The Land

On my recent trip to Walt Disney World over the winter break, I took a ride in EPCOT called "Living With The Land."  I've been to Disney World a bunch of times and I always have to go on this ride. You sit in a boat and  take you through this huge green house of all different types of fruits and vegetables that are growing hydroponically. Hydroponically means that these fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes or strawberries, that usually grow in the ground or on a vine, are grown through a hydroponic system. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, in water, without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite, gravel, mineral wool, or coconut husk.(wikipedia). 

There are hundreds of different types of plants grown here. On the ride, the narrator describes how the hydroponic system is one of the most efficient ways to farm. You can tell by the prosperity of the plants. There huge! This is a clip of part of the ride

 

I looked up to see how much more effective hydroponic gardening systems are then regular soil based gardening

http://www.indoor-gardening-guide.com/indoor-hydro/advantages.html

This website lists several advantages

1. Hydroponic systems allow the indoor gardener to have total control of all factors influencing the plant's growth.
2. It is impossible to overfeed a hydroponically grown plant because the roots will not absorb more than the plant can handle.
3. It eliminates weeding time and reduces pest and disease infestations.
4. Growing hydroponically is also better for the environment . Fertilizers are recirculated within the hydroponic system and pesticides and weed killers are not necessary
5. Hydroponically grown vegetables have also been shown to be healthier for you as they typically contain more vitamins and minerals than field grown produce.
6. You can grow more plants in a smaller area because smaller pots are required with hydroponics 

On page 173 of the textbook it describes an experiment where a 5th grade class tries to grow different seeds in soil. I think a hydroponic system could be used to create a similar experiment. It would help to students to learn it is the nutrients in the soil that make it grow, not just the soil itself. I think this system could be used very successfully in an elementary science class

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Science Class

In yesterday's science class, we discussed our fieldwork agenda. We must break into groups and teach half of the class about science. We are teaching them about physical science and physical and chemical changes. My group is going to discuss with them physical changes. We have to create our own lesson plan and design an experiment to teach the students about physical science. 

After researching, we found a website to give us an idea for an experiment to show physical change

http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/science9/chemistry/lesson8.html

This experiment involves ice cubes and shows a physical change when they melt. 

We are going to need 

Ice Cubes

 

Small Dishes

  Salt

A Hammer

Each ice cube is going to be place somewhere different and the students will see which ones melt fast. One will be on their desk, one in the sun, one will be sprinkled with salt, and the other one will be crushed with a hammer. After the experiment and the students have determined which melted the fastest, we will begin to explain how an ice cube melting is an example of physical change. The book defines physical change as a "change where only the physical properites are affected, that is the properties we can readily observe with our senses". We will explain the molecules are now further apart when the water is a liquid, but the basic composition of the water has not changed. It is still made up of the same arrangement of atoms of hydrogen and oxygen

StudyJams

StudyJams

I enjoyed taking on online test about the animal kingdoms. It was interesting an interacting. Hopefully one day in my own classroom I can create an online test so that students can experience something different!

I recently used Google to research how to make online quizzes. I found this website: 

http://www.classmarker.com/

On this website you can find all different types of settings that can help to you to create your own online test. You can add pictures, your questions, you can determine what can happen if a student gets the answer correct or incorrect. For example, if a student answers a question correctly,  you have the choice to have the quiz either tell them that the answer was correct right after they have answered, or you can chose to wait until the end of the quiz to have their score displayed.
It's a really cool website that you should check out if you have the time! 

Crazy Weather

http://www.weather.com/outlook/videos/tsunami-rushes-through-downtown-20002

First an ice cold winter with crazy temperatures.. now a tsunami? What is next?!!!

 I found on the link above, actual footage of the water from the tsunami flooding towns in Japan.. check it out!

Page 338 of the text book has a whole box on the scientific consensus on climate change. It mainly talks about global warming and how it affects a change in climate.  It has been proven that the global climate is definitely warming. The box mentions the main reason of this warming stems from the increase in human-produced greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels. The warming of temperature have been the cause of increases in floods, droughts, heat waves and wildfires. It is also indirectly related to an increase intensity of tropical storms, like the Tsunami in Japan!!

