Earth Day Cometh
Earth Day is here again and we all need ideas that are quick but relevant. Here are a few to share with teachers in your school.
The grocery bag project:
This project is a simple one, but will help students raise awareness about protecting the Earth’s environment and animals. Have students draw, write Earth Day poems, etc on grocery bags and then deliver them to your local grocery store to be used on Earth Day.
The directions are listed on the following website: http://www.earthdaybags.org/GSfoursteps.htm
Earth Field Trip
Go on a field trip to the Disney movie Earth. Disney will plant a tree for every ticket bought during its opening week. It opens on Earth Day.
Instead of an Earth Day celebration why not have Earth Day be a community service day. Our school has each grade do a community service project like beach clean up, volunteer at a local nature center to weed gardens, etc.
Kick off a great technology based science project using Discovery Streaming Planet Earth series. The Planet Earth series as several episodes that could help your students learn about the disappearing wilderness, animal species and rain forests. Next, you could have your students make magazines that they actually publish on the web. Our technology teacher is having our students make their own magazine using MagCloud: http://magcloud.com/. It is free to publish the magazine, all you have to do is make an account and upload a PDF file.
Need a quick and simple idea? Read Dr. Seuss’s book: The Lorax and then have students blog or make a voice thread about ways to help protect and preserve nature for future generations. Here is a website with even more good ideas: http://www.seussville.com/lorax/classroom_plan.php
This new year, show your DEN spirit and lets help each other with new and innovative ways to use technology in the science classroom. You know as well as I do that DEN members always are on the cutting edge, so let’s help each other make this the year of science tech. Write a quick comment to the Science in Action Blog about a new idea you would like to know more about, or a new idea you have tried. Discovery Science is a great asset to all of us, but it would be great to discuss some ways that teachers or students are using the virtual labs, Mythbuster series, Science Sleuth to enhance your science program.
One new idea that I am going to try this new year is an idea I saw in December’s issue of Technology and Leadership. Two high school science teachers have decided to stop lecturing and begin using vodcasts to deliver their science content. According to the article, students could download the vodcasts and listen to them at home. The teachers are then freed up to use more of their classroom time on hands on labs, helping small groups, and more application activities. Students can enhance their understanding of concepts by replaying sections they don’t understand the first time. Use the vodcast for review, not miss lectures when they are ill, and of course there would be many other benefits. This idea sounds great to me. I can’t wait to try it.
This idea could also be used with assignment builder and you could almost design your class to run like an online class. It also would be a great thing to leave with a sub if you were going to be out several days. Wouldn’t it be nice to come back to a class where the content was taught the way you wanted it to be taught.
Now it is your turn. What great ideas do you have? Leave a comment, share an idea, and lets all resolve to try one new technology idea this year.
