1) PhET Gas Properties simulation
http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/gas-properties
10-11 Grade Level
PhET is a website that offers many interactive simulations for use in science classrooms. The simulation on gases allows students to manipulate the variables of pressure, temperature, and volume, and observe the changes in particle motion. Students can also postulate on the relationships between the variables through analysis of the simulation.
2) Railroad Tanker Implosion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz95_VvTxZM
No grade/reading level
This 19 second clip shows the implosion of a tanker car due to a vacuum effect that took place after workers steam cleaned the tanker, sealed it (with heat inside), and the temperature dropped over night. The video can be used as a hook to begin hypothesizing what forces were at work in the phenomena.
3) Connected Chemistry: Gas Laws
http://ccl.northwestern.edu/curriculum/ConnectedChemistry/CC_GasLawsTeacher.pdf
10+ Grade Level (teacher guide, so irrelevant)
This text outlines 13 activities (7 of which involve online simulation), which connect work with gases and gas laws to everyday objects, experiences of students, and natural phenomena. This will be especially helpful in the planning of gas law curriculum.
4) NetLego
10-11 Grade Level
http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/index.shtml
NetLego is another simulation site, which contains a "Modeling Commons" page. This page is dedicated to simulations created by teachers and students. There are 7 simulation (mentioned in text #3), which deal with temperature, pressure, and volume relationships, ideal gas laws, and air pressure.
5) Gas Laws and Scuba Diving
11th Grade Reading Level
This article describes the relationship between Boyle's and Henry's Law to scuba diving survival. It uses temperature, pressure, and volume and discusses them in the context of divers' gear. The reading level may be a little high for a standard course, but would be acceptable in a higher level chemistry.
6) Gas Laws Comic Strip
7th grade reading level
http://staff.fcps.net/jswango/unit5/gases/miniproject%20gases.pdf
7) Boyle's Law model
8th grade reading level
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/boyle.html
This page is provided by NASA and offers an explanation along with a simulator of Boyle's Law. In a chemistry classroom, the engine demonstration placed next to a graph will allow students to visualize what the law explains.
8) Charles's Law model
8th grade reading level
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/glussac.html
This page is provided by NASA and offers an explanation along with a simulator of Boyle's Law. In a chemistry classroom, the engine demonstration placed next to a graph allows students to visualize the relationship between volume and temperature.
9) Kinetic Theory Mind Map
8th grade reading level
https://hwb.wales.gov.uk/cms/hwbcontent/Shared%20Documents/VTC/2010-11/physics/kineticTheory/eng/Videos/Prezi_Mind_Map.mp4
This mind map is a Prezi that offers brainstorming on the kinetic theory and its parts. It could be useful after students create their own graphic organizer or the class creates the organizer to expand on their knowledge and add to their thoughts.
10) Boyle's Law Cartoon
6th grade reading level
http://www.teachnlearnchem.com/Boyles%20Law.htm
The cartoon demonstrates the relationship between pressure and volume in the context of an olympic competition. This would act as a great memory aid following teaching of Boyle's law.
11) Gas Law Comic
8th grade reading level
http://tie-dye-flag.deviantart.com/art/Chemistry-Comic-of-Gas-Laws-359036813
The comic describes the effects of Boyle's law after a scuba diver returns from a dive. The diver is suffering from the "bends", which is a phenomena that can be explained by Boyle's law and the effects of volume and pressure on blood oxygen levels.
12) Charles's Law Intro Comic
6th grade reading level
http://stripgenerator.com/strip/698727/chem-gas-laws-comic-1/
This comic strip uses the example of balloons shrinking with a drop in temperature to demonstrate the phenomena of Charles's Law. This would be a good hook to have displayed at the beginning of class.
13) Is Hell Exothermic?
10th grade reading level
http://www.nclark.net/GasLaws
I may not use this with my students, but it is an interesting read. This reading describes the variables that would alter whether or not hell is exothermic or endothermic. The answer was submitted by a college student and demonstrates higher order thinking that could inspire much discussion in a chemistry classroom.
14) Gas Laws powerpoint
8th grade reading level
http://www.slideshare.net/lallen/gas-laws-1232856
The powerpoint details the gas laws and provides many images that would be useful for relating the gas laws to real-life phenomena. There are example problems embedded within the powerpoint along with other diagrams that would be useful for practice and demonstration.
