MMS+8th+Grade+Science+Virtual+Flight+Journals+Assured+Experience

=Enhancing Education Through Technology Successful Practices=

 
 * Submitted by || Mr. Jon Hand & Mrs. Melissa Szych ||
 * Grade Level || 8 ||
 * Subject || Science ||
 * Email Address of primary author || handjc@mansfieldct.org ||
 * School / District || Mansfield Middle School/Mansfield ||
 * RESC / Contact person and email || EastConn/ Jane Cook, jcook@eastconn.org ||

Task Title:

Virtual Flight Journals with VoiceThreads
 8th Grade Science – Physics of Flight   Abstract: Students conduct an inquiry experiment with a rubber-band powered balsawood airplane. Graphs of data are made in Excel. Students publish their scientific results using VoiceThread. Other students in the class review the VoiceThreads and comment on the conclusions of various investigations. Then students choose a study and duplicate it. Students compare the original and duplicate study using PowerPoint. All students comment on their work and the work of others using Wikis and VoiceThreads. <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;">  The purpose of this unit was to make the scientific method and the physics of flight authentic, meaningful and fun. We believed that science reports could be improved using technology. We believed that students should share their work with one another with an “online journal” using VoiceThread. Having their work stored in a VoiceThread makes student work available after presentations, just like scientific journals. <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;"> <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; mso-bookmark: LessonUnit; msobookmark: LessonUnit;">Lesson / Unit <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;">Lesson objectives <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o Students will be immersed in scientific inquiry. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o Students will collect data and use Excel to make graphs. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o Students will use VoiceThread to share conclusions with others. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o Students will use PowerPoint to present their findings. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o Students will communicate using a Wiki.

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;">Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o Students need to understand that science is an ongoing process where our understanding of physics can be changed based on new discoveries. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o How do planes fly? <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o How does changing a variable affect the flight of a plane?

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;">Task description – Students designed an experiment for a rubber-band powered balsawood airplane. This plane flies in a circle. All variables are controlled except the one variable students test. Students keep track of the flight time and number of laps in the air for each modification of the plane. <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;"> <span style="display: block; font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; text-align: center; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o Students had to calculate the average speed of their planes. They also had to calculate the average distance and time that their plane flew. Students had to create 3 Excel graphs: <span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">§ An Average Speed Graph <span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">§ An Average Distance Graph <span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">§ An Average Time Graph <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o Students uploaded their graphs to VoiceThread and created an online science journal.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o Students researched other student work and chose a study to reproduce and verify the results. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Courier New'; msolist: Ignore;">o Students compared the original study with their verifying study and created a PowerPoint presentation that compared all results. <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;">Context within which the work was produced – In science, students are expected to do inquiry science. Using airplanes allows students to develop an experiment and share their results. Excel allowed students to create graphs. VoiceThread allowed students to share their conclusions with students in and out of the class. <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;">Prior learning required- Students needed to understand Newton’s Laws, Energy and Forces of Flight. <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;">

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;">Types of groupings used in this task – Students worked together in groups of 3 or 4. <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;"> <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;">Any differentiated strategies used in this task – The Excel templates were created to simplify the number crunching graphing processes. More advanced students were encouraged to create their own Excel spreadsheets. <span style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: Times New Roman; text-decoration: none; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;"> <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #3366ff; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;"> Science Curriculum Frameworks 7.1 – Energy provides the ability to do work and can exist in many forms. 8.1 – An object’s inertia causes it to continue moving the way it is moving unless it is acted upon by a force to change its motion.  <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #3366ff; font-family: Times New Roman; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; mso-bookmark: Technology; msobookmark: Technology;">CT Student Technology Standards <span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">v Use content-specific tools, software and simulations (e.g., environmental probes, graphing calculators, exploratory environments, Web tools) to support learning and research

<span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">v Apply productivity / multimedia tools and peripherals to support personal productivity, group collaboration and learning throughout the curriculum

<span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">v Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, Web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom

<span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">v Use appropriate software (spreadsheet, database, hypermedia, etc.) to construct, organize, calculate, analyze and interpret ideas and data, and to present conclusions

<span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">v  Create databases, spreadsheets and a variety of graphic presentations to communicate numeric and visual information using applications with varied and more sophisticated features <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;">  <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bookmark: Assessment; msobookmark: Assessment;"> The various rubrics for the entire project are embedded in each of the documents above. Here is a sample rubric:

