Tuesday, June 8, 2010

MODULE 5

What is our actual project going to be on? I understand in 2 weeks we must have our finished project. We've been doing all these little projects, I am a little confused what the ACTUAL project we are doing as a group is. Any ideas?

18 comments:

  1. I agree- I'm a little confused about what we're doing as well. We don't really have a set project, soooo- should we do something from the concept map? or...

    And what are each of us going to talk about as far as our pod casts?!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, I think that would work..I was thinking our project was just like "How to teach Water Purification Technologies". I'm not positive though. What do you think Greg?

    For the podcast we need to make sure our information flows and none of us talk about the same topic..

    Could we use the thing that we did with the students in Arizona? How we are going to have our students define what water purification technologies are and the process. the different types of water purificaiton processes and then their own areas of water sources? and what water sources are, etc? would that work? than each of us could take a different part of that and do our podcast on it? I need to get this podcast and lesson plan done before Saturday, so could we try to figure it out soon, please? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Either way- it doesn't matter what project we do just as long as we have something. I think the Arizona issue would be good... we'll just have to break it up and figure out whose doing what and what were going to say... it doesn't matter to me, but I too would like to get it done by Saturday, soooo, whatever you guys want to do is fine with me. We just need to figure it out- asap. And what our final project will be on.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Alright, well we could just focus mainly on something like working with a classroom across the Country (Arizona), but we could extend the whole project. The classroom's must talk about what water purification is, define it, explain, talk about the different types, then compare their water sources (Michigan vs. Arizona) and then they could use Skype or whatever to talk about their answers and also use a Blog? So someone could talk about the overall project, and how the students will be communicating, things we will be using, etc. Someone should talk about the information that the students will cover and have to research for this project. and someone else could talk about how we will compare our results and what we will do with them as a class? (create a diagram as a class, etc) I don't know if this will work. After writing it out, I don't think it's enough information. Does anyone else have anything to add..

    ReplyDelete
  5. Currently, I am doing my Lesson Plan #2 on "Where do we get our water from" and I am having the students collect data on bodies of water in their area and different places they could receive their water from.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like the idea of using the Arizona vs. Michigan topic for the project and having students use a blog, Skype, and other web resources like e-reader to collaborate over the distance.
    Right now I am working on my second lesson plan which is along the lines of "how much water does a class use in a week," and having students keep a rubbing record of there water consumption, then comparing with the rest of the class along with making charts and graphs of the entire classes water usage.

    What are we thinking for the podcast? Right now my only ideas are to have each of us take a section of the concept map and explain the idea, procedure, result, or reason for the process. Or having one of us do an introduction to water resources and purification, then the next person explain how we purify our drinking water, and lastly a person explain why water purification is so important not only here but across the world.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I like the 2nd idea for the Podcast- one doing the intro, ect. I like that... So I'm down for doing that if thats what we want to do.. If thats what we choose I'll do the last part on why water purification is important..

    So if that works for everyone, I'm cool with that too.

    ReplyDelete
  8. That works for me, because I would like to tackle the introduction to water purification tech and knowhow for my section of the podcast. If none of you have any objections.
    After that I'll place the finishing touches on my second lesson plan and turn them both in hopefully tonight, if not Sunday afternoon.
    Good luck to you all...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Okay Great! I won't have my podcast up until sometime tomorrow afternoon bc I have to work until 2 am tonite.. But it'll be done. So I'll do why water purification is important both locally and globally.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Alright, sounds good. So, I am doing "How we purify our drinking water." Which means I will go over some of the processes that we use to purify water. Osmosis, filtration, etc etc? How does that sound?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Check out the new concept map, too!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Actually, I think I might talk about the project with the parents BEFORE I talk about a few processes of water purification. My idea is to introduce the project to the parents. I'd say we are going to be doing a project in our classroom regarding water sources in different states across the United States. I'll talk about Arizona and Michigan, why we are choosing to do both of these states, the procedure we are looking for from the students, and what we want the students to do with the information after. If the parents have any questions, etc etc. Then Greg can talk about this area and Brooke can do the same. How does that sound?

