Melting Iceburgs Experiment Q#9

Like many folks I have mixed emotions/views about the melting of our polar ice caps.  Mainly because I have very limited knowledge of the issue and because, through my Native American spirituallity, I have seen and heard the devestation to Mother that humans have already caused.  I have listened to many medicine men speak of Mother Earth and I have watched many National Geographic and Discovery Channel specials on this issue.  Just the other night I viewed the PBS special that was referenced in our resources for this week.  Veiwing these specials and seeing the effect that humans have had on our great planet leads me to believe that it is plausible that our ice caps are melting and will eventually be gone.  I don't know if I agree with the time period that the scienctists stated on the PBS special.  Nineteen years seems like such a short time, but at the same time if we continue to pollute the Earth and the atmosphere at the rate we are going it seems plausible.  I know scientists and government officials are working to come up with solutions such as renewable energy, but if we waste time debating the issue it may be to late.  We know we need to protect our Earth, we need to stop worrying about how we are going to make the next dollar and worry about keeping Mother safe.  I know Mother Earth is important and I know the need for money, but there has got to be a way that we can compromise.  There will be serious consequences if we don't figure something out.  We may not lose whole continents with flooding, but there will be a rise in the waters.  We will lose precious ecosytems that are needed for people's survival.  Mother Earth will not stand still and allow humans to continue to degrade her and use her without respecting and replenishing what we use.  I know that we have to keep science and spirituallity seperate, but the Native Americans had the right idea.  Use what we need and no more.  Respect Mother and she will take care of us.  Disrespect her and she will destroy us.  Mother is a powerful spirit and she will do what she needs to do.

I don't know that I have questions at this point, but I do have concerns about our future.  Our children will inherit this Earth when we no longer walk it.  What kind of example are we setting for them if they see us continuously polluting and being greedy?

Lesson Plan

For the most part, I enjoyed creating this weeks lesson plan for our application.  I chose to create an electricity lesson because that is what we are currently studying in science this month.  I say this month, because our adminstrator purchased three FOSS kits for 4th grade in an effort to improve test scores.  She has required the 4th grade teachers to rotate the FOSS kits over the next three months.  For the month of January I have Electricity and Magnetism.  Our standards include Light and Electricity so this FOSS kit has been useful for the electricity part.

For the lesson, the students will be given a D-Cell battery, 2 wires, and a smal motor.  They will be required to use these materials to create a circuit that will make the motor run.  Other than our safety procedures, there are no specific procedures the students will follow.  In other words, they will be required to create the circuit and then create their procedures for replicating the circuit they created.  I think this fits well with the 5 E's we studied this week, mainly because the students are creating a finished product and the teacher becomes the monitor as opposed to the instructor.  Once the investigation is complete we will discuss what they learned and they will have to write a summary of what they learned, draw a schematic of their circuit, and write an essay comparing their circuit to the circuit created when plugging up and appliance.

I am looking forward to doing this activity with the students and seeing what knowledge they gain from it.  I did a similar activity with them in which they made a light bulb come on.  I am hoping that this will reinforce what we have already discussed as well as lead into a discussion of series and parallel circuits.

As I prepared this lesson, I noticed that the 5 E's we used in our plan is very similar to the way the FOSS kits and our science text book is set up.  Meaning there is an engage, explore, and ellaborate component in the FOSS kits as well as the science text.

The most trouble I had with this lesson was finding and identifying the NSTA standards, the NBPT standards, and the NSE standards.  I found that getting to these standards was difficult because I had to sift through the organizations trying to sell books.  There was not a direct link to the standards.

I always enjoy learning about diversity.  Teaching in a very diverse and low socioeconomic setting keeps me on my toes in my strategies and methods.

Snow Days

Wow!!  South Carolina has been blasted with snowy, icy weather these past couple of days.  God bless all you folks that live in the North and West that have to deal with it every year.  We had 2 snowfalls in 2010 and just got hit with another this week.  Very unusual weather for us.  Two snow days and a 2 hour delay today.  Fun stuff. :/  I'm not complaining, it was nice to have snow for a little bit.

Anyway on a different note.  If you're like me grades were due today and report cards go home next week.  No rest for the weary.  :)  I hope all of yall are having a great week.

Back to School

I hope everyone has a super safe and productive work week. If your like me, grades are due and report cards go home soon. Have fun!!!

My First Blog

Hope this works.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season and is ready to rock and roll through a brand new year.