Website Ideas

Ok, since we have 3 people in our group, we are going to need to each do 2 pages on the web site. Some ideas I had for page setup is

1. Home Page
2. Goals and Intent
3. Material Content (Courtney's video could go here)
4. Experiments and Data Collection (Mine and Brad's videos could go here)
5. Resources and Skype Project
6. Final Project
7. Standards

There are a lot of different options we could do. We'll have to pool all of our thoughts and information together and think of the layout in lecture on Monday :)

Podcasts

Great Ideas! We will discuss everything on monday so I can begin with the intro and conclusion. Are we still planning on meeting after lecture on monday?

Big Bang

Ok, so apparently our big bang at the end of our lesson will be the students completely making their own forecasts, without any help from the teachers. For our podcast, I will be explaining how we have taught the students how to observe weather, collect data, enter data into Excel and make graphs, and how to forecast weather from a field trip to a local meteorologist. I will then explain the students must decide how they want to forecast their weather, when they want to do it, and how they will come up with the weather forecast they will be presenting. I will say the students decided they wanted to try to do their forecast over the morning announcements and arranged a time with the principal every Monday. The students have also arranged time to go over the weather observations and predictions they have together as a group during Connections period.

This is all just an idea based on what Sharon told me. Anything can change so if you guys have anything that sounds better or should be added/taken out let me know!!!!

Podcast: Book Ideas

For the podcast we have to choose two concepts from our "Reinventing Project-Based Learning" Text. Based on our Weather Monitoring Topic and the objectives we want to accomplish, I have found two concepts that should work well. They are:

Student Collaboration (Chapter 2, pg. 29)

-With this section I want to focus on how we are encouraging students to work together to obtain answers or create more questions about the topic.
-Students work together to complete experiments.
-Students consult each other with questions.
-Students bounce information and idea off of one another.
-Students work together to complete tasks for the overall project.

Gathering Resources (Chapter 5, pg. 76)

-This section focuses on the resources that are necessary to complete the project and ensure that students are taking the right information using the correct equipment.
-Students use scientific equipment to participate in experiments (beakers, rain gauges, etc.).
-Students use calculators for math investigations.
-Students access technology resources (skype, the internet, microsoft programs, etc.).
-Students also use the services of trained professionals (meteorologists, teachers, scientists).

Podcast Ideas

I think our main goal of our Podcast is to inform Parents of the activities we plan to undergo, their purposes, and what we plan to accomplish with them, along with introducing our project with others that are interested.

We should come up with an overview statement of what our intent is and this can be our introduction.

Some ideas we could highlight in our Podcast could include:

-Experiments: Tornado in a Bottle (How does this work? Is it safe for kids? Why do it?)
-Materials Used: Weather Videos, Internet Research, etc.
-Everyday Usage: Incorporation into the classroom (Word Walls, etc.)

We should find one particular aspect of the project that we each find really interesting or important and that can be each of our personal pieces, along with splitting up the introduction and conclusion.

Concept Map

Lesson Plan #2

My second lesson plan on taskstream is going to be monitoring the accumulation of precipitation. The students will chart changes in rain guage readings. This should be successful, since Spring tends to be rainy.

Concept map #2

Is our assignment 2 part B an assignment we all due or one of us? If it is only one of us have we decided who will complete that portion?

Taskstream #2

I am doing the second taskstream assignment on temperature readings over time. Data collection will include present temperatures at the different times of the day for a period of time.

Spring Break assignments

Hey im just trying to figure out what has to be done while were on spring break. Im on vacation and just trying to see what must be done by friday. Thanks

Snowflakes Project

I found a fun project that has to do with snowflakes. I doesn't really explain why or how snowflakes form, but it's a neat little art project that kids can do that we can hang around the room. Below are the materials and instructions to the project.

Crystal Snow Art

What you need:
white construction paper
red constructions paper
black construction paper
white glossy paper
4 plastic containers
water
alum
pickling salt
epsom salts
white granulated sugar
q-tips

What to do:

Put 1/2 cup of water into each of the 4 containers.

Add 2 tablespoons of each of the following to each of the containers. (Alum, pickling salt, white granulated sugar, epsom salts.)

You should have four containers containing 1/2 cup of water and one of the ingredients.

Guess which of the colored papers will make the best snow art picture. Write your answer on a piece of paper if there are several children taking part in the experiment.

Dip a Q-Tip in one of the containers and draw a picture on the black paper.

Using another Q-Tip dip it in a different container and draw on the red construction paper. Do the same with the remaining containers and paper.

Let your projects dry completely. Use a magnifying glass to view the crystals and geodes made by the salts, sugar and alum.

I found this project at:

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/science_for_kids/111983