VIRUSES? ARE THEY FOR REAL?????

Well:  Did the old Virus alive and kicking question.  Who knows for sure, but after the drivel I wrote, which adds nothing to the scientific community,  I added some pics.  Being an artist on the side, I truly dig how the look.  Enjoy! 

WE ARE FIGHTING TO ELIMINATE THE "F" VIRUS FROM OUR REPORT CARDS!!!

 

 

Introduction

Living or Non-Living?  At
first glance, this seems to be a simple question to answer, but as scientist
look to make these statements proclaiming what is alive, it is not always a
clear and precise statement.

"Viruses straddle the definition of life. They lie somewhere
between supra molecular complexes and very simple biological entities. Viruses
contain some of the structures and exhibit some of the activities that are
common to organic life, but they are missing many of the others. In general,
viruses are entirely composed of a single strand of genetic information encased
within a protein capsule. Viruses lack most of the internal structure and
machinery which characterize 'life', including the biosynthetic machinery that
is necessary for reproduction. In order for a virus to replicate it must infect
a suitable host cell" (MLER, 2009). By reading the statement above, the question becomes a more complex one
to answer.

Virus – Living or Non-Living?

There are many characteristics of life one must consider when
answering this question.  Living things
are made up of basic units called cells, are based on a universal genetic code,
obtain and use materials and energy, grow and develop, reproduce, respond to
their environment, maintain a stable internal environment, and change over time
(Miller & Levine, 2008, pg. 17).  By
knowing these key concepts in defining whether it is living or nor non-living,
the concept of a virus as an organism challenges the characteristics listed
above.  Viruses do not respire, they do
not display irritability, and they do not grow or move.  However, viruses do reproduce, and most
definitely replicate.  They have the
adaptive ability to more than a single organism as a host, as well as not being
limited to a single species, genus or phylum of host.  First seen as poisons, then as life-forms, then
biological chemicals, viruses today are thought of as being in a gray area
between living and nonliving: they cannot replicate on their own but can do so
in truly living cells and can also affect the behavior of their hosts
profoundly (Villarreal, L., 2004).

Conclusion

Viruses do not contain cells. They are not cells themselves; they are macromolecules which combine
themselves to form a pathogenic particle. They cannot produce energy: they can change, obtain, or lose energy from
hacking into a host cell to replicate. Viruses do not grow, move, or have measurable respiration.  Viruses modulate their reproduction and life
cycle on the “stimuli” in the host cell.

I would not consider viruses to be classified as living
organisms.  They are incapable of
“independent” reproduction and metabolism. In fact, the virus must infect a host’s cell for reproduction.  In the growth period, the virus DNA tricks
the host cells into replicating their DNA – while they start to wreck the host
cell.  Often very quickly, replication
spreads out into the host, attaching to host cells and repeating the
cycle.  With this known, viruses are incapable
of reproducing outside of a host cell. Also noted is the fact that the majority of metabolism requires the
cellular machinery of its host to survive. Replication is the virus’ greatest argument in my mind to be classified
as a living organism, and the non-ability to reproduce outside of a host makes
them non-living.  This determination is
made, noting that some parasites and endosymbionts are also unable to exist
independently.

The argument for a virus to be considered non-living gets
stronger when considering the higher forms of life characteristics that it
cannot perform or possess.  There is also
an evolution that scientists can trace back. When biologist speak of viruses,
when present they refer to them as “active” – not alive, and when dead, they
are called “inactive”.  

Blah, Blah, Blah ....   NOW:

Investigating Web 2.0 Presentation Tools

The web tools that I explored were the Prezi, GoogleDocs, Glogster, and VoiceThread.
Prezi is a presentation tool very similar to PowerPoint but with a much more impressive end product! When your presentation is complete, viewers tour through your presentation very much like it’s a movie. Titles, video, songs, and information zoom in and out of the screen as you navigate the presentation. There is a slight learning curve involved in the use of this program as it does not navigate like programs that most people are used to working with, however there are tutorials for helping you get accustomed to Prezi’s unique format. The basic (public) version of Prezi is free, however you will have the Prezi watermark in the background of all of your presentations. For $59 a year you can get the “Enjoy” version of Prezi. There is also a student/teacher version of Prezi called “EduEnjoy” which is just like the “Enjoy version, however this version is free! Prezi presentations are able to be accessed online from any computer that has Internet access. For an additional fee, you can get offline access to Prezi.
http://prezi.com/

