Earth Science Model

For my model I used paper cutouts of the Earth, Sun, and Moon, and my students created the orbit of the Moon around the Earth, and the Earth around the Moon.  We decided to go outside to do our model.  It was a disaster.  I have learned that I need to give instructions before we go outside (I have a new appreciation for our PE coaches.  Just a small one.).  I also learned that I need to take my students out into the playground when there are the least distractions from other students.  Lunch time is not a good time to go outside.  On the other hand, once I managed to get the students to focus on me and my instructions the model was successful.  It took a few tries and some good coordination, but the students were able to create their model of the Sun, Earth, and Moon.  (My apologies for my lack of photos, but too many of my students have parents that have denied photos for safety reasons.)

Texas Wildfires/ Building More Compassionate Students

Building more compassionate students is not too hard for elementary school teachers.  Students at this age have a very strong sense of right and wrong.  If you have any doubts about this just have someone wrongfully accuse another person in your classroom, and mayhem will ensue.  Therefore teaching students to be more compassionate and be willing to help others is not that hard.  I have found that if you inform the students of the suffering of others, they will jump on board to help.  Texas is experiencing a natural disaster that has left many homeless.  It all began with severe droughts in East Texas.  Now East Texas, unlike West Texas is fairly green, so droughts will dry up a lot of brush and grass.  This creates an opportunity for wildfires to take form.  This is exactly what happened. Unfortunately many have lost their homes because of the wildfires.  I have made of compilation of websites that will help educate students on what is happening in the Texas wildfires right now. I have also found a website that teaches about drought.  Once we have gone over the information, then we can create activities to help the Red Cross help the victims of the Texas wildfires.

Drought Information For Kids Website


Article on Texas Wildfires

Video CBS News: “No Containment of Texas Wildfire”

Map of Texas Wildfires

Ask A Scientist Answered!

I take back what I said in my previous post. Ask a scientist answered my questions! So with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside I gladly post their answer to my question.

Ana, thank you for submitting the following question to the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Ask a Scientist website:


How does the cell membrane differentiate between possible harmful agents to other agents that are allowed to pass the cell wall? Could this information be used to end viral infections in the future?

Here is a response provided by one of our volunteer scientists:


The cell cannot detect noxious substances that readily cross the cell membrane, that is why ethanol is a good antibacterial agent. Evolution has been at play for many millennium and cells are able to block chemicals that may be toxic and that are frequently found in the environment are the rule. The evidence suggests that viruses have been in existence for as long as cells have so they have co-evolved. The successful viruses are ones that can reproduce and spread without killing the host cell. The common cold is a great example. The newer viruses can be high risk to the host - like SARS, Ebola, and new influenza strains. Historically, Ebola may kill more than 90% of people it infects, wiping out whole villages. The virus too is wiped out since there are no more hosts left to infect.

It is unlikely we can manipulate the complicated cell membrane to act as an anti-viral. But we can do other things to protect ourselves, like using good hand washing technique before we eat or prepare food, and after using the bathroom or handling animals.


We welcome feedback from you about this answer to your question and
appreciate your interest in Ask a Scientist.


Ask a Scientist Coordinator



Disclaimer:

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Ask a Scientist website provides a forum for teachers, students, and others to discuss biomedical topics with scientists. Participating scientists answer questions to the best of their knowledge. The information they provide is intended for educational purposes only. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute assumes no responsibility for the scientific accuracy of Ask a Scientist responses or for the content of references and Web links that may be provided in responses. Views expressed in Ask a Scientist responses are not necessarily those of HHMI.

Ask A Scientist

Last week we were assigned the task of going to the ask a scientist website and we were to post a question. Well, I dutifully asked, and I did not get an answer. Which is fine, because, as Dr. Lyman, our instructor had warned, we might not get a response from said scientist. Unfortunately for me, I still had to find the answer to my question.

