evidently exists among the students. Even children in the lower grades were calm, busy, and seemed to be having fun. I also like the methods used by the teachers. They didn't order the children around and there was no yelling. Every teacher at CCMS is called by her first name, making the impression that teachers are not above, or more important than, students. At the end of the tour we all asked about how to become Montessori teachers because we were so impressed and excited by their methods. The school is small and humble, but within those walls many children are experiencing and learning great things!

Collaborative Project - Week 2- Meeting My Student for the First Time

After a week of trying to meet with my young student, i was finally able to do so yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon at CCMS. The scene was a little crazy and confused, but we were able to figure out a strategy for Mark's project. I'm very excited to get started. Mark has chosen to focus on two biomes- tundra and rainforests. He is going to learn all he can about them, compare and contrast them, and find lots of great pictures of the biomes and the kinds of animals that live in them. I think it will be a great project!

Collaborative Project - Week 1

My first week working on the new collaborative project was very interesting. I was assigned a student from Corpus Christi Montessori School named Mark. Mark’s project is on science biomes. As I knew little about science biomes, I was eager to get started. I emailed Mark and his family Monday night and received an email asking me to call at my convenience. I called the next morning and was asked to call back later. Because I had classes later, I emailed once again stating the purpose of the assignment as I understood it, offered a few suggestions for when we could get together for a face-to-face meeting, and left my phone number encouraging Mark and his family to call or email me with their preferred time and any questions. A few days later I decided it might be a good idea to get to work on explaining how a blog is created. I wrote a detailed (step-by-step) description of how to create a blog and begin blogging. I again emailed, attaching the explanatory document. Hopefully I’ll hear something soon! I can’t wait to meet Mark and learn more about science biomes and show him all about a few other cool computer tools!

A few questions I am planning to ask or incorporate into the project’s blog are:

1. What are biomes? Why are they important?
2. How many different kinds of biomes are in existence?
3. Where are biomes found? Does climate matter?
4. How do plants, animals, and other orgaisms live in biomes abd how do they affect each other?
5. How do biomes affect humans? how do humans affect biomes?

Plans for my parent-child meeting will include

1) In general, getting to know the parent and child
2) Finding out what the child wants to achieve from this project
3) Asking what role they would like me to play and how I can be of assistance in the project
4) Help Mark set up his blog and get started on ideas for his voice thread
5) Have a good time and learn something new!!!

Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets are a valuable tool to all educators and students. They provide a way for gathering and viewing data and help lists of numbers and information to make sense. Students who created their own spreadsheets will be doing a majority of the work themselves. They will gather data, organize it, and find answers to questions. This style of learning has been referred to as inquiry-based learning. It is the seeking of knowledge. The process of inquiring begins with gathering information and data through applying the human senses. Children need this style of hands-on learning to be successful in their education. When children learn things first hand, they grasp and retain the information much better.
A few questions I would use to guide my students in creating their own spreadsheets are:

1. By what means will you gather the needed information?

2. How much information will you decide to use and how much is really needed to get a good understanding?

3. Which Excel tools will you use to present this information?

These types of questions will help students think about what they are doing. They will have to consider what information they want to use and how much they need to use in order to create a viable spreadsheet and an understandable presentation.

A Great Way to Teach and to Learn!!!

My video, entitled Our Warm Earth, deals with issues that face all of us. In it I talk about the earth’s perfect distance from the sun, the average temperatures of Venus, Earth, and Mars, and what we need to do to keep our earth’s ecology healthy.
I used various tools to create this movie. First, I drew several pictures/illustrations that appropriately depict earth’s distance from the sun and temperature. Another tool I used was my video camera. I filmed a gas tank (depicting the need to be fuel efficient drivers), an electrical outlet (depicting the need use less electricity), and a few pictures of easily recycled items. In addition, I used pictures downloaded from the internet to supplement my video. Most importantly, I utilized Windows Movie Maker. Movie Maker allowed me to blend together the internet pictures, original pictures, and videos in order to create a film. I also employed a headset and microphone for use in narrating my movie.

Although this was a tricky assignment, I feel that now that I understand how to do it, I would love to teach my future students how to make their own movies. There are literally endless ways students can learn by watching and creating original movies. The information they gather will be their own. They will be able to put it all together and organize it according to how they see fit. Such a hands-on task will surely be beneficial and the educational benefits derived will be long lasting! Additionally, parents can join their child in creating movie projects. It would be great to see several parents and children work as teams on specific projects.

I would also love to see students create movies as part of their science fair projects. Instead of the usual flat board, I would encourage students to put their findings, pictures, charts, and anything else into video and picture format and create a movie! In fact, I believe that any subject can be explored thoroughly by means of a creative original movie-I hope to use this tool regularly in my future classroom!