GoogleDocs seems like a great program if you are creating or needing to present documents or slideshows from multiple locations. You can create, edit, and present your documents from GoogleDocs and save them in your virtual file folder. This makes the documents accessible from any computer that has Internet access. GoogleDocs is very user friendly as it is formatted similarly to the Microsoft programs. GoogleDocs is free to use; all you need is a Google account. The only thing that I didn’t really like about this tool is that it doesn’t allow all of the creativity that the actual Microsoft programs offer. There is no WordArt or animations that can be added to your documents so whatever you create must be very simplistic.
https://docs.google.com/#all

Glogster is a tool that allows you to make interactive posters. I reviewed a few of the posters that were already created and I didn’t see how this was any more than a way to present written information to music. It seemed like most of the posters that I viewed were made by teenagers professing their hurt or love toward someone to the latest top 40 hits. I didn’t really see any interactive components to these posters; it was really just looking at the poster and listening to music. The host website for Webtools4u2use has a Glog as their title page. Their Glog allows you to zoom in on pictures and activate links; demonstrating the interactive components. I think a Glog would be good to use to combine several different types of media that are already in existence or that were created using other tools. Some of the educational Glogs were beautifully made and would be an excellent way to incorporate Webquests into your classroom. There is no cost to Glogster basic and you can access it from any computer with an Internet connection. For a premium version of Glogster, the cost is $99 per year. There is a specific website for Glogster EDU: http://edu.glogster.com/

VoiceThread is a tool that combines voice recordings, slide presentations, blog
posting, documents, and most other forms of media all into one location. What’s
really unique about VoiceThread is that you can leave comments or add content
to someone’s VoiceThread in the form of written comments or voice comments. It
is a great tool for collaborative work. There are tutorials available for using
this tool and I would assume that you have to be pretty familiar with all
different platforms of media to take full advantage of this web tool. For a
single educator account with no student accounts this tool is free. If you
would like to set your classroom up using VoiceThread the cost is $60 per year.
I think this tool would be great for students who are collaborating on class
projects. The VoiceThread presentations are able to be shared and worked on by
multiple students who have access to the Internet.
http://voicethread.com/

ACTION - REACTION 12-11-10

newton's Third Law

A force is a push or a pull upon an object that results from its interaction with another object. Forces result from interactions! As discussed in Lesson 2, some forces result from contact interactions (normal, frictional, tensional, and applied forces are examples of contact forces) and other forces are the result of action-at-a-distance interactions (gravitational, electrical, and magnetic forces). According to Newton, whenever objects A and B interact with each other, they exert forces upon each other. When you sit in your chair, your body exerts a downward force on the chair and the chair exerts an upward force on your body. There are two forces resulting from this interaction - a force on the chair and a force on your body. These two forces are called action and reaction forces and are the subject of Newton's third law of motion. Formally stated, Newton's third law is:

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

The statement means that in every interaction, there is a pair of forces acting on the two interacting objects. The size of the forces on the first object equals the size of the force on the second object. The direction of the force on the first object is opposite to the direction of the force on the second object. Forces always come in pairs - equal and opposite action-reaction force pairs.




There are many cool sites and gadgets that we can use on supporting this basic principle in physics. What makes this unit in teaching so fun and memorable is the opportunity to show the children while teaching. Some GREAT enduring lessons can be produced!

Some great sites I have found are:

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/newtons-third-law-of-motion

http://www.ehow.com/way_5417236_newtons-law-motion-science-project.html

http://www.hometrainingtools.com/newton-s-laws-of-motion-science-projects/a/1256/


However - my favorite activities that I love to use and perfoem in my class come from BITESIZEPHYSICS

GREAT and simple activities that do exhibit great 21st century topics and tools that help create science literate citizens and mini-brainiacs!

