I will be using the Ecosystems module. I look forward to getting back with other group members and working together. i also look forward to dusting the rust off using the star logo nova program again.
I will be teaching the water as a shared resource module. I’m not sure how I will present lesson 2 I hope that collaboration with my peers on Saturday will help clear some of the cobwebs.
I know I’m going to have to go slowly my students have only done hour of code and that may have been two years ago.
I am not sure where I stand with coding & my modules. My students are all different grade levels but appear to be at introductory coding. I am at the “introductory” level as well. Perhaps just “playing” with module 1 is the best place to start.
My plan is to start the students with Module One then teacher demo a project from my gallery that ties into the unit we are covering. I do not have a high comfort level yet and think that the next PD will help me with the learning curve.
I plan to start with hour of code and then go straight to module 1. I teach 6th grade, so the module ties in nicely with my curriculum. Depending on how well the students do, I would like to try to modify module 3 and use it to demonstrate convection currents within Earth’s mantle. I am excited and can’t wait to try coding with my kids!
I really need to be confident in presenting and PLAYING with the coding modules.
I believe the T/L/O experience may help me gain confidence in my lesson approach and teaching of module 1. I believe that starting slowly is definitely the way to go.
The module that I will be teaching will be the ecosystem module. Some of the parts that I am feeling stuck on are the technology needs and the actual presentation of the material. I am looking forward to our in person training to get some concrete help and ideas on how to present the lesson to my students.
I am starting to prepare for the TLO and when looking at the teaching guide, it refers to a slide show for the chemical reaction. I can’t seem to find where the links to the slide show are. Any advise??
Like everyone else, the teachers in my school will all begin with module 1. Since we are planning on teaching coding at all three grade levels at our school, we will need to figure out ahead of time how to squeeze 2 modules into our packed curriculum and how we will share the computers we have.
Coding is new to our school, so we will begin this year by doing Module 1 in all 3 grades, and if possible, implementing a second module that corresponds to curriculum. As jchaiten said above, time and computer resources will be a problem. I’m looking forward to TLO helping to prepare us for implementation into our classroom.
I will be using the Chemistry model, but I will not be teaching that topic until the end of November. I would like to start using the simulations now, so I want to try an activity modeling Natural Selection. Some of my students have misconceptions with natural selection. By performing a simulation activity, I believe they will get a better understanding of the process of natural selection.
During our code.org sessions, we focused on the climate change module for earth science, rather than the water as a shared resource module. This module fits in well with our school’s catastrophic events unit as we talk about greenhouse gases. The climate change module was super interesting and I would love to teach it in my class, but with how packed our curriculum is I don’t know if we’ll be able to get to it. We are just starting to integrate code.org into our curriculum, so we are planning on starting with module 1 in all the grade levels. If time allows, then we will add a 2nd module.
During our next code.org session, I would like to teach my colleagues the climate change module. I had a lot of fun exploring with this module and trying out the extensions.
I am teaching 6th graders this year in Science, and none of the 6th grade curriculum deals with the atmosphere, population dynamics, or chemical reactions - that is taught in 7th and 8th grade. I plan on teaching interactions of populations, since we do study behaviors and adaptations of animals. I will present this lesson as a “Who eats Who?” activity. We will study different animals and their roles in a food chain/web, design a food web poster (the part I am looking forward to), and then design a simple predator/prey simulation to see the importance of this relationship by seeing the effects of over-predation or lack of necessary predators,
If we have time we will attempt the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere simulation, since the kids are always keen on the effects of air pollution. I am new at this, so I do not think I can offer much help to others, but I will be learning as my students learn to troubleshoot their designs.
Our team will be introducing programming to our middle school students for the first time this year. We will begin with module 1 and then depending on the grade level students will have the chance to dig deeper into one of the other modules. At 7th grade, we will be focusing on Module 3: Ecosystems as Complex Systems. I think that this module will be a nice complement to our unit on Populations and Ecosystems. Students will have a chance to exploring the practice of developing and using models in a whole new way.
I will start with module 1 with my students, both for my benefit and theirs. I felt confident at the end of the summer with my abilities to run the modules, but that was 3 months ago. Once I get the students started, I think they will pick it up much faster than I ever did. I think I am most excited about the students getting excited about how they can create their own programs and getting started on it. I am sure I will feel stuck many times as I go. However, as I get time to stop, think about it and review I think I will be fine. I have my projects to refer back to and remind myself how to go forward. Working with my peers will help with brainstorming and creating lessons.