15) Can Crushing Experiment
no reading level
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NZmo-qQxIk
The can crushing experiment video can be used as an inquiry demonstration or as an in-class experiment for students. The demonstration is a small scale demonstration of the tanker crushing and can be used to further students' understanding of the effects of temperature, volume, and pressure.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Friday, October 25, 2013
Reflection #8
The readings for this week were straightforward and "common sense" for the most part. In school, one of the more consistent learning strategies that I saw was vocabulary teaching. Now, granted, a majority of the vocabulary learning that I participated in was defining words and placing the piece of paper in a binder. Despite a lack of appropriate teaching in my experience, I feel like vocabulary is extremely important to students both inside of and outside of the classroom. The more words that students have access to, the better they can communicate and engage in the world around them. That being said, I think that it is most beneficial to teach students strategies, which teach them HOW to learn vocabulary, not to always teach the vocab explicitly. If students know that they can break down a word into its roots to figure out its meaning (as was mentioned in the Bromley article), then they are better prepared to deal with unknown vocabulary on their own. If they are aware of context clues and the benefit that recognizing content can provide, then they will not be as traumatized by unfamiliar words in text.
As teachers, as much as we can prepare our students to succeed apart from us, the better off they will be. Although there is a place for explicit vocabulary instruction, modeling strategies for independent meaning-making is worth far more in my book.
As teachers, as much as we can prepare our students to succeed apart from us, the better off they will be. Although there is a place for explicit vocabulary instruction, modeling strategies for independent meaning-making is worth far more in my book.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Reflection #7
My reflection today will focus on the vocabulary strategies from Chapter 8 of Tierney and Readance. In general, I was not a huge fan of the strategies mentioned in the text. Most of them were lacking in intrigue and a fluidity with content. Vocabulary, in my opinion, is of little use if focused on as a separate entity from the text. A few of the strategies, though, could be easily adapted to add to students' comprehension of text. The most useful strategy from the text was the Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy. This strategy not only allowed for post-reading assessment of comprehension, but also allowed students implicit motivation by the ability to choose the words they felt were most important in the text. The strategy, then, improves comprehension by clarification of vocabulary AND will likely assess students' selection of the main ideas in the text. I also think that they Word Map concept will be useful in a science classroom because hierarchy understanding is crucial for expanding on science terms and concepts. Unfortunately, the description was a bit muddy for my understanding and I think that it would be of better use, if created in a whole-class setting by students from the ground-up and used also as a tool for identifying student misconceptions and/or gaps in knowledge.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Reflection #6
D&Z Chapter 11
This chapter deals a lot with the psychology and mental processes involved in reading and the struggles that students face in these areas when reading. The end of the chapter also gives some practical tools for overcoming these barriers with students and increasing their reading success. D & Z talk about the struggle for students to "picture" what is happening in problems or stories. This could be due to difficult vocabulary, unfamiliar themes, or an inability to relate to the scenario. As a teacher, it is helpful to our students to either provide context through discussion or choose topics that is largely familiar to students. It may even be useful to teach students how to pick out key information from problems or paragraphs. If students feel confident in their ability to search the text for meaningful information, they will likely have better success when faced with more difficult problems and texts. One of the techniques that I hope to grow in and use often is the think aloud. Showing students your thought processes as a teacher is crucial for their understanding. Many times we make assumptions that we do not realize that we are making when problem solving and consciously thinking aloud will likely decrease or call those assumptions to our attention.
This chapter deals a lot with the psychology and mental processes involved in reading and the struggles that students face in these areas when reading. The end of the chapter also gives some practical tools for overcoming these barriers with students and increasing their reading success. D & Z talk about the struggle for students to "picture" what is happening in problems or stories. This could be due to difficult vocabulary, unfamiliar themes, or an inability to relate to the scenario. As a teacher, it is helpful to our students to either provide context through discussion or choose topics that is largely familiar to students. It may even be useful to teach students how to pick out key information from problems or paragraphs. If students feel confident in their ability to search the text for meaningful information, they will likely have better success when faced with more difficult problems and texts. One of the techniques that I hope to grow in and use often is the think aloud. Showing students your thought processes as a teacher is crucial for their understanding. Many times we make assumptions that we do not realize that we are making when problem solving and consciously thinking aloud will likely decrease or call those assumptions to our attention.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Reflection #5
Tovani Chp. 5&6
Chapters 5 and 6 in Tovani's book seemed to all come back to the idea of purpose and/or the value of being explicit. The chapters talk about how important it is for students to be aware of the purpose for any reading that they do in the classroom. Purpose allows students to zone in on what is important and ensures their preparation for any after-reading expectations that the teacher may have. I think that the importance of purpose extends way beyond reading and into any assignment. I have seen over and over again this year during my internship, students who are unmotivated because they are not given purpose and do not see the benefit of engagement in assignments. I have also seen, though, the difference in their willingness to participate when they are given explicit instruction and guidance before and during assignments and begin to understand how their participation will benefit them.