Here is the activity text found from www.bitesizephysics.com

Bite 6: Newton’s Third Law
Newton’s three laws of motion predict the motion of virtually all
objects on Earth and in space. You are about to know all of them. Newton’s
1st law: an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in
motion tends to stay in motion. Newton’s 2nd Law: Force equals
mass times acceleration. Now this lesson, Newton’s 3rd Law:
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. After this lesson,
you guys will have the full set of Newton’s Laws of Motion. Congratulations!
Newton’s Laws are all they used to launch space craft to the moon and soon
you will understand them all. Pretty powerful stuff huh!?
Are you ready for Newton’s Third and final law of motion? Here
it is, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Taaa Daaa!
Even though this is the most well known of Newton’s Three, it seems to me to
be the hardest to fully comprehend. Again, it is a tribute to Newton that he
was able to “see” this law. For every action, every force, the same
action/force happens in the opposite direction. As you sit on your chair
reading this, gravity is pulling down with a certain force (the force of your
weight and the weigh of the chair). The floor is pushing up with the same
force. Quick quiz - what would happen if the floor pushed up with more force
then force of the chair pushing down? There would be an upward force which
would cause an acceleration of the chair causing your mass to lift upwards!
(That’s Newton’s Second Law, right?) Because the force up and the force
down is equal, the net force is zero and there is no motion.
This law helps you walk. As you walk, you push backwards against the
ground. The ground gives an equal and opposite push to you so you move
forward. Try to imagine someone walking in a canoe. (I don’t recommend
trying this, unless you know how to swim and are willing to get wet!) As the
person steps forward, the canoe moves backward. The equal and opposite
force of the walking moves the person forward just as far as it moves the
canoe backward.
“But Jim...how come as I walk on my floor, my house doesn’t move
backwards like the canoe?” Ahhh, good, I’m glad you’re paying attention.
Let’s go back to Newton’s Second Law again. Force equals mass times
acceleration. What is the mass of you compared to your house? Pretty small
right? So the force you create to move your mass forward, is nowhere near
the force that is required to move the house backward (especially since your
Mechanics: Newton’s Third Law 1
house is anchored to the earth.) You do push backward on your house but
due to the immense inertia of the house it doesn’t move. Let’s try the next
few experiments and see if we can really get this concept.
Experiment 2
Rocket Bus
(A movie of this is available at www.handsonlinelearning.com/bitesmovies.htm.)
This experiment will pop a cork out of a wine bottle and make it go 20 to 30
feet, while the bus moves in the other direction! This is an outdoor
experiment. Be careful with this. The cork comes out with a good
amount of force. Don’t point it at anyone or anything. Don’t point
it at yourself.
What you need:
Wine bottle
Cork (be careful that the corkscrew didn’t go all the way through it)
Baking Soda
Vinegar
Paper towel
Fairly large Toy Car, Truck or Bus
Duct Tape
Flat Sidewalk or Driveway
1. Strap the wine bottle to the
top of the toy bus with the
duct tape. You want the
opening of the bottle to
be at the back of the bus.
2. Put about one inch of vinegar
into the bottle.
3. Shove a wad of paper towel
as far into the neck of the bottle as you can. Make sure the wad is not
too tight. It needs to stick into the neck of the bottle but not too tightly.
Mechanics: Newton’s Third Law 2
4. Pour baking soda into the neck of the bottle. Fill the bottle from the wad
of paper all the way to the top of the bottle.
5. Now put the cork into the bottle fairly tightly.
6. Now tap the whole contraption hard on the ground outside to force the
wad of paper and the baking soda into the bottle.
7. Give the bottle a bit of a shake.
8. Set it down and watch. Do not stand behind the bus where the cork will
shoot.
9. In 20 seconds or less, the cork should come popping off of the bottle.
What you should see is the cork firing off the bottle and going some 10 or 20
feet. The bus should also move forward a foot or two. This is Newton’s Third
law in action. One force fired the cork in one direction. Another force, equal
and opposite, moved the bus in the other direction. Why did the bus not go as
far as the cork? The main reason is the bus is far heavier then the cork. F=ma.
The same force could accelerate the light cork a lot more than the heavier
bus. Now try this:
Experiment 3
Do the Twist
You need:
A chair that can spin
1. Sit in the chair and put your arms out.
2. Lift your feet off the floor
3. Now twist your torso quickly in one direction.
4. Pretty simple huh?
Mechanics: Newton’s Third Law 3
As you moved your torso, the chair twisted in the opposite direction of your
moving arms. Why did the chair move in one direction while your arms
moved in the other direction? If you said, “because Newton said so.” you’re
right! Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The action of your
body moving one way has an opposite action of the chair moving the other
way.
Experiment 4
Backwards Ho
(A movie of this is available at www.handsonlinelearning.com/bitesmovies.htm.)
You need:
A skateboard or a wagon
The heaviest thing you can throw safely
Sidewalk or Driveway
1. Sit in the wagon or on the skateboard (please do not stand up).
2. Throw the heavy thing as hard as you can. Please be careful not to hit
anybody or anything.
If this doesn’t work don’t worry about it. You need a fairly low friction
skateboard or wagon to make this work. At this point, you should know what
should happen, so what do you think? If you said that the throw forward
would move you backward, you’re right!
Mechanics: Newton’s Third Law 4
Experiment 5
Balloon Races
(A movie of this is available at www.handsonlinelearning.com/bitesmovies.htm.)
You need:
Balloon (the fat, long ones work well)
String
Straws
Chair
1. Blow up the balloon (don’t tie it)
2. Let it go.
3. Wheeeee!
4. Tie one end of the string to a chair.
5. Blow up the balloon (don’t tie it).
6. Tape a straw to it so that one end of the straw is at the front of the
balloon and the other is at the nozzle of the balloon.
7. Thread the other end of the string through the straw and pull the string
tight.
8. Let go. With a little bit of work (unless you got it the first time) you should
be able to get the balloon to shoot about ten feet along the string.
Obviously this is a great demonstration of Newton’s Third Law. It’s also a
good opportunity to bring up some science history. Many folks used to
believe that it would be impossible for something to go to the moon because
once something got into space there would be no air for the rocket engine to
push against and so the rocket could not “push” itself forward. In other
Mechanics: Newton’s Third Law 5
words, those folks would have said that your balloon shoots along the string
because the air coming out of the balloon pushes against the air in the room.
The balloon gets pushed forward. You now know that that’s hooey! What
makes the balloon move forward is the mere action of the air moving
backward. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction.
You now have a great grasp of Newton’s three laws and with it you
understand a good deal about the way matter moves about on Earth and in
space. Take a look around. Everything that moves or is moved follows
Newton’s Laws.
Next lesson we will get into Newton’s Third Law a little deeper when we
discuss momentum and conservation of momentum.
In a Nutshell
Newton’s Third Law states that every action has an equal and opposite
reaction. (That’s about it for this lesson. It’s a one bite wonder!)
Mechanics: Newton’s Third Law 6