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is what I have written for my podcast. I haven't read over it and made changes to my grammar yet, but I wanted to get it out there ASAP. Hope it is okay. I discussed the "overall project" with the parents. I felt that was important in starting our project.



    ___________________________________

    Thanks so much for taking the time to join us today. Our classroom will be embarking on a great journey. We’re asking our students to virtually take a trip across the country. Our classroom is Kalamazoo, MI will be collaborating with another classroom in Phoenix, Arizona. Water resources change drastically as we move across the country, and we felt Michigan and Arizona were two great examples of changes in water resources. As many of us know, Michigan is surrounded by the five lakes. Lake Michigan, Superior, Erie, Ontario, and Huron. All five of these lakes provides Michigan with many different options for water resources. On the other hand, Arizona is surrounded mostly by sand and desert, leaving water resources to become scarce. We felt this project would be a great opportunity for our students to compare and contrast different water resources in their areas. Many of us do not think about the ways we receive our water, and many of us take our water resources for granted. First, we will be asking our classroom in Kalamazoo, MI to research our local water resources and retrieval processes, getting as much detail as possible. Once each student has come up with information and research on our water resources, we will then connect with our classroom in Arizona. We will instruct each of our students in Kalamazoo to ask the students in Phoenix about their water resources and retrieval methods. They will be asking the students in Arizona questions regarding how familiar each student is with bodies of water in their area, and how readily available water is. We will also be encouraging the students in our classroom to come up with their own questions to ask the other class. This gives the students time to research and think about information on their own. In order to communicate this information over the internet, we will be asking our students to use the program called “Skype”, which is a video chat program, and a BLOG. These two methods of communication can be used for each student to communicate their information.
    Once all of the students have exchanged information about their local water resources, we will then ask the students to create a compare and contrast diagram using Microsoft Word. After each student creates their diagram, we will then make a classroom diagram and discuss the information we are given.
    We feel this project is a great way to learn about different water resources and purification processes throughout our country. Arizona and Michigan are two completely different made up states. One is almost completely surrounded by water, while the other is not. This project is a great way to show students different reasons why we should look into our local water. We must not take for granted what we are given, and remember some may not have as much as we do.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I tweaked it a little bit. I'm worried and confused. I don't know if that will work. I explained the overall project to the parents and why we feel it's a good idea, etc etc.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Tia your script looks good for an introduction to the project, and what online resources we will be using like blogs and Skype. I think then for my section of the podcast I could elaborate on the project even more, explaining to parents the key concepts of the water resources unit. Such as water resources ( including human dependency on water for life ), water purification, water based technology, and water's chemistry. As well as how they will tie into the frame work of working in the virtual classroom with projects like the ones we are developing for our lessons.
    Sound good?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hello parents, as many of you know our class taking a virtual field trip to Phoenix, Arizona to have our students discuss the various water resources across the two regions. This is only one part of our look into our planet' greatest natural resource, Water. Since water covers over 75% of the planets surface and composes 75% of the human body, students will look at the various areas of water on the planet, the water cycle, and how water allows our bodies to function. Students will also take part in a week long survey of individual water consumption, including drinking water, either from the tap, water fountains, bottled water, and other liquids that contain water as a primary ingredient. These will be compiled in a Microsoft Excel spread sheet, and graphed by individual and class consumption. We will then compare our findings with those from our sister school in Arizona, to see who has the higher consumption of water. Our findings and results will be posted on the class website and water resources blog that we will be sharing with our friends in Phoenix. This project will offer us a way to look at how we use water, day to day, and explain why it is our most precious resource. As always we urge you to check our results and other findings, as well as looking at any links or announcements we post on either the web site or blog.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I know it's short but I will add more as I think of any extra thinks within my portion of the topic to say.
    Good night y'all.

    ReplyDelete
  18. that is perfect. I elaborated on mine a little more too. I think it's great. Goodluck!

    ReplyDelete