I mean not to speak badly of ask a scientist. Maybe the scientist was busy last week. I was not the only one posting questions. There are many people in the class, and I am assuming that I am not the only one who was assigned this assignment. If I am, I will be very upset. Or maybe the scientist is off on vacation. After all, it is summer, and unlike yours truly who is tirelessly working on course work, the scientist is done with hers (I know, "or his", I have to support the girls in male dominated fields, you know!).

As I stated before, I was on my own to answer my question. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my question. Gasp! I know, but hey, it's summer and I live in the desert. It's hot over here. My brain cells are burning up, faster than you can say "ask a scientist".

Luckily I found my question. Thank goodness for saving my work on my flash drive! How do cells differentiate between what can pass through the cell wall and what stays out? How is this helping with treatment of diseases? So I proceeded to ask Google. Good old Google has never disappointed. Google would answer my question!

Google had no idea.

I did not find the answer to my questions. I did, however, find some really nice websites on cell walls. I have attached the links for your perusal.

New World Encyclopedia
Cell Wall

Biology 4 Kids
Cell Wall

Presentation Tools

I looked through various sites that helped with presentations. These are the three that I though would most work for our presentation later in the course.

PreZentit works very similarly to PowerPoint. It isn’t as fancy as PowePoint. For example I could not add sounds to the slides. The transitions were cute. One thing I do love about PreZentit that I can add my own background image from my photo library. Overall I think PreZentit is great for those who are a little scared of too many bells and whistles in their presentations.

http://prezentit.com/

Animoto is the coolest thing ever! It enables you to upload music onto your presentation. It also enables you to upload photos and videos. The backgrounds work similarly to what you see in professional videos and commercials. If you have ever created a podcast using a Mac, then this is very similar, except maybe a little bit easier to use. It guides you through it. Animoto is not free, unfortunately. It costs five dollars per month. However, if you are really into the whole fancy presentation thing that will truly capture your students’ attention, this one is it. I am considering using this one for my presentation. I love it!

http://animoto.com/

Another site that I really liked, especially because it is interactive, was VoiceThread. This presentation allows others to comment through audio or text. It becomes extremely interactive. It is not the most user friendly presentation site, however, it is very interactive. Others can even doodle on the actual presentation. This is a great tool for those of us who have websites for our classrooms and would like to extend the learning home. Although I am wondering how good this will be for the project in our class, I am thinking of using it in my own classroom.

http://voicethread.com/

The purpose of this investigation is to find which materials slow down the cooling process. For the investigation on heat transfer, I chose to test aluminum foil, plastic wrap, wax paper, and a paper towel. I poured 150 mL of boiling (100 degrees Celsius) water into 8 oz styrofoam cups. I covered each cup with the a 13 cm by 13 cm square of each of the materials and secured them with a rubber band. I then let the cups sit on a counter for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes I checked the temperature of water in each of the cups. The results are in the table below: Material 13 by 13 cm squre Aluminum Foil Wax Paper Paper Towel Plastic Wrap Temperature In °C, after 30 minutes. 48°C 44°C 42°C 46°C This investigation covered heat transfer through two methods, first it was through evaporation and radiation. The aluminum foil is the least porous of the materials, therefore it had the least evaporation of the water and cooled at a slower rate. Aluminum foil also has a reflective surface and reflects the heat energy back to the water in the cup, rather than letting the heat escape. If I were to repeat the investigation with different materials, I would probably use different thicknesses of cloth. The cloth with the biggest thickness would probably keep the most heat because it is the one that would allow the least evaporation. This investigation could be done with other items that are not water. I would love to retry this investigation with a non-liquid like uncooked beans, or lentils. I would heat the beans and place them in cups and cover them with various materials. Since beans do not contain much liquid that would evaporate and speed up the cooling process, the temperatures might vary. * What, specifically, would you like students to learn from this experiment? Did you achieve this goal when you engaged in the experiment?

The purpose of this investigation is to find which materials slow down the cooling process.

