Are We Keeping up with Global Competition

Are We Keeping up with Global Competition

Wow! The Soviet launched the Sputnik in 1957.  After this happened, the United States vowed we would never be caught off guard again. The security of our nation depended on the enhancing of science

education to our children.  Well, in my opinion, we have again let other countries surpass us not only in

science but in mathematics, technology and engineering.

There are several reasons that we are facing this dilemma, According to Stiglitz (2006), he suggested

that there are three key points that is affecting Americans expansion in STEM fields.   The first is the

infrastructure of our society.  Secondly, education collaboration, without collaboration between

teachers, administrators, government and students we will lose ground in expanding our education

program. Lastly, is the government, I remember listening to our presidents and government that the

goal is to make everyone equal.

 I believe in equalizing the world, but we should bring the world up to our level, not us down to theirs.

And that is what is happening today. Freidman, stated, that we are on a platform, that countries like

China and India are moving up the ladder because of their willingness to develop educational curriculum

that would be beneficial to their youths. 

For us advert a major setback we United States must again develop a curriculum in our schools that will

move us forward.  To do this, we need to change education learning from basic proficiency to one that

encourages innovation, entrepreneurship and promotes the use of critical-thinking skills (2008). We

need to introduce to our youth the exciting and rewarding STEM careers that is available to them and

how their knowledge can change our future.  I know that NASA is planning a new space mission in 2020,

I hope we will be ready.

References

Aarons, D. I. (2008). New skills seen essential for global competition. Education Week, 28(4), 12.

New York Times Company. (2006, April 24). Intro: What is the flat world? [Video file]. Retrieved from http://video.nytimes.com/video/2006/04/24/opinion/1194817106242/intro-what-is-the-flat-world-.html

New York Times Company. (2006, April 24). 1: Flattening and the uneducated [Video file]. Retrieved from http://video.nytimes.com/video/2006/04/24/opinion/1194817112400/1-flattening-and-the-uneducated.html

Becoming a Seismologist

Becoming a seismologist was engaging and educational to my students.  Being able to use the

virtual lab http://www.sciencecourseware.org/VirtualEarthquake/ was very interesting and a

useful tool.  My students enjoyed the interaction of what a seismologist does to find the epicenter

and magnitude of an earthquake.  This lesson allowed the students to not only learn about

earthquakes, they were able to incorporate mathematics, analyzing data, technology and reading

in their learning.  Piercy stated, “kids learn best by participating—using all their senses,” (2009).

I have to agree with this, students learn more efficiently if they are able to hands on activities.

I used several techniques to teach my students about earthquakes.  As an introduction on a

previous day, the students learned the terms that they would encounter during their exploration

of the virtual lab.  To ensure that the student understood the vocabulary that they would be

encountering with, we discussed the meaning of the terms and watch the video, “Living with Violent

Earth: We Live on Somewhat Shaky Ground” (25 min) - Earthquakes, seismic waves, earthquake

prediction.  As they explored and learned what a seismologist needed to know when looking for the

epicenter of an earthquake. I allowed the students to pick from four locations of an real earthquake.  I

allowed the students to pick, this allowed them to understand not all earthquakes are the same.

 On the next screen, the students would see three graphs, by using the S-P formula and analyzing each

of the graphs the students determined estimated the interval for each of the recording stations. This

screen triangulated the information that each of the students inputted.  If they had came close or put

into the correct information the three circles would intersect at a point.  Several of the students

received as oops on their estimation (while other students receive a very close.  I had only one student

that got an excellent. Those students that received an oops, went back to reanalyze the data

that was shown on each of the graphs.  Those students that received the message very close

helped their peers re-evaluate the data. Revision of students work and then reflecting on the

learning process engages all the students (2009).

 The students’ next objective was to determine the maximum amplitude of the S wave correctly.  This

number then allowed the students by using the Richter’s nomogram  to estimate the magnitude of their

earthquake. If done correctly, the virtual lab gave each of the students a certificate of accomplishment

Each of the students were excited about getting their certificate.  The conclusion of this lesson included

a discussion of what they learned, what they thought was the hardest, and how we can improve the

lesson for the next class. 

As educators we need to know what we are teaching.  I know that I do not do as good of a job when I

am teaching with a subject that I haven’t really studied. I need to go to workshops, explore different

web sites and even go to my colleagues that have more experience in this field of study.

