Using Models to Teach Concepts

I have found that teaching scientific concepts through the use of models is a highly effective way of helping students to access the information that they need. For a unit in Earth Science, I had to teach my students about the structures of the Earth as well and teach them about plate tectonics. First, as an anticipatory set, I read a story called How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World which showed the depth, composition, and temperatures of the various layers. The students had to then work in partners to design an "earthcraft" which was a vehicle that could drill to the center of the Earth and be able to withstand the challenges of such a journey.
I also showed them several videos that vividly depicted the different layers of the Earth. “Layers of the Earth” (YouTube, 2009) explains the layers of the Earth to a musical tune, which appealed to my sixth-grade students. Another video, “Inside the Earth” (YouTube, 2010), showed the layers, discussed the depth of each layer, and explained in a very basic manner why lava is hot. I then showed “Plate Tectonics” (YouTube, 2010), a short but dramatically visual video that vividly demonstrated the process of the continental plates moving and how the intense heat inside the Earth causes volcanoes and earthquakes through the movements of the plates.
Making a model of the Earth's layers was a very engaging activity for my students. They each created a small ball of red modeling clay to represent the inner core. They then wrapped that ball in subsequent layers of yellow, black, and brown clay to represent the outer core, mantle, and crust, respectively. They then used a piece of string to slice through their "Earth" to cut it in half, revealing the different layers (see photo above).
The final activity was to give each student a hard-boiled egg. They were then instructed to gently crack the egg, leaving the shell around the white part. They could then see how the shell, representing the Earth's crust, could slide around on top of the white part of the egg, which represented the mantle (see photo below). The students really enjoyed this activity, especially since they were allowed to eat the egg after they were done demonstrating their knowledge of continental movement.
The use of models to help students understand key scientific concepts is highly effective and engaging. I believe that students learn better by doing, not by reading information out of a textbook, so I strive to provide as many hands-on activities as I can when teaching science. Plus it's a lot more fun, both me and my students!



References:

Inside the Earth. (2009, November 10). Retrieved September 27, 2011, from YouTube
website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV0Rl0gKiSI&feature=related

Layers of the Earth. (2009, November 15). Retrieved September 27, 2011, from YouTube
website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9j1xGaxYzY

McNutty, F. (1979). How to dig a hole to the other side of the world. New York, NY:
HarperCollins Publishers.

Plate tectonics. (2010, September 3). Retrieved September 27, 2011 from YouTube
website: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryrXAGY1dmE&feature=related

Teaching Students about Natural Disasters/Getting Students Involved in Disaster Relief

Lately it seems as though there have been an increased number of natural disasters. From floods to earthquakes (in unusual places!) to hurricanes and tornados, I feel like I am reading about some devastating occurrence every time I open the newspaper and look at news sites online. As a teacher, I feel like it's important to educate my students about these natural disasters, not just what causes them and the scientific explanations, but also about the human side of these disasters.

Last year, I was teaching third-grade and I had a delightful group of students. Very enthusiastic learners, very empathetic, always looking for ways to help others. Needless to say, when the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan in March 2011, they were not only disturbed by what they saw on the media, but also desperate to find a way to help the survivors. Having taught 2nd graders the year before, I really saw an interesting difference in my students’ abilities to look beyond their immediate selves and start thinking about other people.

Ironically enough, we were studying earthquake data as part of the third-grade science standards in California. “Use numerical data in describing and comparing objects, events, and measurements” ((California State Board of Education, 2003, p 19). The students were fascinated by earthquakes and the Richter scale, so they understood the magnitude of the 9.0 earthquake that occurred off the coast of Japan. They did not, however, understand how the earthquake caused the tsunami, so I took some time to explain it to them. I also had to allay their fears about a tsunami occurring in San Diego. It would make sense for them to think it could happen, since we live near the coast in an earthquake-prone region. However, the topography of our coast makes it unlikely that we would experience a tsunami as devastating as what occurred in Japan or the Indian Ocean in 2004.

