In the past week, all the students designed a plan for their project. One student in each group opened a new google doc for their group, added the members of the group and also added me. I put up a google doc with a list of all the important curriculum connections from each of the job descriptions. Their plan needed to include a general description of what would happen in each scene and also a list, or description of which curriculum points would be discussed in that scene. I told all the groups that they would not have class time to actually work on their project until the plan was complete and was approved by me. As groups were building their plan, I regularly checked their document and gave some feedback. The biggest stumbling block here seemed to be that the students would write all the curriculum points in one scene rather than trying to make it flow with all the information mixed together. I explained that it would probably be quite boring if for a whole scene the doctor talked only about all the health challenges. All the groups got the hang of it eventually and designed a plan in about 3 classes.
As students finished their plan, I talked to each group about the importance of getting the science into their project and then making an entertaining and educational presentations. Most of the groups in my class are either making movies using iMovie or animation using goanimate.com. Since then, students have been filming and designing the animation and they seem to be having lots of fun and are generally working well together.
So far, I would say that the two best features of this project are that students are really working collaboratively and that there are lots of opportunities for formative assessment both in class and in the google docs. The students only have one more class to work on their projects, but I have given them an extra week before the project is due.
Because all 8 grade 9 classes are doing this project we have decided to have presentations with students from different classes. We couldn't have them all presenting to each other because it would have taken too long. Instead, we decided to have 6 classrooms with about 8 groups in each class. This will take about 2 class periods and so the staff at the school has allowed all the grade 9s to be in our science classes for those 2 periods. I am really looking forward to seeing the presentations, it will be the culmination of a lot of work on the part of these students. Students and teachers who are observing the presentations are going to evaluate each presentation and we will tally the results and the top 6 presentations will be shown to the whole school at our lunchbox theater.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Moving on to the planning phase
Students have completed their work on the google doc that related to their jobs and are now back in their mission groups working on a plan for their entertaining and educational presentations.
I had the drama teacher come in and talk to the students about the importance of having a good tight plan and also how to go about making this plan. She also talked about some of the aspects that make a movie, skit, animation, etc entertaining. It was excellent to have her advice and feedback for students on this portion of the project.
Over the weekend I looked at all the 'job' google docs and highlighted the portions that need to be in their presentations. In general, the documents were excellent; they were well researched, logically flowing concise documents that covered most if not all of the information that was required. There was only 1 group that did not seem to get the idea of working collaboratively and as such their document had fragmented parts representing each person's work. Even after extensive feedback throughout, they did not seem willing to work together. Since it is important for all students to have a good document, I copied the doc from the other class into their google doc so that everyone would have good information to work from. I have spoken with the group members and have emphasized the need to step it up for the next phase of the project.
So, the intention of the planning phase is for groups to break their project into 5-10 chunks. In each chunk they will give an overview of what is happening during this section of the story and also explain which of the curricular connections will be addressed in that chunk of the presentation. Students are struggling a bit right now, but I have a few groups who really get what is needed and so tomorrow I will show their work to other groups so that they don't waste too much time before getting back on track. They are excited to get developing their presentation, but they will not be allowed to do this until I have approved their plan.
The students still seem very excited about the project, but I think they are happy to be back working with their originally chosen groups.
I had the drama teacher come in and talk to the students about the importance of having a good tight plan and also how to go about making this plan. She also talked about some of the aspects that make a movie, skit, animation, etc entertaining. It was excellent to have her advice and feedback for students on this portion of the project.
Over the weekend I looked at all the 'job' google docs and highlighted the portions that need to be in their presentations. In general, the documents were excellent; they were well researched, logically flowing concise documents that covered most if not all of the information that was required. There was only 1 group that did not seem to get the idea of working collaboratively and as such their document had fragmented parts representing each person's work. Even after extensive feedback throughout, they did not seem willing to work together. Since it is important for all students to have a good document, I copied the doc from the other class into their google doc so that everyone would have good information to work from. I have spoken with the group members and have emphasized the need to step it up for the next phase of the project.
So, the intention of the planning phase is for groups to break their project into 5-10 chunks. In each chunk they will give an overview of what is happening during this section of the story and also explain which of the curricular connections will be addressed in that chunk of the presentation. Students are struggling a bit right now, but I have a few groups who really get what is needed and so tomorrow I will show their work to other groups so that they don't waste too much time before getting back on track. They are excited to get developing their presentation, but they will not be allowed to do this until I have approved their plan.