Thanksgiving Inquiry

In gearing up for the end of the year personally, I was challenged again at Walden to experiment on a subject with very little background. As i am rebounding from Halloween -




and dealing with waist issues due to Thanksgiving Day mealS.... Heat transferences was an assignment... I was able to gather turkey day guests to help me in my science inquiry:

Introduction
The recurring theme of my writing in this class has been the fact that I lack the strong content in physical science – however, I’m learning by not only writing or commenting on the required assignments – but by actually participating in these experiences. This week’s assignment is exploring heat transference, and exploring characteristics that make good insulators of heat. At an early stage of my science education, it was etched in my memory that air is a good insulator that does not let heat pass through very easily (Glencoe, 2005). By finding a material(s) to trap this air can prevent heat from moving into the object, as well as moving out from an object. By understanding this principle it is easy to understand why efficient insulators include a thermos, polystyrene cups, oven mitts, and double glazed windows.
Exploring Heat Transfer
This week’s assignment is performing an investigation exploring the use of different materials as insulators, and recording data to infer efficiency. Again, this is a wonderful experiment that I will use in class – for it really opens up and creates a wonderful opportunity for inquiry based questioning and performance. By giving the class a quick overview of insulation and explaining key concepts, the class is ready to go on further in their investigations. The use of real-life examples of insulators that are on hand and accessible, it really ties in foundational learning into real-life applications which make the learning more meaningful and enduring. After concrete understanding of what and why insulators are and used, this lesson has an excellent opportunity to become a great STEM lesson. Students will be asked to think about what types of material would be successful in insulating heat, and trapping heat. The use of common household materials will be on hand to choose from – with the student asked to think about the probable outcome of each, and an explanation of why. Being a holiday weekend, I was able to incorporate a few nieces and nephews to help exploring these questions at home. The objects that were offered in our research included paper towels, cotton towels, aluminum foil, plastic bag, newspaper, woolen sock, and construction paper. The experiment requires 4 identical glass jars filled with the same amount of hot water. With the use of rubber bands, the materials are attached over the warm-water filled jars, and left untouched for 30 minutes. The temperature is recorded both before the covering, and after the 30 minutes being covered. The decided materials used for the experiment were aluminum foil (that was covering Thanksgiving leftovers), a plastic bag, a cotton dish towel, and a sheet of heavy duty paper towel. The consensus of the group was split in the middle: 2 thought the cotton towel would be most efficient, the other 2 thought the foil would. We continued on and performed the experiment. The results of our inquiry are found in Appendix A. It was our conclusion, when analyzing the data – that the cotton towel we used was the most efficient in keeping heat in the glass jar. I expected this to be the outcome by remembering back to the principle of air being a very good insulator of heat, and the cotton towel had a very spongy feel to the material, indicating lots of air pockets within the fabric. When thinking about the aluminum foil, I remembered that aluminum is a great conductor of heat, and in this experiment I concluded that the foil would pull the heat from the water and warm the foil, thus letting the heat release from the jar.
The challenges I had, were that I conducted this experiment in a noisy and crowded post-Thanksgiving feast, without using precise tools for exact measurements. When performing this experiment in school, I will be quite precise in my measurement of temperature and amount of water used in each sample. I will also like to come up with samples of other materials to tests such as: glass and wood products. The other challenge I had, was that my “students” ages and abilities ranged from 5 to 14 – so I don’t really have a true idea of assessing knowledge gained from the 4. There was a lot of head shaking, and agreeing that led me to believe that I’d like to follow through with some tasks or assignments that would assure me of learning.
I look forward with working with this piece with my own students, and relating it to their own lives and the importance of understanding this principle in the natural world. I am hoping that this will be a lead in to a project I have wanted to perform for the past few years – the building of an igloo. I hope to have this project on my blog in the next few weeks!




