Science Challenge (week 2)

I watched and commented on:
1.Beth Peach - the heat is on! (great idea)
2.Chelsea Nay - sound didn't work
3.Lauren Payne - seasons! (very interactive idea for kids to get involved)

As I did my project, I learned lots of new things. At first, it took me a while to find a lesson/experiment to perform that used one of the resources that were provided. Once I figured that out, I got to play with the light sensor and thought it was pretty cool. I think my future students will really enjoy activities like these because they are so hands on. I hope that the schools I will be teaching in, have resources like these available for me to implement in my classroom(s).

Science Challenge (week 1)

Activity
For the my science activity, we will use the light sensor inside (with no sun) as well as outside (with sun) to see that the sun is a source of heat and light.

The Content
Standard 5 - Students will understand that the sun is the main source of heat and light for things living on Earth. They will also understand that the motion of rubbing objects together may produce heat.
Objective 1 - Provide evidence showing that the sun is the source of heat and light for Earth.

The Pedagogy
Plan and conduct a simple experiment. Observing. Measuring. These work with the content because we will conduct the experiment, then use the data to explain what occurred inside and outside.

The Technology
Light Sensor. Digital camera. We will use the light sensor to measure the different readings inside (no sun) and outside (sunny). We will use the camera to document where the readings take place.

Natural Disasters around the World Virtual Tour

Natural Disasters






I viewed Carol Hoffers, Lauren Payne, and Beth Peach's virtual tours.

Doing virtual tours has upsides and downsides in an elementary school classroom. A few upsides is that your students can see and visit places that they would not normally have the opportunity to see. A downside to them is some things would be better to see in person and experience. I hope that I can effectively incorporate google earth into my future classrooms.

My Virtual Tour

Location	Activity Description	Google Earth Content
1. Manila, Philippines	Look at geographic area on google earth, as well as pictures	Picture of tropical storm and picture of flooding after the storm
2. Galveston, Texas, United States of America	Look at geographic area on google earth, as well as pictures	Picture of rescues, aftermath, and radar of storm
3. San Francisco, California, United States of America	Look at geographic area on google earth, as well as pictures	Picture of Bay Bridge collapsed and picture of shake map of California
4. Fagatogo, American Samoa	Look at geographic area on google earth, as well as pictures	Picture of coast after wave, tsunami in ocean

This activity will cover the 4th grade science core, standard 2. This standard states that students will understand the elements of weather (natural disasters). I chose to do a virtual tour on this topic because I am from Houston and lots of natural disasters occur there. I also plan to teach there after graduation, meaning I could use this tour if applicable. I feel that this Google Earth tour would be the best way to show my students because it is easy to talk about what happens, but children rarely know where these events their parents talk about occur. I feel it is important for people of all ages to know and understand what is going on in the world.