The students still seem very excited about the project, but I think they are happy to be back working with their originally chosen groups.
Monday, October 11, 2010
After the first week
Students have been working with their 'job' groups for the past 5 days. All the groups decided to break the job into sections and work on their own sections for a few days. They are now working to compile the information into a coherent document to take back to their groups. For this section I have 3 students working together at 1 computer and working through all the research to make a document with an introduction and subsections. This will likely go on for one or two more periods, but I feel it is a very important step so that all members are very familiar with the information and also so there will be a concise coherent document for others to use. So far we are on track for time, but this part might take one extra day.
Right now, I am reviewing all the documents and giving feedback on areas they have missed, referencing that is not done properly. When their document is compiled I will have the individuals from another group read their work and give feedback on what they found hard to understand and how easy and logical the document was to read.
The engagement has been incredible this week. For example, one girl was home from school due to an injury and she found out when we had science class and was on the google doc during class time so she could work with her group. I also did have one boy who thought he was done his part so decided to play a game without telling me, so as with most things, it goes both ways. To his credit, his work was done, but he was avoiding any editing that was expected from the group.
Part 1: Creating a coherent google doc in response to the job description by all individuals who selected that job. (Almost complete)
Part 2: Creating a plan/script for their entertaining and educational presentation.
Students will go back to their 'mission' group this week and start planning how they are going to present their material in an entertaining and educational manner. They will need some time to share information about all their jobs, and then come up with their plan. Each group will start their own google doc and they will invite me to this doc so that I can see their progress.
I thought that they would need some help with their script/plan (more than what I can give) so this week, I am bringing in the drama/film teacher to talk the students about how to prepare their script/plan.
Part 3: Taking their script/plan and making the presentation. This cannot happen until the plan is approved.
Right now, I am reviewing all the documents and giving feedback on areas they have missed, referencing that is not done properly. When their document is compiled I will have the individuals from another group read their work and give feedback on what they found hard to understand and how easy and logical the document was to read.
The engagement has been incredible this week. For example, one girl was home from school due to an injury and she found out when we had science class and was on the google doc during class time so she could work with her group. I also did have one boy who thought he was done his part so decided to play a game without telling me, so as with most things, it goes both ways. To his credit, his work was done, but he was avoiding any editing that was expected from the group.
Part 1: Creating a coherent google doc in response to the job description by all individuals who selected that job. (Almost complete)
Part 2: Creating a plan/script for their entertaining and educational presentation.
Students will go back to their 'mission' group this week and start planning how they are going to present their material in an entertaining and educational manner. They will need some time to share information about all their jobs, and then come up with their plan. Each group will start their own google doc and they will invite me to this doc so that I can see their progress.
I thought that they would need some help with their script/plan (more than what I can give) so this week, I am bringing in the drama/film teacher to talk the students about how to prepare their script/plan.
Part 3: Taking their script/plan and making the presentation. This cannot happen until the plan is approved.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Space project week 1
So, the space project is coming along. The students have broken into groups and they have selected jobs from the list that I will attach below and each group has chosen their own mission. We have some groups going to the moon, some to ISS and one as far away at Titan. Now all of the people who have the same job are working together to complete a googledoc with the appropriate information. Most groups have broken the job down into smaller pieces and are now working away. I will check on them after Monday's class, to see how the information is coming together and will then get the groups to try to compile the information so that each student is comfortable before returning to their original groups as the expert.
Having the kids on googledocs has been really great. They like working together and I think it is interesting for them to be able to see what other students are doing in the same space where they are working. Initially I let them play for a little while just to get used to the idea of working on a collaborative document, but it didn't take long for them to settle in and work together. Some students have been on the documents this weekend, even though I explained that they would be given lots of class time this week. They were very happy when they asked me how to save the file and I told them that it was already saved!
I talked to the 2 other science teachers at my school who teach grade 9 and they are keen to do the project as well, so now all 210 students are doing this project. We decided to have a presentation day so that all students can share their projects (some will be making movies, songs, skits etc). I think the final products be more impressive because there is nothing like the motivation of having to show your work to a large audience of your peers to make students want to put something good together.
Job Descriptions
Researcher – Your job is to determine the scope and strategy for your mission. In order to do this, you need some background information on your destination, previous missions to your destination, and a comparison of your destination to the Earth (eg. Size, composition, temperature, distance from the Earth, etc). After this, you must design an experiment or plan of investigation that will be the purpose for your mission.