lots of fun please lemme know what you guys are thinking and doing...point me in the right way!

J E T S!!!!!!!!

Guided Inquiry Based Lesson

Hi folks!  Here's to another lonnnng week and short weekend!  Please, one of you brainy scientist ezplain that phenomena to me!

This week's assignment was to perform a guided inquiry lesson from a list of movement activities.  I, being brave or stupid - fine line there, chose the one I knew least about - Pendulums.  As a child I was always in awe of them, and found myself like the Christmas Story kid mesmerized by them in a x-mas store display - wondering how and why it worked.....not really,   just amazed at watching the continuous motion  (Look at what music did for Frankenstein)

I was offered the question that would a heavier pendulum take longer to stop swinging than a lighter one.  Just like the Falling Bodies example, I, too, quickly shout out the wrong answer!!

first off  ; heres the experiment i stole:

Objectives:

1.      Investigating the behaviour or pendulums.

2.      Identifying variables that affect the “period” of the pendulum.

3.      Understanding that time and motion are related.

4.      Gathering and organizing data to make predictions.

5.      Concluding that the period of a pendulum and the frequency of its swing are related.

6.      Conducting controlled experiments.

Background Information:
Pendulum activities are excellent ways to develop the science process skills of Observing, Hypothesizing, Identifying and Controlling Variables, Predicting, Measuring, Recording and Interpreting Data, and Drawing Conclusions. They require simple, inexpensive materials, and lend themselves to cooperative groups. Language and Math skills are integrated throughout the activities.

The “frequency” of a pendulum is the number of swings it will make, back and forth, from its release position - in a unit of time. The frequency is dependent mainly upon the length of the string. As the length is decreased, the frequency increases. As the length increases, the frequency, or number of swings, decreases. The length of the pendulum is the critical variable that determines the number of swings a pendulum will make in a unit of time.

Any weight that is suspended of a string, cord, rope, or any other material that is free to pivot from an anchor or release point is a pendulum. Neither the weight at the end of the pendulum nor the distance the weight is displaced from its resting position affects the length of time it will take for the pendulum to make one complete swing back and forth.

General Guidelines:

1.      Journal entries must be made for every test or trial run as well as data charts.

2.      Group sizes work best composed of 3 or 4 members.

3.      Grade level: 4 - 6

4.      Time: 45 minutes per activity.

Materials per Group

·         4 pennies

·         4 paper clips, regular size

·         2 strings, the same length

·         1 metric measuring tape

·         2 pencils

·         1 scissors

·         4 Student Activity Sheets

·         4 Student Graph Sheets

·         1 Instruction Sheet called Building a swinger (4 washers may be used in place of the paper clips and pennies)

Materials For the Class

·         1 ball of string

·         1 number line

·         1 box of paper clips, regular size

·         1 role of masking tape

·         2 pennies for each group

·         1 timer, watch, or clock with a second hand (washers can be substituted for the paper clips and pennies 1 - 2 per group)

Procedure

1.      Show students a pendulum (a string with a tied on washer on the bottom, a tied on paper clip on the bottom, or a paper clip holding a penny which is tied on the bottom. Without labelling this as a pendulum, ask students what they could do with this “swinger” (swing it back and forth). Demonstrate how to swing it back and forth in your hand (you might play the recording of the “Syncopated Clock” at this time). Tell them that a weight (called a bob ) swinging back and forth on a string is called a Pendulum, or a swinger. Discuss how hypnotists use the swinging technique to make patients sleepy. Relate a swinging pendulum to the swinger on a grandfather clock. Have students predict how many times the swinger will swing in 15 seconds.

