OUT OF THIS WORLD AND INTO OUR CLASSROOM
Grissom located in a middleclass suburban area has approximately 875 students
divided into six straight grade teams: two sixth, two seventh, and two eighth.
Each team consists of one Reading, Language, Social Science, Science, and
Math teacher.
Description of our math classroom: One computer that is connected to the
Internet. Each class has between 30-32 students.
BACKGROUND
Our team will be working on an integrated unit as part of the Museum
in the Classroom and ISBE
Project. The unit involves using the sky as a natural laboratory (quoting
Adler's home page) and connecting students and teachers from many disciplines
to the wonder of the universe and to each other. The unit will start within
the first few weeks of school. We will be working with 25 schools throughout
the state of Illinois; Adler
Planetarium and Museum, plus Staerkel Planetarium in Champaign, and
Lakeview Planetarium in Peoria; and University of Chicago graduate students.
Our goal is to be able to learn about Astronomy through a multidisciplinary
unit that actively engages our students with authentic and challenging activities.
The teaching team of Mrs. Jo Anne Hamilton-Gunkel, Science, and Ms. Sharon
White, Math, meet daily to plan for the unit. Ms. Gunkel is assisting our
students in learning more about Astronomy, where the universe is the limit.
The students will create projects on Astronomy developing their
Ms. White will be using the following mathematic
concepts:
to assist the students with their projects. The students will be also using
Local Learner Outcomes for seventh grade
mathematics. Letter writing skills and reading will be reinforced . The
historical significance will be researched.
The unit lasts for seven weeks, although the students will be encouraged
to continue expanding and investigating for the rest of the school year
on their own. The Internet will be used at least once a week for a class
period. Discussions will be daily during the seven week period and thereafter
as needed. The students will also have access to the Internet during their
resource period (22 minutes, the other half of their lunch period). A group
of students, called the Core Group, will be selected to become trainers
of other students on the team on the use of the technology: using the Internet;
using the QuickTake
camera and FlexCam; and making
the panoramas and video clips using QTVR.
The Core Groups will be selected from a paragraph they completed on the
reasons they would like to be the trainers of the team. The students train
other students until all the students know how to use the technology. The
Core Group consists of the following subgroups: HOU,
Astronomy, Photography, Keypals and Chat, and Video-conferencing. Students
from this team will also start training new students the following school
year.
Assessment will be performance-based. Including the above standards,
local learner outcomes will be
assessed. Students will be evaluated in both Science and Math using a rubric.
BEGINNING
One of last year's Core members is coming in to show a group how to use
the QuickTake camera. Tomorrow a different student will explain how to e-mail
and chat. Each day, another student will share his/her experiences on using
the technology. Students can't wait until they will actually be doing this
on-line. As students enter they check the board for Ms. White's written
instructions: needed materials and today's groups. One student goes to the
computer to check if another school would like to chat, if a question that
we had has been answered by one of the Museum connections or if a video-conferencing
time has been arranged. Some students are finishing a review of basics.
During the class, Ms. White is going from group to group guiding them in
today's activity. Towards the end of class the groups share their results
with one another. The discussion clarifies some problems one group had.
Both the small and large group activities will be part of the on-going assessment.
At the end of class, Ms. White reminds students that a chat has been arranged
with the fourth graders tomorrow and those students who are mentors will
need to meet during today's resource period. In science class, the Astronomy
unit has started. The students will be choosing topics, groups, and methods
to complete their projects. We are also still investigating HOU (Hands
on Universe). Later today the teaching team will discuss the students
progress and plan tomorrow's activities connecting the mathematics and science
topics.
MIDDLE
This year's core group has been working with the rest of the team sharing
how to use the equipment. They are almost finished training everyone. We
have been chatting with most of the 25 schools, chatting about Astronomy,
science, math, OR. Our entire team, students and teachers, will be going
on a field trip to the museum next week. The museum has been e-mailing us
to make sure that our field trip is exciting and productive to us. They
want to speak to our core group, take our picture, and show them artifacts
and things that the regular visitor would not normally see. The students
who will be working with the Quicktake camera on the field trip are practicing
taking pictures of the science projects. They come into the our classroom
to download the pictures while another class is working on Math. Ms. White
glances over to see if they have any problems, then continues with her class.
The Science projects are still under construction. We have been working
with the Adler astronomers and U. of C. grad students on some of our questions.
A video-conference with them and some of the other schools has been arranged.
Some students have been working on writing the HTML's that describe what
we have been doing. Those working with HOU have been requesting and downloading
images from space and comparing their results with other schools. Some students
have become keypals with fourth graders from a school Northwest of us. They
are serving as mentors whenever the fourth graders need help. The high school
East of us has been doing the same for us. Students have been staying after
school to work with the Internet and the equipment. Some of the students
have also been using the quicktake to create a panoramic view of the classroom
and school. They have tried three times without success but are determined
to have one that will show our classroom. Another group has been using the
flexcam to make a video clip of one of the student made models.
END
Students have been completing their projects in both Math and Science. As
they share them with the class, both teachers are assessing their progress.
Our HTML's still are under construction. In addition to our classroom panoramas,
students have created several on Astronomy. We are still communicating with
the other schools. Even though the Astronomy unit is almost completed, we
still plan on connecting with the museum, grad students and, of course,
the schools that we have been connected to so far this year. During the
course of this unit we have been invited to a math challenge by a school
on the west coast. We have already answered their first problem. Now, let's
see if they can do ours. The students are also planning more topics for
the rest of the school year. Some would like to start training the sixth
graders now instead of waiting until next year like they had to do. Some
of the students have decided that the Astronomy unit was too short and they
have joined a local Astronomy group. Others have asked for telescopes for
the holidays. Some students are still involved with the list server for
NASA, Live from Mars.
BACK
Author: Sharon White, swhite@kiwi.dep.anl.gov
Created: July 8, 1996 - Updated: July 19.1996
Written for the The
Fermilab LInC program sponsored by the Fermilab
Education Office
