The Photosynthesis Cycle" The Earth's atmosphere is mostly composed of nitrogen. Oxygen makes up just 21 percent of the air we breathe. Carbon dioxide, argon, ozone, water vapor and other gasses make up a tiny portion of it, as little as 1 percent. These gasses probably came from several processes as the Earth evolved and grew as a planet. But some scientists believe that the Earth's atmosphere would never have contained the oxygen we need without plants. Photosynthesis is a complex reaction. 6CO2 + 12H2O + Light -> C6H12O6 + 6O2+ 6H2O In other words, while we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, plants inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. Without the sun to feed plants (and the plants to release oxygen), we might not have breathable air. Obviously, plants are important, but not just because they give us food to eat and oxygen to breathe.
The Energy Story - Introduction Energy is one of the most fundamental parts of our universe. We use energy to do work. Energy lights our cities. Energy powers our vehicles, trains, planes and rockets. Energy from the sun gives us light during the day. Everything we do is connected to energy in one form or another. Energy is defined as: "the ability to do work." When we eat, our bodies transform the energy stored in the food into energy to do work. Cars, planes, light bulbs, boats and machinery also transform energy into work. Work means moving something, lifting something, warming something, lighting something. There are many sources of energy. The forms of energy we will look at include: Electricity Biomass Energy - energy from plants Geothermal Energy Fossil Fuels - Coal, Oil and Natural Gas Hydro Power and Ocean Energy Nuclear Energy Solar Energy Wind Energy Transportation Energy You can start with Chapter 1: Energy - What Is It?
7 Tools for Creating Mind Maps and Outlines Online One of the presentations that I made this week was about having students create videos to demonstrate their knowledge of a topic. In that presentation one of the points that I stress is the need for students to create outlines of their videos before moving onto the technical aspects of constructing a video. Here are some tools for creating outlines and mind maps to plan video projects, podcasts, or essays. Quicklyst is a nice tool for taking notes and creating outlines. Quicklyst provides a simple outline template that you can use to take notes. Knowcase is a free tool for recording ideas and creating outlines. Spider Scribe is an online mind map creation service. Folder Boy is a new service for recording, sharing, and organizing ideas with a team. Wise Mapping is a free collaborative mind mapping tool. Exploratree is a free graphic organizer creation tool. Slatebox is a slick tool for collaboratively creating mind maps and organizational charts.
10 Assessments You Can Perform In 90 Seconds Good assessment is frequent assessment. Any assessment is designed to provide a snapshot of student understand—the more snapshots, the more complete the full picture of knowledge. On its best day, an assessment will be 100% effective, telling you exactly what a student understands. This makes a strong argument for frequent assessment, as it can be too easy to over-react and “remediate” students who may be banging against the limits of the assessment’s design rather than their own understanding. It is a huge burden (for both teachers and students) to design, write, complete, grade, and absorb the data into an instructional design sequence on a consistent basis. Simple Assessments The word “simple” here is misleading. Then, due to their brevity, they’re simple to grade–in fact, you can grade them as exit slips–which makes taking the data and informing instruction (the whole point of assessment) a much simpler process as well. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Draw what you do understand. 10.
The Most Important Question Every Assessment Should Answer The Question Every Assessment Should Be Able To Answer by Terry Heick The difference between assessment of learning and assessment for learning is a crucial one, in many ways indicative of an important shift in education. Traditionally, tests have told teachers and parents how a student “does,” then offers a very accessible point of data (usually percentage correct and subsequent letter grade) that is reported to parents as a performance indicator. Class data can be gathered to imply instructional effectiveness, and the data from multiple classrooms can be combined to suggest the performance of an entire school, but a core message here is one of measurement and finality: this is how you did. This was the bar, and you either cleared it or you didn’t. And it’s all past tense. 5 Strategies For Assessment For Learning First, a word about assessment startegies. comenuusaassessment.com created the above graphic that shares 5 strategies for assessment for learning: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Still, it happens.
7 Simple Ways You Can Help Students Pay Attention In A Traditional Classroom - 7 Simple Ways You Can Help Students Pay Attention by TeachThought Staff For many teachers, helping students “pay attention” is probably the wrong way to help improve what you’re probably trying to improve. Listless students. Apathetic responses. Uninspired work. Talking. Texting. Behavior issues. “Off-taskedness.” Daydreaming. These are the hallmarks of a classroom and curriculum in need of some significant rethinking rather than a few “takeaways” to help students “stare longer at work they don’t care about.” That said, for others, the challenge may indeed by one of pure student engagement. Provided in the following infographic from Reading Horizons are some strategies for increasing student engagement. 7 Simple Ways You Can Help Students Pay Attention In A Traditional Classroom 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 7 Simple Ways You Can Help Students Pay Attention In A Traditional Classroom; image attribution readinghorizons.com