2.      Ask, “How can my pendulum be changed? What could be changed in the swinger system that might change the number of swings in a set amount of time?” (There are 3 variables that affect the pendulum’s behaviour: weight of the bob of the pendulum, the swing - position from which the pendulum is released, and the length of the string of the pendulum). Point out that anything you change in an experiment that might affect the outcome is called a variable. Ask, ”How will changing one of these variables affect the pendulum? How can we find out?”

3.      Set up a “Materials Station”. Direct students to send a person from each group to gather supplies. Pass out Student Activity Sheets, Directions For Building a Swinger, Graph Paper, and Data Charts. Review with students the directions and construct a sample pendulum.

4.      Discuss the procedure for doing the experiment. Ask, “Which variables need to be controlled to standardize the procedure?” Emphasize that it is important for everyone to do the test the same way:

a.       All desks or tables used as the base for the pendulum should be the same.

b.      Pencils need to be alike and taped to the table securely the same way (same amount of pencil sticking out over the desk edge, facing the same direction-with eraser end sticking out over the edge, same amount of tape securing pencils on the desk at the same position on the pencils).

c.       Swingers should be constructed exactly the same way, and hung on the pencils the same way.

d.      Amount of time for the swings should be the same.

e.       Method for counting the “swing” should be the same - when released, the swinger will swing away and then come back. That is one cycle . Each time the swinger comes back close to the point from which it was released, it counts as one “swing”.

f.       Swings should be released at the same height and angle - straight out and parallel to the table.

5.      Swing a demonstration pendulum for the students to observe. Count the swings out loud together. Give them time to practice swinging their swingers and counting (silently).

6.      Have a trial swinger test. Students should first predict, and then count the actual number of swings in 15 seconds. Repeat the process, saying “Go” and “Stop” each time to verify the results. Ask each group for their counts. (The counts should all be 12).

7.      Have students record their data on their data sheets. (This may be a good time to end the activity. Review students’ observations and conclusions the next day before beginning the next activities).

8.      Ask students if a new release position will affect the number of swings, and take a vote. Suggest that they experiment with the variable of release position. Instead of releasing the swinger straight out (parallel to the floor), release swingers at about a 45 degree angle. Reinforce the fact that all other variables must stay the same. Have students predict the number of swings; then conduct the experiment. Compare the results to the original experiment. (The number of swings should be the same).

9.      Ask students how to test whether weight will change the number of swings in 15 seconds. Double the number of objects on the end of the pendulum. Have them predict the outcome. Conduct the experiment, holding all other variables constant. Compare the results with the other experiments, and record the data. (The number of swings should be the same).

10.  Have students make new swingers of various lengths to test the variable of length. Label the length of each string. Remind students to again control all other variables (weight, release position, time, etc.) when they do the experiment. Ask for predictions for the number of swings in 15 seconds. Conduct the experiment and record the data. (Long swingers will need high anchor positions). Make a numbered line of the chalkboard, or hang up a pre-made line, numbered from 5-30. Each student, or group, should hang their swinger below the number on the number line that represents the number of swings their pendulum made in 15 seconds. Let everyone observe the swingers and discuss the pattern they make. (The number line should show a smooth curve along the bottoms of the hung swingers).

11.  Have students make a statement to conclude the relationship between the number of swings a pendulum makes in 15 seconds. (The longer the string -the fewer the swings; the shorter the string - the more swings the pendulum makes).

12.  Ask students to use their knowledge of swingers to predict the number of times a new swinger (of a length not used) will swing in 15 seconds. Provide additional strings and bobs to make new pendulums to test these predictions. An additional activity would be to have students predict the length for a pendulum to make it swing a designated number of times (You may want to save this for the next day).

13.  Review the variables that made no difference in the swings (release position, weight) and which did make a difference (length). Reinforce the relationship between the length and the number of swings (longer pendulums make fewer swings; shorter pendulums make more swings). Make up problems such as:

a.       If Tammy has a pendulum 15 cm. long and Frank has one 25 cm. long, whose pendulum will swing more times in 30 seconds? (Tammy’s).

b.      If a pendulum clock was running slow, how could you help to correct it? (Shorten the length of the pendulum, or the arm).

c.       If a heavy person and a light person both start to swing on a swing in a park at the same time, will they swing with the same frequency? (Yes).

d.      If you are swinging from an overhead bar, how could you increase your frequency of swings? (Shorten your length, by drawing your legs up to your stomach).

e.       Where have you seen pendulums in your environment?

14.  For bright students, challenge them to plot the points representing the length of each swinger and the number of times it swings in 15 seconds on graph paper. The lengths of the swingers go across the bottom of the graph -the X axis (the independent variable). The number of swings of the pendulums in 15 seconds are represented by the numbered lines going up the side of the graph - the Y axis (the dependent variable).