Finally, these chapters give many different strategies for engaging in text through annotation. Whether it be a guided reading worksheet, highlighters, sticky notes, or margin writing, students benefit from being required to interact with the text. They have to turn off their "reciting voice" and turn on their "conversation voice". I laughed when reading the part of the chapters that described these two voices because I knew immediately what those voices sounded like in my own reading experience. Never had I thought to recognize those voices as important or to mention them to my students.
Chapters 5 and 6 in Tovani's book seemed to all come back to the idea of purpose and/or the value of being explicit. The chapters talk about how important it is for students to be aware of the purpose for any reading that they do in the classroom. Purpose allows students to zone in on what is important and ensures their preparation for any after-reading expectations that the teacher may have. I think that the importance of purpose extends way beyond reading and into any assignment. I have seen over and over again this year during my internship, students who are unmotivated because they are not given purpose and do not see the benefit of engagement in assignments. I have also seen, though, the difference in their willingness to participate when they are given explicit instruction and guidance before and during assignments and begin to understand how their participation will benefit them.
Finally, these chapters give many different strategies for engaging in text through annotation. Whether it be a guided reading worksheet, highlighters, sticky notes, or margin writing, students benefit from being required to interact with the text. They have to turn off their "reciting voice" and turn on their "conversation voice". I laughed when reading the part of the chapters that described these two voices because I knew immediately what those voices sounded like in my own reading experience. Never had I thought to recognize those voices as important or to mention them to my students.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Reflection #4
Harvey
In "Nonfiction Inquiry: Using Real Reading and Writing to Explore the World", Harvey talks about the importance of questioning and curiosity in students' classroom lives. She says that one of the best ways to encourage students' curiosity is to incorporate non-fiction reading into the classroom. The real world is an interesting place that can include infinite possibilities for topics and interests. A majority of the reading that people do outside of the classroom is non-fiction (magazines, newspapers, etc.), so there is a large disconnect between classroom and real life when non-fiction reading is not a part of curriculum and discussion. Non-fiction in her eyes leads to passionate curiosity and, in turn, engagement in material. In science, most of the reading that we do is non-fiction. I am a huge advocate for providing my students with connections and context for material and non-fiction reading is a great way to do that.
In "Nonfiction Inquiry: Using Real Reading and Writing to Explore the World", Harvey talks about the importance of questioning and curiosity in students' classroom lives. She says that one of the best ways to encourage students' curiosity is to incorporate non-fiction reading into the classroom. The real world is an interesting place that can include infinite possibilities for topics and interests. A majority of the reading that people do outside of the classroom is non-fiction (magazines, newspapers, etc.), so there is a large disconnect between classroom and real life when non-fiction reading is not a part of curriculum and discussion. Non-fiction in her eyes leads to passionate curiosity and, in turn, engagement in material. In science, most of the reading that we do is non-fiction. I am a huge advocate for providing my students with connections and context for material and non-fiction reading is a great way to do that.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Reflection #3
D&Z chapters 5 and 6 focuses on classroom ideas for building the tools and skills necessary to read successfully. They advocate for both individual, small group, and whole class activities as reading tools including: discussion, writing, drawing, and other activities that will improve students' engagement in reading.
Probably the statement I found the most compelling in the chapters came in describing the need for modeling mental reading processes to students. D&Z point out that, "many students are unaware of the mental activity that takes place during effective reading." I think this is true for students, but is also true for many teachers. It is extremely difficult to teach students the skill sets required for reading if the teachers are unaware of their own cognitive processes. As teachers it is important that we understand the action of our minds during reading and the reasoning, critical thinking, connection making, etc. that is involved. To model effective thinking and reading to students, it is crucial to be intentional about understanding your own reading skills.
Probably the statement I found the most compelling in the chapters came in describing the need for modeling mental reading processes to students. D&Z point out that, "many students are unaware of the mental activity that takes place during effective reading." I think this is true for students, but is also true for many teachers. It is extremely difficult to teach students the skill sets required for reading if the teachers are unaware of their own cognitive processes. As teachers it is important that we understand the action of our minds during reading and the reasoning, critical thinking, connection making, etc. that is involved. To model effective thinking and reading to students, it is crucial to be intentional about understanding your own reading skills.
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