References

Article: Smith, A. (2009). The Art of Possibility: Creating More Successful Learners. Retrieved from Use the Education Research Complete Database, and search using the article’s title.

                        Coulter, D. (2009). School kids track LCROSS. Retrieved from
                          http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-                                   nasa/2009/21sep_gavrt/

Geology On-line Virtual Earthquakehttp://www.sciencecourseware.org/VirtualEarthquake/

Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC). (2007). Animations and movies. Retrieved fromhttp://www.scec

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). (2009). Animations for earthquake terms and concepts. Retrieved from http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/animations/

Here is a link to my lesson plan, though, this one was done at my home with students that I gathered from school.

https://www.yousendit.com/download/UnlERE9yTERreEJjR0E9PQ

Natural Disasters

Natural Disasters

Is our world coming to an end, or do we just forget the severity of the natural disasters of the

Past?  It seems that we are having more severe tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic

eruptions and tsunamis.  Just this year alone we have had 15 earthquakes, volcanoes 3, flood 9,

hurricane/tornadoes 17 in the world.

I have made it a habit to bring in a hang on the walls articles about the more devastating disasters,

like the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and Haiti’s.  I also use You Tube to watch information

on the disasters, including the tornadoes in the southern states.  As we watch and read about

these natural disasters we discuss as a class the devastation and what they residents of those areas

are facing. 

I discuss with the students what we can do to help these individuals.  We have started food

drives, donations of clothing, bedding, house hold supplies and more. We encourage our students

to donate what they can and to encourage others outside of the school to donate too. We feel that

this builds leadership in our students.  It is the students that collected the donations and deliver

them to the correct locations like the Red Cross and other organizational groups.

References

12 May 2011, Category :"2011 Natural Disasters "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:2011_natural_disasters

Ask a Scientist

Ask a Scientist

    When I asked my questions: How can we all have the same ancestry in life?  If we did come from

one ancestor, what made us develop into the many species of life that we have today?  I was

disappointed that the result that I received was no answer found.  When this happened I thought about

it and restated my question.  Did life start with one organism? With this question I did receive an answer

to my question. The answer to my question explained was the origin of life was a process that took a

long time and occurred in many gradual steps.  This part of life I already knew because of my studies of

evolution.  What I didn’t know was that there are three hypothesis of the origin of the first organic

molecule.  The scientist proceeded to explain to me about each of the steps: the first is the organic

molecule spontaneously synthesized in a highly reducing prebiotic atmosphere, but there is no prove

that the atmosphere of the Earth had a reducing atmosphere.

     The second hypothesis was the organic molecules originated in deep sea hydrothermal vents,

catalyzed by the energy released from a reaction between hydrogen sulfide and iron sulfide. But there

is no prove for the synthesis of organic carbon-based molecules.

      The third hypothesis consist of the first organic molecule came from meteorites that impacted the

Earth. Molecules such as amino acids have been found in the remnants of meteorites on Earth. Because

of this belief scientist are excited about exploring space.

    I believe that life could have originated from a combination of the last two.  The reason I believe this is

there has been proved that organism can exist at the high temperatures that was on Earth at the

beginning and life exist in the coldest habitat on Earth.  With the ability to adapt to its environment a

molecule would replicate and accumulate variation that would lead to the development of more

complex functions, and organisms.

      With this in mind, I realize that this is a useful tool that my students could also use.  It will help them

answers questions, and like me if the question that it asks cannot be answered.  By restating the

question could find them the answer or give them a starting point to research.

Resources

Ask a Scientist http://www.askascientist.org

Presentation Tools

I explored several different tools to use for my own research projects. As I explored the different sites I

wanted to incorporate presentations tools that I could use with my students. I wanted something that

anyone could use.  I really like the Microsoft program that I have used in the past for power points,

presentations, etc.  I have also found through my exploration that there are three of them that I will like

to learn more about.  The following three are those programs, though I find myself leaning more

towards  Preezo and Prezi because they are more affordable, and a tool that I could use in the

classroom.

 PreZentit: create presentations, could be private or public. Each one has its own web address, you do not need a internet connection to download or to present.  Editing is easy and web pages are HTML format. You have to sign up to use. I signed up, I realized that you had to make a power point using a different method and download it.  It was fairly easy, though I do know if this is what I want.