15.  Extension:
Hang two equal pendulums next to each other and connect them with a rubber band stretched across both strings or with a soda straw that has been split on each end. Make one pendulum start swinging and observe what happens. (They interact and one pendulum transfers energy to the other to make it start swinging). Ask what would happen if you moved the straw (or rubber band) up the pendulums or down? (It speeds up as the straw moves up; the swings slow down as the straw is lowered).

16.  Discuss the concepts of kinetic and potential energy in relation to these experiments. (The bob has all potential energy when held at maximum height; it loses potential and gains kinetic energy when released - and then reverses this, until it comes back to a resting position).

Now that that is out of the way!

My kids were really able to make these pendulums using assorted classroom materials  -  my personal favorite was the child who used my ear of corn egg-timer.  They were fascinated that they could build these REAL scientific instruments in such a primitive way!

After I cheated, read the results and practiced the experiment as i drove to work - YES  the kids results were the expected ones - the weight did not effect the freuency, however pointed out to my my Janeequuah that the size of the twine or string effected the bob!  This is what i LOVE about the guided inquiry...it answers specicfic questions - but opens the door for much more learning!!!!

What went well with my class was the desining and performance of the activity - but unfortunantly classroom management when working in groups is still a struggle.  The school was marred with many fights and disruptions last week which led to preoccupied chatter and lack of complete academic cooperation!

Next time i do this experiment, I will work on a grander scale - the kids ove to see bigger and better generally - so i can take this activity to the auditorium and dangle the pendulums from the overhead balcony as my pivot area - just focusing on not letting objects fly wildly about like an old zim-zam!!!!

My goal; however, was to answer a specific scientific question by creating a model and oberving and recording results - which was a SUCCESS and also a bonus that inferring was involved to come up with the WHY of the problem!

I apologize for no pictures -this week - cam is on the fritz again!  ciao for now!

OCT. 17, 2010

The following paper is a reflection on a lesson plan that was designed and implemented this past week in my science class.  Due to rigid pacing guide and curriculum requirements, I was not able to deviate to far from my lesson – but am extremely happy with the results.  The lesson plan deals with scale drawing, a key skill for STEM learners.  I am working hard on following up this plan in tying it into the world of nature, and how scientists use scale and proportion in many of their researches, designs, and observations.

Implementing and Reflecting on a Structured Inquiry Lesson

As my Walden experience evolves, it’s becoming much clearer to me in the science field that it is my goal to become a developer of scientifically literate citizens.  My goal is to mold students to become adults’, who can understand key concepts and ideas in the natural world, and be able to explain and critically think about the scientific world – and ultimately make informed decisions.  It is imperative that students learn to ask questions about what is known to actively find out more information on their studies.  I am working hard in developing this practice in all lessons in my classroom.   Science education should help prepare students for this complex inquiry practice where students seek and provide evidence and reasons for ideas and claims (Driver, Newton, and Osborne 2000).  My students are slowly and gradually learning that their knowledge truly increases with the words why, how, where, when, and who are used more in the class.

This assignment is to focus on a current lesson plan that was written last week, and implemented into this week’s classes.  My assignment was on scale drawing.  It is important to point out that my curriculum this year has a lot of mathematics infused into it due to startling low standardized math scores in my district.  The latest numbers in University Middle School are only 26.7% of students are proficient in math standardized testing in the year 2008-09 (NJDOE, 2010).  The scores went down apparently in significant numbers – preliminary reports have been as low as 17% proficient from last NJASK testing in May of 2010.  We are deeply committed to working with these children in developing and nurturing strong STEM students.  My assignment was to introduce the idea of scale drawing – and how it applies in both the real world, and how it applies to the scientific world.  Just like many of my lessons, I explained to my students that to understand and evaluate explanations and occurrences – they must have the ability and skill to comprehend.  Many times in science we discuss size when comparing and contrasting – and it is important that they can focus on these differences.  For example, when talking about sizes of planets or the size of a leaf cell – they must be able to focus on what they are investigating.  Discussion of the Gulf oil spill was talked about, and by using a map of the oil spill area – and how that area’s size was compared to land mass made the children start understanding the widespread damage.  The key goal of my assignment was to be able to visually and logistically compare things that the students are unaware of, and to relate that to an object or thing they do know.  My assignment had several elements to it when exploring scale drawing.  The students worked in small groups to investigate and create appropriate scale drawings or blueprints on objects within the class, as well as using data from the internet to design replicas of New York City buildings. Proposing and explain scale ratios was challenging due to very low math foundation, but by using understanding scale numbers, I was quite pleased with student comprehension.  I found that slowly working on the math aspect was time well-spent.  At first there was apprehension, but by the end of the lesson many of the students were challenging me to come up with different scales and objects, along with alternative ideas about drawings.   Throughout the lesson I asked more and more questions about why scale drawing is so important, and who would design and use these plans.  The class actively engaged in different tasks in creating the drawings, and examining posters and maps (Solar system, Oil Spill, Human and Animal anatomy) – understanding that scientist must create visuals that are drawn to scale to provide information and details to gain understanding.  I am enclosing several drawings from the assignment of varied levels.  The assignments are of objects in the classroom, objects found outside the classroom on school grounds, and scale drawings of New York City buildings. 