Safety – Your job is to understand all the risks inherent with undertaking a space mission. The most dangerous parts of any mission are taking off and landing. Be sure to research some previous tragedies so you are aware of potential problems and find out some of the modifications that will prevent similar dangers in the future. During the flight you must be aware of dangers surrounding radiation, space junk and malfunctions that may occur during a space walk or landing mission.
Doctor – Your role is to ensure the health of all the astronauts during and after the mission. As preventative measures, you must be aware of all the life support processes onboard, such as water, air and food supply as well as waste disposal. You also must have a plan to combat the effects of microgravity. Additionally, you must research means of monitoring the health of the astronauts and research some common space related illnesses and understand the basic treatment for these conditions.
Flight – Your job is to fly the mission. The first job is to decide what kind of vessel will best suit your mission. In order to do this you need to know how multistage rockets and space shuttle take off and land, as well as the kinds of missions each has been used for in the past. Then assess the advantages and disadvantages of both vessels and decide which vessel will best suit your needs. You need to understand how your vessel will move once it is in space (fuel and gravitational assist). Finally, design a flight plan for your mission that includes your plan to get where you’re going, how long it will take and how far it is from the Earth and how you will successfully get back to Earth.
Communication – Your job is to make all communication connection with ground control as well as with people doing space walks or landing missions. You must also know your location and be able to use remote sensing to better understand your destination. Therefore, you must understand how different communication satellites work, including knowing their orbit, how signals are relayed, potential lag times for your messages and whether there will be situations when you will lose communication with Earth. You are also in charge of knowing the precise location of your spacecraft by learning about GPS satellites and methods of triangulating your coordinates. Additionally, you need to learn about remote sensing satellites so that you can decide whether you will deploy any satellites during your mission to study your destination after your return to Earth.
Having the kids on googledocs has been really great. They like working together and I think it is interesting for them to be able to see what other students are doing in the same space where they are working. Initially I let them play for a little while just to get used to the idea of working on a collaborative document, but it didn't take long for them to settle in and work together. Some students have been on the documents this weekend, even though I explained that they would be given lots of class time this week. They were very happy when they asked me how to save the file and I told them that it was already saved!
I talked to the 2 other science teachers at my school who teach grade 9 and they are keen to do the project as well, so now all 210 students are doing this project. We decided to have a presentation day so that all students can share their projects (some will be making movies, songs, skits etc). I think the final products be more impressive because there is nothing like the motivation of having to show your work to a large audience of your peers to make students want to put something good together.
Job Descriptions
Researcher – Your job is to determine the scope and strategy for your mission. In order to do this, you need some background information on your destination, previous missions to your destination, and a comparison of your destination to the Earth (eg. Size, composition, temperature, distance from the Earth, etc). After this, you must design an experiment or plan of investigation that will be the purpose for your mission.
Safety – Your job is to understand all the risks inherent with undertaking a space mission. The most dangerous parts of any mission are taking off and landing. Be sure to research some previous tragedies so you are aware of potential problems and find out some of the modifications that will prevent similar dangers in the future. During the flight you must be aware of dangers surrounding radiation, space junk and malfunctions that may occur during a space walk or landing mission.
Doctor – Your role is to ensure the health of all the astronauts during and after the mission. As preventative measures, you must be aware of all the life support processes onboard, such as water, air and food supply as well as waste disposal. You also must have a plan to combat the effects of microgravity. Additionally, you must research means of monitoring the health of the astronauts and research some common space related illnesses and understand the basic treatment for these conditions.
Flight – Your job is to fly the mission. The first job is to decide what kind of vessel will best suit your mission. In order to do this you need to know how multistage rockets and space shuttle take off and land, as well as the kinds of missions each has been used for in the past. Then assess the advantages and disadvantages of both vessels and decide which vessel will best suit your needs. You need to understand how your vessel will move once it is in space (fuel and gravitational assist). Finally, design a flight plan for your mission that includes your plan to get where you’re going, how long it will take and how far it is from the Earth and how you will successfully get back to Earth.
Communication – Your job is to make all communication connection with ground control as well as with people doing space walks or landing missions. You must also know your location and be able to use remote sensing to better understand your destination. Therefore, you must understand how different communication satellites work, including knowing their orbit, how signals are relayed, potential lag times for your messages and whether there will be situations when you will lose communication with Earth. You are also in charge of knowing the precise location of your spacecraft by learning about GPS satellites and methods of triangulating your coordinates. Additionally, you need to learn about remote sensing satellites so that you can decide whether you will deploy any satellites during your mission to study your destination after your return to Earth.
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