Lab Notebooks - Science Buddies Blog

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

Thanks! Amy"

Lab Notebooks - Science Buddies Blog

Lab Notebooks - Science Buddies Blog

Rocket Aerodynamics

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.

Rocket Aerodynamics

I'm in SCIENCE PROJECT Looooooove!

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

TOPIC SELECTION WIZARD!

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!

I'm in SCIENCE PROJECT Looooooove!

COPPA cramping your GoogleDocs style?

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.

5. Click share>get the link to share> Allow anyone with the link to view (no sign-in required)

Also allow them to edit

6. Copy the URL provided... and use this link for all students who do not have a google account. *****Please note: their edits will have an identifier as "guest".

COPPA cramping your GoogleDocs style?

Free Download--SMART Notebook Lesson on Tectonic Stress--Assessment Version

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

One Club to Rule Them All--Middle Earth

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.barrowdowns.com/middleearthname.php--here you can find what you were according to the Red Book of Westmarch, as well as Elvish, Hobbit, Dwarvish, Orkish and Adunaic names.
• 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.

One Club to Rule Them All--Middle Earth

Memonic--your own Internet Research Secretary.

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...

One of the many tools he showed us was Memonic. It's like doing internet research with your own personal secretary. The only thing it doesn't do is write your works-consulted for you, MLA style. At least, not for now! Anyway, right now, there's a cool no-need-to-sign-up feature that let's you try it out without running the plugin or signing up.

Memonic--your own Internet Research Secretary.

Classroom JEOPARDY! for SMART Notebook, Version 10

This JEOPARDY! Template for the SMARTboard is so awesome! The creator of this template is Missy Fuller, and it rocks. Click here to download it.

Classroom JEOPARDY! for SMART Notebook, Version 10

SMART Notebook Lesson on Flowers and Seeds

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.

Download the lesson by clicking here.

SMART Notebook Lesson on Flowers and Seeds

Free Download--SMART Notebook Lesson on Levers

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!

Free Download--SMART Notebook Lesson on Levers

SMART Notebook Lesson on Food Webs

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.

SMART Notebook Lesson on Food Webs

TYPES OF STRESS--Free Download of SMART Notebook lesson on Plate Tectonics

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

NEW!! Updated Plate Boundaries Lesson with Google Earth file SMART Notebook Lesson FREE Download!

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.

Here's the link to the page that contains the lesson: https://sites.google.com/site/mrskaplanssciencepages/downloadable-files/PlateBoundaries.notebook?attredirects=0&d=1

click on the file labeled "Plate Boundaries.notebook" to download it.

NEW!! Updated Plate Boundaries Lesson with Google Earth file SMART Notebook Lesson FREE Download!

Tectonics of the Earthquake in Haiti

A colleague was kind enough to forward the following link to me:

http://scienceblogs.com/highlyallochthonous/2010/01/tectonics_of_the_haiti_earthqu.php

"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)...."

Tectonics of the Earthquake in Haiti

Plate Tectonics Animations

You'll need flash player for these .swf files, but I cannot say enough about these elegant, simple and easy to use animations for the teaching of plate tectonics. They have large buttons that are easy to use on a SMARTboard or tablet PC. You cannot use them within Notebook, but you can easily insert the link into your Notebook and then use the camera capture feature to capture a screenshot of each basic plate boundary (divergent, convergent and transform) to your Notebook file.

To access the full list of the geology animations, click this link: http://www.wwnorton.com/college/geo/egeo/animations/ch2.htm#5

Plate Tectonics Animations

Interactive Mitosis/Meiosis Animations and More!

This site has excellent animations that are especially well-suited for use on an interactive whiteboard. My personal favorites on this site are the mitosis/meiosis animations, which happen to be the first ones that he published. They are beautifully designed, uncluttered, elegant animations that can be translated into 6 languages (just click the "lips" icon on the upper right-hand side of the page).

Interactive Mitosis/Meiosis Animations and More!

Superb DNA "Wrapping" Animation

Aha! It is really hard to explain to young students new to the concept of genetics precisely how DNA relates to reproduction and chromosomes. This well-narrated video shows in sequence how DNA is "wrapped" in coil upon coil using just a few advanced vocabulary words:

• histones
• chromatin
• solenoid
• chromosomes

Above all, the last few moments are my favorite, when the 3-D digital animation, "zooms out" to an SEM sequence animation (like a flip-book) of the chromosomes as they become part of a cell in the midst of mitosis! Phenomenal!

I found this animation after reading about the Cold Spring Harbor Digital Biology Animations by the Dolan Digital DNA Learning Center on the blog Free Technology for Teachers!

Superb DNA "Wrapping" Animation

Using SMART Notebook without a SMART board--and posting your slides to Google Sites!

I had a technology breakthrough today. Just a creative spark that is saving me and my students lots of headaches. Here's the story:

****I do NOT have a SMART board in my room, but my district owns many SMART boards, so we have a site license for the software. I am a SMART board trainer, so I use the software all the time with my tablet.

1. Next week is the Midterm Performance Assessment for 8th Grade in my school, so today was the day where we reviewed the principles of experimental design in class.

2. My students offered their input on what makes a "fair test" and I served as a scribe. I wrote all of these notes in Notebook 10 on my tablet PC.

3. Many students were absent today, so I posted the notes to my class blog:
http://sites.google.com/site/mrskaplanssciencepages/home/dashboard

4. Then, I emailed the notes as a PDF to all of the special education teachers that work with my students.

Here is how I did it:
1. Make slides in Notebook.
2. Save the file.
3. Click File>>Export>>Powerpoint
4. Save the powerpoint file to your computer.
5. Upload the powerpoint file to your Google Docs account.
6. Open the Presentation in Google Docs.
7. Click Share (upper right)>>Publish/embed
8. Go to your Google Sites Dashboard page
9. Open the page editor (sign in to Google Sites first)
10. Click Edit>>Insert>>Presentation
11. Select the presentation that you just uploaded to Google Docs.
12. Click "Save"

Voila! Anyone can now view the slideshow of the notes from your class!

DIRECTIONS on how to email pdf's of your slides to a colleague without opening any other program:

1. Keep the Notebook file open and save it.

2. Click File>>Send to>>Mail Recipient (as PDF)

3. Give it a few seconds to convert the Notebook file to an Adobe PDF.

4. An email message, with the PDF as an attachment should open up.

5. Enter any addresses you wish to send it to.

6. Click SEND.

Tada! No copies, no papers...

Using SMART Notebook without a SMART board--and posting your slides to Google Sites!

Tech Support for New Year's Resolutions!!!

I love this one! It's like free tech support for keeping track of progress with New Year's Resolutions combined with social networking with people who made the same resolutions that you did. That last part is my favorite part. The New York Times, the LA Times and so many national papers in-between have reviewed this interesting new online phenomenon. How timely.

Whether it’s one thing or 43, do you need some reliable support in making change in your life? 43 Things is a free online goal-setting community where you can make a list of all the things you want to do, connect with others who have the same goals, sign up for periodic e-mail reminders, track your progress, and share reflections.
Get started at http://www.43things.com/.

Tech Support for New Year's Resolutions!!!

Interactive Vocabulary Review Games

Teachers Love SMART Boards is one of my favorite resources for SMART board lessons, links and ideas for use in the classroom.

In this case, it is a treasure trove of ready-made vocabulary games for the SMART Notebook. Many content areas are represented here, including Spanish, Math and Art Education.

Just click on one of the lessons and it will download automatically. You must have SMART Notebook in order to open the lesson.

Interactive Vocabulary Review Games