JohnKyrk.com Those letters together are all you need to know to find AMAZING interactives that demonstrate all aspects of Cell Structure and Function. From a general overview of Cell Anatomy, to the specifics of the light and dark reactions of photosynthesis, including molecular structure.
If you go to the website and click "Cell Function Overview", you will end up with an image like this one:
It is a beautiful illustration, but wait until you click on the little tiny orange "play" button (not labeled as such) in the lower left corner of the page. It makes you microscopic, and brings you down into the cell to view the process of DNA to RNA. These animations work beautifully on an interactive whiteboard (SMART, Promethean, etc.)
This is where it gets pretty cool. The animation shows the process of DNA transcription. When the animation pauses, you can read the related text and then press the little orange "play" button again, or rewind to watch the process again.
The animation to finishes up by showing how ribosomal RNA is transported outside the nuclear membrane and then translated into proteins, shown in the image to the left.
Keep in mind, this is NOT the only animated sequence on the site, there are HUNDREDS of them. Just keep clicking!
Cell Function Interactive Extravaganza!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hilary, one of the incredibly creative computer teachers at my school sent me this email a few days ago:
"Check this out: The Massachusetts based singer/songwriter/keyboardist, Matthew Ebel (don't worry, I didn't know who he was either) has decided to to feature the student work of two of our middle school students on his website!
This came about by having the boys seek permission from the artist for the song they wanted to use in their claymation video project. Upon contacting Matthew Ebel directly, he not only granted permission but was so excited and impressed with their work that he is currently featuring their video on his website! The video is called "Ninja Vs. Zombie Claymation" and his comment reads: "I swear, my favorite fan-made videos aren’t done by professional cinematographers, they’re by middle-school students working on a project."
I have a couple of students who are, in the words of their intrepid chaperone, "stuck" in Paris until Friday. They were worried about their science homework, god bless them. I appreciate the lip service, but really, I couldn't be more excited for them. They are comfortable and having a good time. I hope they make the best of this amazing experience and NEVER EVER FORGET WHEN A VOLCANO STRANDED YOU IN THE CITY OF LIGHT!
I have pledged to go paperless on Earth Day this year and I've joined the Wiki (see links below). My classes are doing a paperless Science Project this year and so fulfilling my pledge will be a snap. To make YOUR pledge and join the wiki, please see the article that I've posted a link to on one of my favorite Teach 2.0 websites, Teach Paperless:
Click here to see my Project Timeline page that my students use as a checklist and a repository for any associated digital documents (like rubrics--grading guidelines--that will help them know what I am looking for). I created this page as part of my Google Site (free). When you create a new page, just select "List" as the type of page and you can create something similar. It sorts by date, title of assignment, completion or another category of your choice.
You can see by the checkmarks that indicate how far we have gotten through the project so far.
Below are links to examples of science project work that has been complete SO FAR by some of my students. I have selected exemplary work by some of my most advanced students.
I did promise to give you lots of ideas for science fair projects. My use of Google Docs for my students projects (along with ScienceBuddies) has REVOLUTIONIZED my science notebook grading (I do it all at home) and made it much easier for my students to work in groups equitably. I say equitably, because everyone can stick their kids into groups, but it is much harder to ensure equity when it comes to grading a group project.
My students are working in groups voluntarily, which means some of my kids have gone solo.
All of my students are keeping a Science Fair Project Journal on Google Docs--digital science notebooks!
Some of the many advantages of using digital journals:
students can use it independently of one another and at any time, regardless of their busy personal and family schedules.
It also is an extremely green option--no paper needed
it can't be lost, which would be a disaster in a long-term project like this.
Save a copy of the above document to your Google Docs account. Click File>Make a Copy
Change the name of the document when the popup box shows to a name of your choice. This will be your working template. Leave it blank in case you need more copies in the future.
Make ANOTHER COPY. Change the name again to something personalized for your students. I used this naming protocol: Google Journal--Janie & Max.
In the open copy of Janie & Max's journal, click Share>See who has access
Click the Advanced Permissions tab and uncheck both boxes--this is to prevent students from sharing the document with unauthorized users.
Click the Invite People tab and add Janie and Max's email addresses (the ones that are associated with their Google Docs accounts). My students are required to use their district email accounts.
Add a message to your students in the box (or don't--I don't unless I have specific instructions for the students).
Click send. An invitation to the document will be sent to those email addresses. You DO NOT need to send these invitation emails for the document to be shared with your students. As soon as you add their email addresses to the invitation box, the documents will show up in their Google Documents "All Items" list.
They are all set to go!
***These posts assume a basic knowledge of Google Docs. If you do not yet have an account and/or do not know how to use Google Docs, please refer to this earlier post.
Google Docs Science Fair: Chapter One--Setting up your class documents
Amy from ScienceBuddies commented on my blog to leave a link to the latest post on using science lab notebooks. Here is what she wrote in the comment and the link to her post.
"What a wonderful write-up of Science Buddies! It's great to see a teacher who is putting Science Buddies' resources to work - and finding them useful in her class. I'm a blogger at Science Buddies, and I wanted to point you to an update I did of the lab notebook piece you mentioned. This blog post is fairly recent, and I think you'll find a number of good tips and tricks, suggestions from our scientists:http://www.sciencebuddies.org/blog/2010/01/lab-notebooks.php
Rocket Aerodynamics is a sample project from Science Buddies. If you look in the right hand side of the page, it gives you time estimates and cost estimates. It also coaches on number of trials, averaging, controlling variables and a number of other very important topics.
I am a middle school teacher, and in the 8th grade, we always finish up our year with the Science Fair Project. I have several posts to offer on this topic, and will be deluging you with ideas and tips, but here's my very first one: Science Buddies.