Preezo: Create professional quality presentations. Access them from any computer. Reuse images or the content of entire slides from easy to use galleries. Collaborate on a centralized web document. This site allow you to use different programs like Corel Word Perfect 5, cost is $299.99 with an upgrade of $199.99.  I have used Corel programs before and found them to be great, but sometimes confusing for those individual not technology smart, like me. I don’t think I would use this one.

Prezi:  Create maps of texts, images, videos, PDFs, drawings and present in a nonlinear way. Move beyond the slide. You are able to use this tool in the classroom, with your students once you teach them the format, Able to develop and present live to colleagues.  I like this program.  The cost of it starts at $59 to $159.00 giving you more options.  I still need to examine this more, by talking to other colleagues about if they have had any issues with any of these three.

Resources:

Website: Web 2.0 Cool Tools for Schools—Presentation Tools http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/Presentation+Tools

Preszent-betait.com, http://prezentit.com/

Preezo, http://preezo.com/

Prezi-The Zooming Presentation Editor, http://prezi.com/

authentic scientific education

Today, teachers are finding it more and more difficult to keep biology students engaged during classroom lectures. Traditional teaching techniques simply don't cut it in today's tech-savvy

society. Humans are naturally curious, it's simply how we're wired. Unfortunately, traditional teaching methods have failed to tap into this curiosity. In fact, the inquisitiveness of young minds is often diminished by instruction that inadvertently discourages inquiry and discovery.  As I explore different sites to learn about how to teach our students  by using authentic science

experiences, I discover some great sites.  The first site is NASA Quest Challenges. NASA Quest Challenges are FREE Web-based, interactive explorations designed to engage students in authentic scientific and engineering processes http://quest.nasa.gov/index.html

 This site allows the students to explore different areas, and learn about planets, cells and more.  It also, gives some great lesson plan ideas to educators.  I will be using this site in the future. Another site that I use now helps me teach my students about various subjects.  I have used several videos from youtube, recently I used a variety of videos on DNA and the replication of DNA and RNA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfZ8o9D1tus&feature=related. This site also, show examples of other students work.  It is really fascinating to see what students can develop in their work samples.  A couple more sites that I looked at includes: Read more:

http://www.articlesbase.com/science-articles/hands-on-learning-providing-students-with-an authentic-learning-experience-2697159.html#ixzz17xpu7bpK . There are other great sites to

explore, like most educators the problem is finding time to explore the different sites.

Insulator or Conductor?

As I conducted my experiment of what would be a better insulator.  The materials that I tested

was foil, cotton wash cloth, paper towel and multi-purpose sealing wrap (plastic wrap).  The

reason why I chose these materials is I knew plastic is a good insulator, where metal or foil

would be better  thermal conductors, because heat passes through them quickly.  Material like

plastic, cotton are good thermal insulators because heat does not pass through.  I found that the

plastic wrap and the foil kept the water hotter.  I was a little surprised about the foil, I realized

that the reason for this is that the foil kept that temperature longer.  I did a similar experiment

with my students.I discussed with my students what are good heat conductors, they came up with

metal because heat passes through metal quickly, which allows the heat to go through to heat up

the food. As with wood and plastic (good insulator) that traps heat and keeps things hot. To

reinforce this concept, I took a cup of coffee and ask my students what cup is a better insulator

and a better conductor, a ceramic cup, paper cup or a styrophone?  After the students discussed

this, I had them complete the experiment.  The following results before the experiment out of 16

students:  10 ceramic, 4 styrophone and 2 papers.  After the experiment the students realized that

though ceramic is a good conductor it is a poor insulator because the heated molecules from the

water transferred to the cup making the cup hot, cooling the water.  The paper cup did not keep

the water hot nor did the cup make a good conductor.  They realize that the best cup for an

insulator is the Styrofoam cup. A polystyrene cup keeps the heat in and keeps the coffee hot.

Exploring pendulum movement

I chose to answer the question which pendulum will come to rest more quickly-a lighter pendulum or heavier pendulum?

