Thursday, May 13, 2010

Classroom Ideas

In my 6th science classroom currently we are studying the effects of weathering (both chemical and physical) and erosion. Over the weekend, students have an assignment to visit a graveyard and analysis the effects of weathering on a tombstone that is between 100-200 years old versus one that is 100 years or younger. Students can sketch their observations or take pictures of their findings, both options include a description of each tombstone and a Venn Diagram analysis. I thought it would be a great idea next year for students to blog on their findings and upload pictures of what they observed. This would allow students to see what their peers discovered that they have overlooked and compare their photo findings to others.
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4 comments:

  1. LaVanwayMay 14, 2010 at 7:12 PM

    Katherine,
    Cool Idea. You could also use this activity during October and link it to other science activities around Halloween and Fall (depending on if fall in your area is like here in Michigan). Other blog activities could relate to migration, hibernation, decay, ect. Blogging could be an integral part of several activities. - Love it -

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  2. Invisible MeMay 14, 2010 at 8:38 PM

    Katherine,

    I like the idea of using technology for posting pictures. We had some students who recently went to Washington D.C. for a competition. While they were there they had the opportunity to visit several of the local tourist sites. They documented their trip with digital photos and digital voice recorders. They then came home and created a video presentation of their trip. My only concern with your plan is the availability of digital cameras for taking pictures of the headstones. Our students (only three of them) were provided the technology by the school. I think that is probably not reasonable for an entire class.

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  3. stovertMay 15, 2010 at 6:27 PM

    Katherine,
    I really like this idea for the gravesite project. I am a special education behavioral specialist and my students would truly get into a project of the sorts, if they had transportation. The idea of using the blog for pictures would be a fantastic way for students to see the vivid effects of age on the tomb stones. I wonder, though, if you would have problems with students looking up pictures on the net and copying and pasting to blog site? I quess they could do that presently by just drawing an image of a tomb stone from there mind, huh?
    Ty

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  4. K.AndrewsMay 16, 2010 at 7:00 PM

    LaVanway...
    Yes I am in Michigan and that is a great idea I plan to borrow for my own class use. Thanks.

    BJW...
    I thought about my students access to cameras then I realized that most of them have better phones that I do and would be able to upload an image from there. But the one's that do not have this luxury I would accept drawn out representations of what they saw.

    Stovert,
    It is always going to be students that "cheat" and take the easy way out of doing an assignment. I operate on an honor system. If they do this and are caught then its an automatic zero on a project grade, which is difficult to rebound from.

    Thanks for posting LaVanway, BJW, and Stovert!!!

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