Discovery Education and 3M today awarded Marina Dimitrov of Bozeman, Mont., with the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist” as winner of the 2009 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge. Dimitrov was one of 10 finalists who competed today in a series of live science challenges at Metropolitan Pavilion in New York City. A student of Sacajawea Middle School, Dimitrov will receive $50,000 in U.S. Savings Bonds ($25,000 cash value) and a trip to 3M’s global headquarters to meet with some of the world’s best scientists.
Selected from hundreds of students across the country, the finalists tackled live challenges focused on “The Science of Everyday Life,” and used their science prowess to: 1) invent a solution to a common problem using only household items; 2) remove impurities from water; 3) restore an historic icon; and 4) build a tower that can withstand a simulated earthquake. Finalists were evaluated by a panel of judges on their science skills and ability to communicate scientific knowledge. Head judge Steve Jacobs, an accomplished scientist, educator and author, joined a team of scientists from across the country to form the judging panel. Students also worked alongside top scientists from 3M throughout the day.
“Congratulations to Marina, and to all those who participated in the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge,” said David Zaslav, President and CEO, Discovery Communications. “Discovery is proud to show our continued commitment to supporting science education and encouraging the next generation to become leaders in science and technology in America.”
“It’s an exciting moment when you have the opportunity to celebrate science achievement among our country’s top students,” added Robert MacDonald, President, 3M Foundation. “These talented young scientists all represent hope for our future as we work to foster innovation and new discoveries for years to come. We at 3M congratulate them all.”
I used Google Earth often when I was in the classroom. I used it to reinforce geographic literacy and engage my high school social studies students with a colorful and interactive data visualization. Today, I’ll be presenting “Two Roundtrip Tickets to Anywhere with Discovery Education and Google Earth” as part of the DEN Summer School webinar series.
Click below to access the resources from this session. The webinar archive will be available on the DEN blog.
Two Roundtrip Tickets to Anywhere with Discovery Education and Google Earth
Google Earth Users Guide
Google Tools for Schools: Google Earth
Google Earth KMZ - Samples
Google Lit Trips
KMLFactBook (blog post about KMLFactBook)
VoiceThread is one of my favorite Web 2.0 applications for education and it’s a perfect partner for Discovery Education’s rich media content. I will be featuring VoiceThread during the August 25, 2009, DEN Summer School Webinar.
You can access the resources from this webinar by clicking below. The webinar archive will be available on the DEN blog.
The Thread that Ties It All Together: VoiceThread and Discovery Education
Getting Started with VoiceThread in the Classroom
VoiceThead Wiki Page - Training and Integration Resources
I love the ways that Google Earth allows you to explore and interact with highly engaging visual data. So, when I came across kmlfactbook I nearly flipped! kmlfactbook allows users to tap into the data contained in the CIA World Factbook and the World Resources Institues EarthTrends. Registered users can also upload their own data sets to kmlfactbook.
Users can access the following data sets from every country contained in the CIA World Factbook through kmlfactbook:
- People
- Economy
- Transport
- Military
- Geography
- Government
- Communications
The data from WRI EarthTrends includes:
- Climate and atmosphere
- Forests, grasslands, and drylands
- Population, health, and human well-being
- Energy and resources
- Economics, business, and the environment
- Agriculture and food
- Biodiversity and protected areas
- Water resources and freshwater ecosystems
- Environmental governance and institutions
The data can be viewed through the web browser in preview mode or can be downloaded as a KML file for use in Google Earth.
Uploaded with plasq’s Skitch!
The applications for kmlfactbook are nearly limitless. The colorful and interactive interface make it perfect content for your interactive whiteboards, tablets, and LCD projectors. Importing the KML files into Google Earth adds additional functionality and allows students to use the data to build their own Google Earth tours and data sets and allows users to layer additional data to create hypotheses and generalizations. The ability to readily access data from all geographic areas instantly allows students to compare and contrast with ease. Downloading the KML files and opening them in Google Earth allows students to create their own thematic maps. (Not sure what a thematic map entails? Check out this great Google Earth resource on Thematic Maps.)
Uploaded with plasq’s Skitch!
Here is a listing of some of the additional Google Earth layers that are terrific classroom content.
Don’t forget that if you are a Discovery Education subscriber you can enhance your Google Earth placemarks with DE media.
Uploaded with plasq’s Skitch!
To learn more about Google Earth, access training and tutorials, and explore educational applications, visit my Google Earth training site. You can also download my presentation, Roundtrip Tickets to Anywhere: Discovery Education and Google Earth.
Welcome back to the new school year! To help you get started, register for a Discovery Education streaming Back-to-School Enhancements webinar to learn about all the new benefits of Discovery Education streaming .
- Filter search results more effectively
- Discover related resources to the videos you choose
- Students may access assignments from anywhere, anytime using their own unique student login.
Download an overview of what’s new.