Grading for Excel tables = 10 points (Unmodified, Modification 1 and Modification 2) <span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">v You copied the format from the other side of this sheet. <span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">v Each table was clearly labeled with all units there. (Independent variable, laps, seconds, title of the trials, trials, and averages and average speed). <span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">v You calculated the average speed in each table using a formula <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bookmark: Assessment; msobookmark: Assessment; msospacerun: yes;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bookmark: Assessment; msobookmark: Assessment;">Grading for each graph = 10 points/graph <span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">v Each graph is on a different sheet in Excel <span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">v Each tab of each sheet is labeled (Distance graph, Time Graph, Average Speed Graph) <span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">v Each graph was appropriate for the data presented <span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">v Graph title refers to both the independent variable and the responding variable. See above. <span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">v Each axis is labeled in the appropriate location <span style="color: black; font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings; msofareastfontfamily: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; msobidifontfamily: Wingdings; msolist: Ignore;">v Each axis has its units (like seconds and meter/seconds) properly identified

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;">  The following VoiceThread is about elastic potential energy and flight. Students wound the rubber motor 600 times, 800 times and 900 times and observed how the different amounts of elastic potential energy affected the average speed, the average distance and the average time: [|http://VoiceThread.com/share/267092/]

The following VoiceThread shows how changing the radius of a pylon plane affects its average speed, average distance and average time: [|http://VoiceThread.com/share/264960/] <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bookmark: Reflections; msobookmark: Reflections;">The students really liked working with the planes and the technology. Their experiments were creative and reproducible. The students also enjoyed verifying the experiments of others. We asked all students to complete an online survey which verified our impressions. <span style="display: block; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; text-align: center; msobookmark: Reflections;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bookmark: Reflections; msobookmark: Reflections;">We have learned that Excel is extremely useful and kid-friendly if students are given a protected template. Students can then use this template to input data and produce graphs. Once the template was completed, students were able to see how useful Excel was. We found that students wanted to use Excel for other projects after this one.

VoiceThread has a great deal of potential. However, we found that many issues involving microphones, firewalls and buggy software made the process very frustrating for teachers and students alike. Once the bugs were worked out, students could see its potential and enjoyed creating their online science journals. Students really enjoyed viewing the journals of others and liked commenting on them.

All kids used PowerPoint to compare and contrast the original study with their duplication. Nearly all students had fun taking screenshots of the original graphs and comparing them to the graph of their new results.

The technology helped students explain scientific concepts and processes. Students became well-versed in the language of physics as they watched what others had said, as they duplicated the study and as they created their response to the original investigation.

Wikis have a great deal of potential. However, we found that it was cumbersome to develop individual student accounts, usernames and passwords. Fortunately, our technology gurus were able to do the legwork to get this set up for our students. We found that Wikis were not the best way to share insights and information for students at this point in time. Wikis required a great deal of prep time and moderating time. The threaded discussions were not particularly helpful. We didn’t have the necessary time to make sure that all students were writing appropriate comments. In addition, the students were not as eager to use that technology. Our goal was to share scientific information and we feel that VoiceThreads and PowerPoints were the most efficient way to do that. The VoiceThreads, Excel graphs and PowerPoint presentations really worked well.

Professional development time was very useful and very necessary in order to prepare Wikis, Excel spreadsheets, VoiceThread set up as well as orchestrating the numerous materials needed for conducting flight experiments. <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; mso-bookmark: Reflections; msobookmark: Reflections;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bookmark: Reflections; msobookmark: Reflections;">We were also contacted by a teacher from another school system who found our Excel spreadsheets online. This teacher will be sharing our student VoiceThreads and her students will be verifying our work. This is what science is all about. <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt; mso-bookmark: Reflections; msobookmark: Reflections;"> <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;"> Resources: <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Guillow’s JetStream Rubber-Powered Planes <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· 10 to 1 Winders <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Tan 2 Rubber <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Waste Paper Baskets for Pylons  <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Our Excel template can be found at: [|http://handscience.mansfieldct.Wikispaces.net/] <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· VoiceThreads can be found at: [|http://VoiceThread.com/#home]

Word Document: MMS Gr 8 Science Virtual Flight Manual - Assured Experience <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: blue; font-family: Times New Roman; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; msobidifontsize: 12.0pt;">