    As an educator, I believe that before we teach our students a concept we first must develop an understanding to the concept.  According to Buxton & Provenzo, Jr. (2007), educators need to understand and develop the skill of guiding students to an understanding of science concepts without prematurely telling them what sense they should make out of inquiry experience. I accomplished this task by exploring the different site available to me that was listed on Walden’s University web site.  I also explored Newton’s Cradle and the principle related to it. As I played with the Cradle I experimented with it and with my niece’s ages 14 and 16.  I asked them if they had ever played with a pendulum or a cradle (not a baby cradle).  I described to them the Law of Conservation of Momentum in a closed system like a cradle, the momentum in a given direction is constant, that if I take a ball at one end of the cradle and let it go the ball at the other end will react because of the force that was pushed against it and it will bounce, the momentum of the ball hitting the balls in the middle will continue until there is no more force.  While the balls in the middle will stay stationary, as we played with the cradle I asked them what will happen if I used two balls instead of on.  Their reply was that the ball at the other end will react to the force and move.  They were amazed when they observed that the instead of just one ball at the other end move, there were two.  We played around with this for another twenty minutes.   I explained that since the ball at one end had the same mass as the other ball at the other end, the result will be the same even if we had a hundred balls as long as the balls were the same mass, same size and there was no deviation.

     I started with this demonstration of a pendulum to show my nieces how one works.  I then asked them if they could tell me what could affect the movement of pendulum.  I discuss them about what gravity is, which they already knew, what momentum is, what mass and velocity is.  We made a pendulum using a string a ball and a pencil.  It looked pretty rough but I was amazed that it worked.  I discovered along with my nieces how to make a pendulum that worked through trial and error.  The first couple that we had made didn’t do the experiment justice.  As I research how to improve the engineering of the pendulum I discovered a great site, http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/pendulum-lab  that allowed us to experiment what factors could affect the movement of a pendulum.   This is a great site to explore with all of your students.   I haven’t taught my students this concept yet, but when I do I believe that I will be better prepared than I was when I introduced this to my nieces. My goal when teaching this lesson will include: the students will be able to answer and describe what the Law of Conservation is?  What is deviation? What is momentum? What affects the momentum of a pendulum? What is mass? They will also be able to understand the concept. I will allow them to make the mistakes that I made, and encourage them to refine and optimize their designs. They will develop new understanding, and gain insight into and an appreciation for science and the technology world.

9. Extended Questions

    a. What happens if the polar ice caps melt?

         With the melting of the polar ice caps we are facing several events that can change how we live in

this world.  The first, the fact that with the melting of the ice caps we are not putting more water into

our oceans, what we are doing we are changing the physical properties of the ice from a solid into a

liquid.  There is more mass in water in a solid state than compared to water in a liquid state.  The

problem is our oceans are a mixture of H2O and NaCl.  With the melting of the polar ice we are putting

more of pure H2O into our oceans.  I believe that this could and will eventually throw the natural

balance off.   Our world is on a balance beam, with the melting of the polar ice, we could and have seen

an increase of weather changes.  This will also upset the food chain, many of our food products like fish,

shell fish etc. all depend on the carefully balance mixture of compounds that are found in the ocean.   

     

Reflection of my students

As I reflect on the lesson plan that I formatted for this class,  I have to also reflect how my lesson went with my students.  We are learning about cells.  I introduced to my students to what a cell was, and how cell(s) make up organisms.  The students seem to know about cells from their previous Science classes.  When I had them describe the organisms that they could see in and outside the classroom, the students seem to be uninterested.
I brought out a jar of pond water, asking them what types of organisms live in pond water. Taking it a step further I took a drop of pond water.  Asking the students is there life in this drop of water.   Half of the class said yes, some said no, others said don't know.  They were amazed of the organisms that I was able to show them.  Engaging our students is a must.  We need to use a variety of tools, resources and creative thinking to educate our students.  There are great sites to explore. I am finding new sites every day. Using these sites with the students encourages them to explore the internet, to find a discovering that they can share with the class teaches not only them but the rest of the class.

Earth Science Week is coming up

This year, AGI is sponsoring three national contests in conjunction with Earth Science Week 2010. Students, scientists and the general public are encouraged to enter the Earth Science Week photography contest, "We Depend on Energy." Students in grades K–5 are encouraged to enter the visual arts contest, "Energy on Earth." And an essay contest, "How Energy Powers the Planet," is open to students in grades 6–9. For more information on these contests and the full program, visit www.earthsciweek.org/contests. The American Geological Institute is a nonprofit federation of 47 geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 120,000 geologists, geophysicists, and other earth scientists. More details are at www.agiweb.org.

Welcome to Scientific Observers

I am looking forward to exploring the world around us. Just think of what we can contribute to each other and our students!!!!