As the students became more aware of the devastation that had taken place, they really wanted to do something to help in some way. We brainstormed ideas and decided to hold a book sale. First, we solicited donations of gently used books and then we utilized an empty classroom to set up tables and organize the books. We then spent a week working before school, at recess, and after school to sell the books for $1 apiece. We have a large Japanese community at our school, and those families participated as well by making hand-crafted bookmarks. The Japanese students would then write, in Japanese calligraphy, the name of the student purchasing a bookmark. At the end of the week, we had raised more than $2,000 to donate to the Red Cross! My students were so happy to be a part of that and very proud as well. It was a lot of work for me as a teacher but worth it because I feel like they really learned a lifelong lesson.


References:
State of California (2003). California State Board of Education. Science content standards for California public schools: Kindergarten through grade twelve. Retrieved from http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/sciencestnd/pdf

Ask a Scientist

Well, I am eagerly awaiting a response to at least one of my questions from "Ask a Scientist." However, at this point I have not received any answers. I will definitely post on my blog if I hear anything!

Presentation Tools - An Overview

Web 2.0 Tools

One of my goals this summer is to learn more about the different presentation tools that I could use in my classroom, so this first exploratory assignment was a great introduction to some of the options that are available.

Prezi seemed like a very user-friendly presentation tool that allows a great deal of creativity. The tutorial walked me through the steps of creating a presentation, and I was able to follow the instructions easily. I also liked that there was a variety of ways to share a Prezi presentation once it was complete, since I would like to publish my students’ presentations on my website as part of our curriculum units. My only concern would be that some of the features seemed a little bit disorienting as the pages zoomed in and out and around to the different text boxes. That could get old after a while, and/or it could make my students dizzy! Still, I think that I would have fun trying it out, and my students would also enjoy it.

I really liked the PreZentit format for presentations. It was very easy to use, with a lot of great features to “jazz up” the different slides. Another bonus that I thought was an excellent feature was the fact that each presentation has its own website address, so accessing it would be very simple. You can also download your presentation so that it can be viewed without an Internet connection, which makes it convenient if you want to put it on a flash drive.

Google Docs has some interesting features, like building your own website and creating a presentation. The presentation feature seemed pretty basic but easy to use and easy to share. I tried creating a website, which at first seemed very user-friendly. I thought the template was great, but then I tried editing and modifying portions of the title page and I ran into a couple of glitches. For example, every time I tried to edit the title bar, it would revert back to the sample title bar. Instead of saying “Mrs. Cruise’s Class” it continued to say “Mrs. Smith’s Class” and I tried many different strategies to change it. This could be user error, but at the same time, it should be a simple matter to edit a website template.

I thought that the VoiceThread had some great features and I can think of many different ways to utilize this Web 2.0 tool in my classroom. I would like to try using it with my students because it would be an excellent way to increase reading fluency in a fun, engaging manner. It reminded me a little bit of PhotoStory; however, I think that VoiceThread is a more sophisticated presentation tool with more features and abilities.

Lastly, I have to say that I absolutely love the iMac because of the iMovie and Keynote applications. Both allow for a great deal of creativity and are very easy to use. My 12-year-old son has already created several very cool iMovie presentations with pictures and videos that he took using his iPod during a recent hike and a trip to Sea World. He was able to choose different music tracks to play over the pictures, and it was very easy to edit with a variety of transitions, animations, etc. The only problem is it has to be emailed in “chunks” because of the size of the presentation, and thus far we have not discovered a way to post a link to access the presentations. More exploration is needed!

As I investigated the variety of presentation tools, I realized that there are so many opportunities out there that I was not aware of until going through this research process. I am very excited about these presentation tools, and I am looking forward to exploring them further with the goal of integrating them into my classroom. I know that my students will love having the chance to use more technology to enhance their learning!