dogs

Concept Map

Comet Concept Map

Timeline

Space Example

Abraham Lincoln Power Point

This is another activity I can definitely use. We have a mobile cart of net books, and I already do many collaborative activities. I can see using the Google Docs Power Point program to adapt many of the jigsaw activitiesI have done previously. Specifically, we study the history of the US space program and all of the technology the US had to develop to take a man to the moon. Last year, I gave small groups of students (2-3) one piece of technology, such as the Titan missile, the space suit, or the LEM and had them create posters of their technology and how it led to the moon landing. If I had done that on Power Point, I could have posted the final project to my website, and the kids could have used it as a study guide in preparation for their final test on the topic.

Another place we could use this is with the study of classification. This could be a document shared within a small group, with each member being the expert on one of the 5 kingdoms. Since I would have several "plant experts" within the room, all of those students could get together to do research, and then those students could team up with experts from the other 4 kingdoms to develop a power point on the 5 Kingdoms.

Oil Map Activity

As a science teacher, I will definitely be able to use this with my students. We already spend time teaching students how to interpret graphs and data, and this could support and reinforce our efforts. One that would be particulary interesting and relevant to the content I teach would be the Swine Flu map. The slide bar would allow students to scroll through the history to see how the flu has spread. I would be able to easily differentiate this by asking students with fewer skills more basic questions, and asking honors students to make predictions based on the past information.

Another fun one for the students would be the Box Office Receipts. Students would be able to pick their favorite movies to answer questions about or look for trends based on time of year. I could also see this as a jumping-off-point to have students create a lab investigation of their own, using the graph as background information for a new hypothesis about movies.

Wikipedia Comparison

I looked at the "Pie" entries in Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica. The Wikipedia article contained most of the information that the Encyclopedia Britannica article contained, but also contained additional and more specific information. Wikipedia also contained links to specific types of pies, breaking the information into the categories of "Savory" and "Sweet," and then providing links to specific pies (apple, pot pie, etc.). In addition, the Wikipedia article contained an entire section on pie throwing--not a traditional encyclopedia entry.

I think the Wikipedia article was more helpful. It contained most of the information in the Encyclopedia Britannica article, plus additional topics that were not discussed in the Encyclopedia Britannica article (for example, pie throwing). It also contained a link in the reference section to the Encyclopedia Britannica article, as well as several other sources. This allows for further exploration and confirmation of the information found within the article.

My Videos

One application I can see for using this in my classroom would be to have students view videos of microscopic organisms moving to investigate different types of movement (psuedopods, flagella, cilia, etc.) I think this would be highly engaging for students, and would allow me more control over what and how much of a video I would like them to see.

I also think this would be a nice way to share videos of kids on field trips and the Challenge Course with both parents and students. It would be another way to communicate with families about what is happening in science class.