If you have forgotten your password, retrieve it and login today .
I’m in Erie, Pennsylvania, for the 3CsETC. I’m excited to have the opportunity to meet so many from my PLN.
What is 3CsETC?
The 3Cs ETC Conference is a collaborative effort between NPAECT, IU5, CFF Coaches and the LEARN Initiative. The conference name was created using 3Cs (Connect, Communicate, Collaborate), which NPAECT has used as their day-conference theme in the spring and fall of 2008 combined with ETC (Educational Technology Conference) which was added to 3Cs as the conference joined forces with CFF and LEARN.
NPAECT, LEARN and CFF and IU5 separately were working toward the same goal of assisting teachers in changing their teaching practices using technology as an integral part of their curriculum, so this collaboration made perfect sense.
One goal of 3Cs ETC is to provide quality professional development and training and to host engaging and motivating keynote speakers, conference presenters, and hands-on learning opportunities to educators in the northwest Pennsylvania region. Our second goal is to develop a vibrant professional learning community of 21st century teachers who recognize the rapid changes in our world that demand changes in our classroom instruction and who are willing to invest in a vastly different educational system that still focuses on challenging our students to succeed.
Here are my presentation resources for my keynote and concurrent sessions. You can access more conference resources on the 3CsETC website and Ning network.
Power Up Your Professional Learning Network - Keynote
Presentation
Resources
Creating Online Class Communities - Concurrent Session
Presentation
Learning 2.0 – Engaging 21st Century Learners - Concurrent Session
Presentation
Thinking Outside the Slide: Non Linear Multimedia Presentations - Concurrent Session
Presentation
Thanks to everyone who participated in the DEN National Institute (face to face AND virtually). The NI was a tremendous success and everyone learned so much. You might say that we built bridges to connect ourselves with other members of the DEN as well as to best practices with digital media and instructional technology. (pardon the obvious pun . . . considering that the NI met in CA practically in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge)
Our leave-taking on Friday afternoon was bittersweet as everyone forged strong relationships with each other. If my Facebook, Twitter, and Plurk friend requests are any gauge, I am not the only person who felt the power of the DEN community.
Here are some resources that I’ve aggregated for the NI. You’ll want to check National Institute 2009 page on the DEN National Blog for more resources as they are posted.
Discovery Education Flickr Photos - DENNI tags
DENNI Twitter Hashtags
DENNI Great Links and Ideas - Google Spreadsheet
Diigo Discovery Education Network - DENNI tags
Delicious - DENNI tags
DENNI CoverItLive
DENNI ustream sessions
Here is the link to the resources for my presentations at the DEN NI.
One of the most anticipated features of the Summer 2009 release of Discovery Education is the My Classrooms feature. With My Classrooms . . .
Each Student will then have the ability to:
- Access all of their assignments, quizzes etc. in one convenient location.
- Search for and save content into their own My Content area
- Download materials
Teachers will be able to:
- Assign content to an individual student, multiple students or an entire class.
- Track progress and student results
- Create a folder of materials and assign materials for student project or remediation without the need to create an assignment
Creating a class is quick and easy. There are 3 simple steps.
Step 1: Create a class name and set active dates.
Step 2: Add students from the school/district roster or create accounts for them manually.
Step 3: Review the class.
I love being able to bookmark content on the Internet to make it easier for me to access anywhere, anytime (especially, when I really need to find that great video segment I used last year for tomorrow’s lesson . . .)
Discovery Education streaming and Science used to have a product-specific My Content that allowed users to create folders and subfolders and populate them with all the media assets and assessments required to build engaging multimedia learn experiences for their students. The drawback was that users who subscribe to multiple services could only see the assets bookmarked to one service at a time. The new launch of Discovery Education boasts an enhanced My Content folder that is universal, allowing users to access media content and instructional activities from all DE services to which they subscribe. So, I can build a folder that contains video segments and articles from DE streaming, virtual labs and eBooks from DE Science, student activities from DE Health, and lesson plans from DE MediaShare all in one global interface. Users will be able to access the new My Content from the icon in the global DE banner as well as from the My Content module on their My DE home page.
For users exploring the new interface, DE’s developers have put in a helpful “What’s Changed” button that will summarize the enhancements to My Content.
Your My Content section has been enhanced and is now global across products. This means that you can add and access content from any of your Discovery Education services through a single My Content interface. Please note that in order to make this transition easier we have created a folder for each product you subscribe to, and your My Content from each product is now located within that folder. If desired, you can now move your existing folders from the product folder into the root My Content view.
In addition, we have added a Trash Bin which holds your deleted content. In the case that you accidentally delete content, you will be able to click on the Trash Bin button and restore that content to the appropriate folder.
In a future post I will be addressing the new My Classrooms feature. Once students are set up with a Student Center account they will also have a My Content folder to which they can save media and research. Teachers will even be able to access their students’ accounts to see what students are bookmarking to My Content.
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