WOW! There are approximately 10 to the 5 billionth science project sites out there, but this one is my absolute current favorite. I have been teaching for 10 years and this is the most comprehensive, not-your-typical-5th-grade-project site. Where to start? How about the
I ran through the wizard myself, pretending to be the 8th grade version of me, and I got a terrific selection of age-appropriate projects. Actually, I think conceptually these are pushing the envelope, but that's exactly why I liked them. They give you topics based on your interests (the survey itself is interesting--2 phases of questions, the second refines searches based on your first set of answers). You can also refine your search after you get your results by increasing or decreasing the difficulty level of the problem being investigated.
I'm going to require my students to complete the wizard...I'll let you know how it goes.
Oh, I forgot to tell you about the other excellent part: The PDF document called "What makes a great science lab notebook?". I also have been teaching about and using notebooks for years, but it is extremely difficult to find actual images taken of professional scientist's notebooks. This guide is written at an appropriate level, and includes pictures that illustrate each example. Phenomenal!
Hmmm...even though I loved the Pi-day logo design for Google, the Docs have been giving me headaches lately instead of curing them (pun very much intended!). Most recently, due to compliance with COPPA Google Docs has been asking a birthdate question in order to create an account--the cutoff age is 13. I refuse to ask my students to lie about their age online--that is a WHOLE BIG CAN OF WORMS that I just don't want them to open for their own safety.
So anyone that didn't actually do that homework assignment that I gave them in September to create an account and wasn't already 13 as of three weeks ago was very sad. I did find a temporary solution to the problem, and believe me, this solution has its own issues, but it worked in a pinch and allowed my kids to collaborate online with classmates without having an account.
Here's whatcha do (teacher instructions):
1. create the document that you want the kids to work on. Include names, instructions and whatever else you want them to start with, like a topic. You could even keep it a "secret mission" until they open it, adding some excitement.
2. Save it, using a name that your students will easily recognize.
3. click "share" in the upper right corner of the document. Click see who has access>invite people and type the email addresses of the students who have google accounts into the box. Make sure the "to edit" button is clicked.
4.click the people with access tab at the top of the window. click change next to "sign in is required to view this item" and select "let people edit without signing in". click save and close.
Okay, so I posted an earlier version of this lesson before I did the lessons with the kids. This week, we were reviewing for a test, so I upped the ante in the lesson and even tacked on a really FUN game at the end.
My students loved game and I was actually pretty surprised at how challenging they found it to be--you might know the answers, but spelling them correctly with a short time limit is really hard! Click here to download the SMART board lesson. You must have Notebook v10 to save and use this lesson.
Free Download--SMART Notebook Lesson on Tectonic Stress--Assessment Version
This post has very little to do with science, and just a little more with technology. However, I really wanted to share about my "club". Like many middle or high schools, my school has "activity" or "club days" every few weeks. The intent of this is to foster non-academic relationships student-student and student-teacher.
Over the last few years, for scheduling reasons, "club days" as they are called in my school have felt burdensome. More work for me, and less fun for the kids.
NOT ANYMORE!
A genius faculty member who happens to be a friend of mine started a club called "Middle Earth: One Club to Rule Them All". It revolves around most things Tolkien, and all things Lord of the Rings.
Today, our activity was Discovering our Lord of the Rings Names. Mine, since I am trying to embrace my inner orc is "Ufshash, the Devastator". My students (in and out of class) may call me Ufshash, or Mrs. Devastator as they wish. To find your LOTR name, use these name generators:
http://www.myprecious.us/name_generator.php--here you can find Wizard, Dwarvish, Elvish and Human names for yourself. The human names are great! Mine is Melian, Queen of Doriath.
Okay, so I found this webinar the other day through the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI--google it!). I would have overlooked it, but the episode was on "Research Projects" and was hosted by one of my very very very favorite blog authors, Richard Byrne (freetech4teachers.com). So I listened in...
I used this lesson in a second grade classroom as a demonstration lesson using a SMART board. It incorporates an animated video, camera captures from the video and several question prompts for eliciting responses and participation from the class. The kids loved it! You can set up the "cycle" slide so that students can place the pictures along the cycle themselves.
Great middle level or 9th grade lesson on Levers...click here to download it. It includes two matching games to identify first, second and third class levers, two interactive mini apps--one is more advanced to calculate load and effort. The last few slides are a lab activity idea for older students who are very self-directed. Enjoy!
This lesson is a FREE download, just click this link to download a terrific lesson on foodwebs. It includes an interactive "miniapp" from ClickScience that graphically demonstrates the relationship between producers, primary consumers and secondary consumers. There is a sorting game at the end for food web vocabulary and an additional link to an online food web interactive activity at the end of the lesson, for kids to explore with you, or on their own.
It was created using Notebook v10, so make sure you upgrade your software (just use the product key on your board for free upgrades) before you download it so you have full functionality of all of the features in the lesson.
This is a free download of an Earth Science lesson on the Types of Stress--this leads nicely into a lesson on earthquakes and includes a link to a Discovery Education video called "Earthquakes-Our Restless Planet".
TYPES OF STRESS--Free Download of SMART Notebook lesson on Plate Tectonics
This lesson is a SMART Notebook lesson on the three basic types of Tectonic Plate Boundaries. It includes an attached .kmz file (with an embedded link) for a plate tectonics "sightseeing tour" in GoogleEarth. You need to have version 10 of the SMART Notebook software in order to use it.
"A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti this evening, causing extensive damage to the capital, Port-au-Prince, and probably causing many casualties. The map below shows where the main shock occurred (red), as well as the epicentres of the numerous aftershocks (orange) that occurred in the following 5 or 6 hours (and continue even as I write)...."