This website has several graphs showing in the increase in average temperature of the past century, the increase in CO2 levels and also the increase in human population

http://www.globalwarmingclassroom.info/Lesson2_graphs.htm


Global warming will continue to become more of a problem if humanity continues to follow the path they are on. Fortunately, many organizations have recognized the growing epidemic and have been striving to correct mankind's mistakes. The following website lists several major companies all making changes to reduce power demands and using technology to create energy efficiencies.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9192481/The_Top_Green_IT_Organizations_Green_from_the_ground_up 

 

Spring Is On Its Way!

  

YAY SPRING!!!

It's March 8, that means that the first day of spring is only 2 weeks away!!

When someone thinks of spring one of the first things that comes to mind is flowers. But what makes a flower?..Well it all starts with a seed!


The only experience that I have had with planting seeds was in elementary school. We did an experiment where we grew lima beans in plastic cups. We packed our own dirt and buried the see in it, and we had to water it everyday and watch it grow. I never had an outside garden or an indoor garden, so I'm not too familiar with how to care for seeds and the best way to grow them.

 What does it mean to be alive? To be alive means to breathe, eat, move, reproduce, and anything else that a living thing can do.
Dictionary.com defines the word "alive" as:

having life; living; existing; not dead or lifeless



So what is the point of a science exploration that takes days or weeks to complete?

• it helps students see the difference in change in a certain object.
• students can observe the change day by day
• students can learn to make observations daily.
• students will learn that everything takes time and not everything can be done in the "blink of an eye."

Working with partners can be great!!
Working with partners or a small group can affect your learning experience because you can all contribute your own ideas into what you are working on. Each person has a great idea and when they are all combined together they make one really great idea. Each person also is good at their own individual thing. So if you take something that each person in the group is good at and put it together, your group work could turn out great!


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Science Teacher Interview

	http://nicoleportanova.podomatic.com/entry/2011-02-16T14_25_24-08_00

I interviewed my high school science teacher Mr. Guglieri for my science teacher interview. Before actually interviewing a scientist, I always had this perception that most scientist are people who are really into their jobs and do not want to focus on anything else except for science. I knew that Mr. Guglieri was not like my perception of scientists in any way so that is why I chose to interview him. I wanted to interview and different type of scientist! One example of Mr. Guglieri not being a "typical scientist" is that he got his motivation for becoming a scientist from a popular late television show called Macgyver. He said he liked how he used science mixed into his crime fighting in order to figure out how to catch the bad guy. Since I had absolutely no idea who Macgyver was, I did a little research to find out about him for myself. IMDB.com states the storyline of Macgyver as this: Angus Macgyver is a secret agent with a difference. He is quiet, mild mannered, deeply principled and refuses to carry a gun on his missions. Fortunately, the last detail is unimportant when compared to his astounding mind. Drawing on a vast practical knowledge of science, Macgyver is able to make use of any mundane materials around him to create unorthodox solutions to any problem he faces. The enemies of world peace and justice continually learn that underestimating this man is a fatal mistake for their plans. Written by Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@rogers.com>   Also in my findings, I found some really cool episodes involving science. Here's the link! http://www.cbs.com/classics/macgyver/video/?pid=loaFoavIGMgtazcWVQS8y1dK3_SXBZTG What I also found to be interesting about interviewing my science teacher was that I found out he is attempting his degree in Forensic Science. I thought that was really cool because when someone thinks of a scientist, they think of a lab coat and jacket, mixing up chemicals, people usually don't think about crime scene investigators as scientist. Because he mentioned Forensic science, it sparked my interest in thinking about it. I'm sure Forensic science is rarely ever considered in an elementary school classroom, but there can be great experiments for students to use forensics, such as fingerprinting themselves, and then dusting and checking for fingerprints. The idea of forensics seems really cool and I hope that I can incorporate it in my classroom lesson one day!