My plan to is start with module one like everyone else is saying to build my confidence and the students confidence in code. I plan to use our extended learning time which is approximately 30 minutes of extra class time once a week. Once confidence is gained I would move on to module 3, which relates to 7th grade science. I’m hoping to gain some confidence back at our in-person sessions so I can present more clearly to my students. Right now, I’m a little “foggy” on the skills as the start of the school year is very hectic and I have put the code.org lessons aside to just make it day-to-day right now.
I would like to tackle module 3 - Ecosystems. This curriculum topic will occur in late fall for my students. After the on-line portion of the summer work I felt like I was missing some basics in the coding. I found the re-mixing cumbersome and frustrating. which I know it should not be. My objective is to regain the confidence in coding so my attentions can be focused on lesson development.
I am looking forward to hearing the ideas of my peers.
I will be teaching the chemical reactions module. I am planning on providing my students with a functioning model and allowing them to manipulate 1 variable with a slider
I will be teaching Module 4 – Physical Science.
I will practice doing the activities in my class, then, proposed a PD for all Science teachers in my schoo.
How would you present Lesson 2?
Lesson 2 will be presented using the following objectives:
The students will:
Differentiate between chemical and physical properties of substances (LO6)
Identify Atomic Symbols (LO7)
Identify chemical formulas of the reactions in this module (LO8)
Identify which reactant is limiting and which is in excess (LO9)
Identify signs of a chemical reaction and when a chemical reaction stops (LO10)
Warm Up:
What are the elements that are necessary for life?
Vocabulary Teaching:
Vocabulary teaching is important for the lesson. Based on our data wise analysis in school students struggled with vocabulary words. In this lesson, students will match the vocabulary word, with a picture, and definition. The following words will be given:
Chemical reaction Reagents Limiting Reagents
Chemical Properties Physical properties Chemical equation
Chemical Formula Reactants Atomic Symbols
Chemical Reaction Overview
What are the elements that are necessary for life? Each students will represent an element, then they will paired with other elements to form molecule necessary for life (example: 2 H + O = H2O).
Present the slide presentation to review chemical reactions and computer science concepts
Present Model of Chemical Reaction (short video)
Student’s Tasks:
- Student’s will write chemical equations based on the video
- Balanced the chemical equations
- Discuss the physical and chemical properties silver, copper, silver nitrate and copper nitrate with a partner.
Teacher’s Tasks
- Present the slide presentation to review chemical reaction
- Present video clip of chemical reactions
- Model how to write chemical equations and how to balance the equation
- Allow students to present their partner discussion about physical and chemical properties
- Model how to use the Star Logo Nova
Activity 1 – Analyzing the model
Activity 2 – Modifying the Silver Nitrate and Copper Reaction
Students will use Star Logo Nova to modify the silver nitrate and copper reaction.
Students will be given options which one do they want to modify.
Present a Challenge to each group of students
Group A – move the copper rod on the left side of the screen
Group B - move the copper rod on the right side of the screen
Group C – move the copper rod on the left side bottom of the screen
Group D – move the copper rod on the right side bottom of the screen
Group E – move the copper rod between the left top and bottom side of the screen
Wrap Up:
Each group will present the results of their activity. Students will be given rubric for the activity and rubric for the presentation. Format of the presentation and guide question will be presented to the students.
Assessment:
Students will be given short quiz.
Students will be asked to do a quick write to answer:
What is the difference between the chemical and physical properties of copper?
Describe how many silver nitrate molecules are needed to react with each copper atom?
Which reactant is limiting the reaction?
How do we know that a chemical reaction has taken place?
How do we know when a chemical reaction has stopped?
Explain what happen when you modify the silver nitrate and Copper reaction?
Explain what will happen when you move the copper rod to a different location? Did the chemical reaction change?
What is your plan for lesson 3?
My plan for lesson 3:
The students will work in pair and choose what part of the experiment they want to modify.
Examples:
- Increasing the amount of silver
- Decreasing the amount of silver
- Using the same amount of silver and copper
- Removing water in the experiment
Students will use Star Logo Nova to conduct their experiment. They will test the model and explain the data gathered.
What activities are most looking forward to?
I will be looking forward for the activities done by students involving modifying the model further, and
The factors that impact the rate of a chemical reaction
Is there any place that you’re feeling stuck?
I think I will be stuck on creating the model using STAR Logo Nova. Some students will have difficulty on understanding how to use the STAR Logo Nova and in working on the base model
What help can you offer to others.
Right now, I don’t have any since I am still learning a lot of things on how to use the program. Maybe I can share some of the work of my students.