A Short Short Movie

Keawa`ula

Tech Lesson Plan

So right now, I have pretty general ideas for this project. I'd like to have the students conduct field research at the beach, at a farm site or other agricultural site, at a stream, etc. I'd like the students to have laptops to input data, and have them use the data to create a presentation or video in class.
I'm also intrigued by the use of real-time cameras to capture data 24/7, but not sure how I would integrate that.

I'm blinding you with SCIENCE!!

I have already collected a bunch of science-related websites to help me teach, so this part of the assignment was (thankfully) kinda easy for me. I really like MadSci Network because it has heaps of info that can be easily located on their homepage. Archived questions and answers, MadSci FAQs, Random Knowledge Generator, and more are indexed for you to make it simple to navigate. The best thing is that it covers all science subjects and topics and you can even ask questions to the hard working scientists waiting to answer you (they do have a few rules regarding this, but you can always check the archives too). Apparently, they claim to be 24-hour exploding laboratory, so there's always new, updated info and someone to answer your questions (so long as it's NOT your homework!), a library, and labs to help science teachers with curriculum and ideas.

I also love The Science Spot because it's geared towards secondary science and is easy to use.
I like it not only because it is so neatly organized, but also because it is teacher created, so it has proven resources aligned with state standards (Illinois, but standards are standards!), tons of topics, ideas, worksheets, lesson plans, and science club ideas. I still haven't visited each link on the site yet, that's how much info there is to see. What I have seen, I am excited to utilize and incorporate into my own science curriculum.

Blogs, blogs, blogs

So I checked out a few blogs to see what kinds of comments people leave and, they weren't as bad as I thought they might possibly be. Mostly all of the comments I read were from people who were appreciative of knowledge, experience, and the opportunity to share thoughts and open up conversation with colleagues or anyone about current education topics. It's like the things people feel they need to say on blogs resonates with others. A lot of comments from readers express how they felt like they were the only one to feel a certain way and reading someone else's blog connects them with like-minded people who share similar experiences or thoughts. Many comments also showed how posts on a particular topic make a person reflect on their own actions, thoughts, and ideas and can then express opinions on the post. I think the purpose of comments on blogs is to get people thinking about a particular subject, idea, or action and stimulate conversation about these topics. Sometimes people will share detailed experiences and other times, just their opinion. Either way, commenting gives the blogger feedback and the readers get to weigh in on the topics that interest them.

I posted a comment at http://damnneddirtyapge.blogspot.com/2008/02/given-i-believe-one-of-our-assignments.html

Field of Study

I found a blog written by a biology teacher; http://beautifulbiology.blogspot.com/. Even though she has recently given up writing on her blog, her archived pages have lots of ideas and comments about science and teaching science. She started off writing her blog by venting about creationist parents complaining about their kids being taught evolution and this caught my attention as it is one of the issues I will likely face as a science teacher. She also posted some science current events and topic related tv shows about subjects like epigenetics and electrophoresis, which are interesting to discuss. Ms. SuperScience also posted classroom moments which will help me to gain insight about the reality of teaching science to adolescents.

Here is the website I found to teach kids about copyright and fair use--http://www.richmond.k12.va.us/schools/jones/Copyright-Kids/

Welina

Aloha,

I'm Kekaha. I'm a graduate student in the Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences (TPSS) department at UH-Manoa and I am also in the Post-Baccalaureate Certificate for Secondary Education (PBCSE) program In the College of Education at UH-Manoa. I have three great kids who keep me busy and youthful and I am excited about getting adolescents engaged in science!

One of my favorite science sites is Bill Nye the science guy.