As, stated in the beginning of the paper, I am making a strong move in my teaching to supply lessons that will open questioning and inquiry from my students.  It was an extremely successful week in my class with this scale drawing lesson – it is to be used next chapter when they investigate and explore the solar system.  The first assignment is to investigate the size differences of the planets – and will create real size scaled planets.  There is already a considerable anticipation for this assignment from my students.  I believe that this excitement is an excellent assessment of my lesson.  I learned that my students can absolutely do any assignment or task asked of, if it is carefully thought out – and many different strategies or alternative assessments are given.  This was a lesson that clearly makes me remember why I chose this profession; it is a glorious feeling when introducing an assignment to resistance – and ending with excitement and pride of conquering a skill.  I see children that are realizing the fact that they can succeed – no matter what past situation or performance has told them.  We as educators must strive for this belief; we must stimulate followers to think about problems in new ways and, simultaneously, help them question old assumptions and beliefs that may be no longer valid (Rhoten and Bowers 2001).  I have enclosed student work in Appendix A.

  
 

  

Melting Icebergs

Hmmmmm.... Good thought of the day...."What happens if the polar caps melt?"


Now this is a peaceful thought on a lazy Sunday afternoon!  I remember doing some reading on this a feew weeks back, and recalled a computer generated rendering of what the US would look like if this happened!  I remember the ascence of Long Island and New York city, Florida and Georgia, and the destruction and dissappearance of Los Angeles - and much of California.  Here's what it would look like thanks to Dr. Wm. Robert Johnston, a research physicisth.


Looks quite different.  It would have obviously massive destruction on the world wiping out much land form and structure - bringing massive loss of life.  There are many issues that would have to be addressed for chance of survival living conditions. 

Here in my area just outside New York City - I can't imagine just the sheer craziness of the metropolitan community relocating to safer more inland areas.  I am reminded of scenes for sci-fi movies dealing with this in times of devestation and catastrophic events.  Other issues that would be major issues would be the contamination of both seawater and drinking water facilities.  So many health issues would arise by this occurance, and the economic impact would be devestating to the America. 

Issues that I will focus on will be a study into facts about our climate.  I found an interesting list that will put the fear of god into my students...yet still so important for my pupils to kmow.

• Glaciers are composed of fresh water and their enormous size could significantly alter the salinity of the existing oceans, making the waters uninhabitable for current sea life
• The fresh water also alters the natural thermal circulation that occurs in the oceans
• Another ice age is a possibility, even in the next 100 years
• Seasons are changing
• The balance of the globe will shift if the entire West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) melts
• In the last 30 years the melt rate of Greenland’s ice sheet increased by 30%
• The hottest global ocean temperature on record was reported in July 2009
• 2010 is predicted to be the hottest year on record
• We can’t stop the glaciers from melting

Read more at Suite101: How the World Will Look If the Ice Caps Melt: What Happens to the US When the Glaciers Melt http://www.suite101.com/content/how-the-world-will-look-if-the-ice-caps-melt-a172728#ixzz10f9WQUMx

I would like to have students start thinking about possible plans of action that we can take to protect ourselves with the rising sea level.  I hope to see some examples of engineering structures and devices to protect land forms and structures near the coastlines.  Illustrations and wriiten explanations will be assignments to work on in small groups.  Who knows, a project like this might expose the next great engineer who will save the earth!  I may have the next Sir Thomas Crapper sitting in my own classroom!!!!!



here's a great site:  http://www.theplumber.com/crapper.html


In all seriousness, I think a project like this can really provoke children to explore and investigate real life problems, and can promote real purposeful thoughts that could become the beginning of a productive career in science.


Hope all is well with my colleagues wishing you much success and enjoyment!

Dave