Week 8

The Voice Threads that I watched and commented on were

1. Leslie-Sink or Float
2. Betsy and Natalee-Phases of the Moon
3. Aubrianne-Rotation of Earth, moon, and sun

I learned that there really are a lot of ways that technology can be used to teach science in a classroom. It did seem like Stellarium was only used to teach the phases of the moon, but it would be really good to teach constellations, too. Also, in Aubrianne’s post, she and her group used it to explore the rotation of the sun, moon, and Earth. They also asked the students to observe how the moon moves across the sky, even though you can’t see it. I also learned a lot more about Kidsperation from this, and I really liked it. I think that it is a really good program for kids to use. It is very kid friendly and colorful. I am sure that kids would really like using that program.

My Voice Thread

Week 7, my science plans

I will have the students observe the moon for a few days and then come to class and tell the class what they observed/how the moon changed. Next, we will discuss how the moon changes. The students and I will then get on to Stellarium and observe the moon and stars. We will look at how the stars and moon move across the sky by speeding up time. Next, we will talk about why they think that the moon changes. After they have discussed that we will talk in class about why the moon does change. Then, we will observe the different phases of the moon again on Stellarium, and apply that knowledge to predict how the moon will change during the next week or two. We will then record our real observations of the moon (draw them each night) and compare our actual drawings of how the moon changed to our predictions of how we thought that the moon would move. Last, the students will make a concept map, using Kidsperation, about the information that we learned about the moon.

The content I will be using from UEN will be for 6th grade students: Standard 1, objective 1 which states, “Explain patterns of changes in the appearance of the moon as it orbits.”

The Pedagogy that we will use are observations, predicting, acquiring and processing data through describing relationships and making a chart of our observations of the moon, we will also analyze our data and see if the students’ predictions were correct.

I will use Stellarium and Kidsperation. These are both fitting for my objective because Stellarium allows my students to see how the stars move across the sky in a way that they can quickly view it. This also allows my students to see the different phases of the moon at anytime during the day and allows the students to see the moon regardless of if it is cloudy outside. Kidsperation is a good fit for the content because the very last part of my objective wants the students to design an investigation, make a chart, and collect their own data. Kidsperation is a program that the kids can use to make their charts clear, readable, and easily shared. At the end of our experiment, the kids will also make a concept map, using Kidsperation, sharing what they have learned about the moon.

PLE Week 6

Tours I took:

1. Leslie—religious tour
2. Kaylee—natural disaster tour
3. Elizabeth—comparison of Provo

I think that there are definitely both benefits and downfalls to using Google Earth in a classroom. I think that some of the benefits would be that the kids would actually get to see the places that you have been talking about in your classroom. You can use different layers tools to see things in 3-D, or use the 360 function. This will allow the students to actually see the size scale of things. I think that the students would also pay attention more if you were using a virtual tour to teach things that can be very dull for kids. Some downsides to this, though, would it takes so much time! I highly doubt that I will have time to mess around with Google Earth when there are test to be graded, lesson plans to write, children to assess, curriculum to teach, and getting to know the kids. I also think that my students will not be old enough to use it. I struggled really hard designing a tour and I am an adult. I don’t think that writing all the special codes, troubleshooting, figuring out the layers, and creating links is very realistic for the young kids that I want to teach. I can see the benefits of this but I think that the downfalls out-weigh the benefits.

My Google Site

This is my Google Site that my full tour was uploaded online to.

Google Earth Tour

My Tour is from the third grade curriculum. My tour is about showing the children different ecosystems in the Earth.

Week Five

For my virtual tour, the children will explore 3^rd grade, social studies, Standard One, Objective 2 a. This objective is about describing ecosystems that are found in the world. I chose this because I thought that it would be fun to take a virtual tour of four of the major ecosystems and see them first hand, rather than read about these systems from a textbook. As I just said, Google Earth is really beneficial when teaching children about things that they can’t see right in front of them. The children are much more likely to become excited about seeing the Tundra in Greenland than from reading about it in their textbook. I must admit, before I explored Google Earth, I didn’t think that a virtual tour was very beneficial. However, now that I have seen the many uses and functions that Google Earth has, I am glad that I am learning how to use it.

My Virtual Tour Plan

Location	Activity Description	Google Earth Content
1. Sahara Desert	I am going to have the students drag the mouse over the circumference of the Sahara and guess how big they think it is. After they have made their guesses, I will have them click on a link to find out the actual circumference of the Sahara.	For this activity they will be using the ruler to make their own guesses about the circumference of the Sahara.
2. Rocky Mountains/Y-Mountain	The kids will use the 3-D tool to explore the mountains. Then, I am going to have the kids answer the question of why we live in Provo Valley instead of on Y-mountain, or any other mountain for that matter.	The kids will explore the mountains using the 3-D view so that they can get a feel for the steepness of the mountains, and the rough terrain.
3. Amazon Rain Forest	I will have the kids write down what they observed from studying and how their observations are different from the environment where we live. I will also have them use the weather viewer to tell me what the weather is like in the Amazon.	The kids will use the weather function and report whether it is cloudy, or sunny, and hot, or cold.
4. The Tundra (in Greenland)	I will have the kids explore pictures of the Tundra and after they do that, I will have them guess what temperature they think it is in the tundra. Then, they will click on a link to find out what the average temperature actually is.	The tool they will use for this is the simple bubble picture links found in Greenland to get a feel for what the weather is like there, and how it looks there.