The Tech Savvy Teacher Uses Stellarium!!!

Utah Core Curriculum-Grade Three


Objective 2 Describe the movement of Earth and the moon and the apparent movement of other bodies through the sky.

Describe the motions of Earth (i.e., the rotation [spinning] of Earth on its axis, the revolution [orbit] of Earth around the sun).
Use a chart to show that the moon orbits Earth approximately every 28 days.
Use a model of Earth to demonstrate that Earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours to produce the night and day cycle.
Use a model to demonstrate why it seems to a person on Earth that the sun, planets, and stars appear to move across the sky.
Science language
students should use:
model, orbit, sphere, moon, axis, rotation, revolution, appearance

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/images/imageshtml/earth-tilt.gif

The Tech Savvy Teacher Explores the Night Sky


We all go to school during the day, when the sun is out. How, then, can our students have a real-life experience observing the night sky at school? Our class found the answer using a brand-new technology tool called Stellarium. This program is another great reason to be a Tech Savvy Teacher!
As part of our unit on space and the solar system, our class has been learning about the rotation and revolution of the earth and moon. Because of the tilt of the earths’ axis, we have not only seasons, but seasonal constellations in the night sky as well. This phenomenon is difficult to observe at school—unless you have the help of a handy tool like Stellarium. Using Stellarium, our class first observed the rotation of the earth around the sun in both normal time and fast motion. Next, we saw how our position on Earth affected our view of the night sky.

http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/ast110_06/ea/01p7a.jpg

The best part of our classroom space exploration, however, was watching the apparent movement of the constellations across the night sky throughout the year. From our paper star charts, we noted that certain constellations are visible during the night only at certain times of the year.



Image from stellarium

We got to see the constellations in action as we fast-forwarded through time in Stellarium. With the click of a mouse, we visited the constellations of the summer sky, such as Lyra and Ophiuchus.

Image from Stellarium

Next, the constellations visible on a winter evening appeared for our viewing pleasure, and we watched Canis Major follow Orion across the sky.

Image from Stellarium

Stellarium even showed us the different constellation images superimposed on the stars, so we got to see how the abstract groups of stars represented pictures of people, animals, and objects.
The program Stellarium brought the night sky into our classroom in broad daylight. Our class traveled through time and even turned off the light of the sun using this handy-dandy technology. Try using Stellarium for your own space unit. It will take you on a grand tour of the sky!

Observational Learning Report

Once I knew about this assignment of observing a teacher I began to really notice how my teachers presented their material and what strategies they used. I really paid attention to what I liked and what I didn’t like. I also tried to notice what classes I was more likely to participate in and which classes I was more likely to sit in the back quietly. As the week went on I realized that I really enjoyed one certain teacher’s strategies and style of teaching.

This class starts at 7:30 A.M. So as we all walk into class, this teacher has an extra duty to wake us up and get us excited and actively participating. I feel like she does such a great job in this. When we walk into class the day’s schedule is written up on the board. It is organized chronologically as well as including different symbols. There is a symbol that means “definition” and one for “A activities.” (I like that the symbols are on the board so we know where to record them in our notes. It keeps us so organized.) So when we look at the board we know when we’re going to do an activity, learn a definition, watch a video, or anything else that we will do that day. I think this is such a great strategy because it helps both the teacher and the students to know exactly what to expect.

Another great teaching strategy this professor does in general is keeping us actively engaged. We are always doing hands on activities, moving around, playing games, using props, media, and a variety of ways to learn the material. I learn the material way better if I am applying it in some way rather than simply being lectured to. For children especially this is so important. I also enjoy class so much more when I am involved in the learning.

The class is about multicultural education, especially English Language Learners (ELL). I don’t know much about this topic and I really enjoy the way the information is presented to us in so many forms. We do activities, listen to lectures, read articles, listen to radio clips, watch movie clips, have class discussions, talk about different scenarios, answer each other’s questions, and the list goes on. I think this variety is such a good way to present the material. As a teacher presenting this material or any other class, I feel that it is such a good idea to teach using such diversity.

SPACE PACK

This week we learned a new term: TPCK. This stands for technological, pedagogical, content knowledge. As a teacher it is very important to have all three types of knowledge. We can use technology to become a way more exciting and efficient teacher! In class we used temperature probes that plugged right into the USB port. By warming up and cooling down the probe we made letters and tried to write our name. We also were introduced to other science programs like stellarium that will be great resources to use in the classroom. 

New Teacher Tools!

This week we learned about RSS feeds and web 2.0 tools. I was particularly interested in the RSS feeds! Rather than searching for the same things on the internet everyday, we can set up our blogs so the information from our favourite websites comes right to us! I also liked the goodreads and the delicious sites. As a teacher this is such a great way to share information with other teachers. Also you could set up a goodreads website for your class and see what books the students are reading at home. All of these tools will be so good to have as a teacher!

Once Upon a Time

This is my very first experience with blogs! I am super excited to learn all about blogs and other technological advances. As of right now my technological use includes email, of course facebook, a lot of google, wikipedia, youtube, the byu website, and any other random and interesting places I find myself intrigued by.