For the  investigation on heat transfer, I chose to test aluminum foil, plastic wrap, wax paper, and a paper towel.  I poured 150 mL of  boiling (100 degrees Celsius) water into 8 oz styrofoam cups.  I covered each cup with the a 13 cm by 13 cm square of each of the materials and secured them with a rubber band.  I then let the cups sit on a counter for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes I checked the temperature of water in each of the cups.  The results are in the table below:

Material 13 by 13 cm squre	Aluminum Foil	Wax Paper	Paper Towel	Plastic Wrap
Temperature In °C, after 30 minutes.	48°C	44°C	42°C	46°C

This investigation covered heat transfer through two methods, first it was through evaporation and radiation.  The aluminum foil is the least porous of the materials, therefore it had the least evaporation of the water and cooled at a slower rate.  Aluminum foil also has a reflective surface and reflects the heat energy back to the water in the cup, rather than letting the heat escape.

If I were to repeat the investigation with different materials, I would probably use different thicknesses of cloth.  The cloth with the biggest thickness would probably keep the most heat because it is the one that would allow the least evaporation.

This investigation could be done with other items that are not water.  I would love to retry this investigation with a non-liquid like uncooked beans, or lentils.  I would heat the beans and place them in cups and cover them with various materials.  Since beans do not contain much liquid that would evaporate and speed up the cooling process, the temperatures might vary.

• What, specifically, would you like students to learn from this experiment? Did you achieve this goal when you engaged in the experiment?

The Effect of Large Objects Colliding With Smaller Objects

What happens when large objects collide with smaller objects?

Purpose:  Students will understand Newton's second and third laws of motion in a real world context. 

To answer this question I conducted an investigation using marbles and washers.  I conducted three trials for each type of object, observed, and recorded my results.  the objects were placed 8 cm apart and pushed so that they collided with each other.  The results were what I expected considering Newton's Laws of Motion.  The only exception was the large marble.  Instead of stopping, the large marble rolled to the right.  I attribute this anomaly to the smoothness of the surface it was on and the marble's spherical shape.

When the marbles collided, the small one went in the opposite direction it was coming from and the large marble rolled to the right.

When the washers collided, the small washer went int he opposite direction it was coming from and the large washer stopped moving.

Everything in the experiment went well once I found a nice smooth surface to conduct the investigation.  I had tried previously on the carpet to very different results.  Once I conducted my investigation on the counter, I got the results I expected.

For the students in my classroom, I would allow them to conduct a guided inquiry investigation, providing the materials and the question.  The purpose is simple enough for young elementary school children to come up with their own ideas on how to go about it.  I also believe that instead of marble toy cars and trucks would be more fun. It would also be fun to do with large balls outside on the playground.  The students would have an opportunity to see the investigation in a real world context.

Melting Icebergs

Being a desert baby, I have to admit I did not think much about melting polar ice caps.  It's always hot over here, and there's no big bodies of water.  So if all of a sudden melting ice caps give me an ocean in my backyard, I won't complain.  In all seriousness, however, the repercussions due to the rapid melting of polar ice caps are no joke.   Aside, from the rise in sea level, there is also the rise in global temperature to think about.  These two events together, would change many habitats around the world, and possibly create the extinction of many animals and plants.  Thinking about my own desert habitat, if I did end up with an ocean in my backyard, the demise of all that beautiful desert flora and fauna I enjoy seeing every day would cease to exist.  Therefore the loss of animals, and the hardships many people would have to endure at the change in climate and land, is not worth my backyard ocean.  Alas, I will enjoy my beautiful view of the mountains instead.  I don't know how to swim anyway.

Week 2 Application

This week I chose to do the lesson plan on rapid changes to the Earth's surface.  Although I have created 5E lesson plans before and usually try to implement most of the E's in my lesson plans, I realized that I could do more in my lesson planning to really engage the students.  It is not difficult to find a small experiment, do an observation or to view a video that will entice students' natural curiosity.  It might take a little bit more time to find and plan these things but it seems worth it.  I will try it with the next lesson plan I create for my own classroom.  I will keep you posted on how much more (or less) successful it is!

Happy New Year!

Hello everyone!  I hope everyone has enjoyed a restful holiday season!