Water Travels in a Circle... Yes, it Does!

Second graders at Peterson Elementary have taken their knowledge of the water cycle to a whole new level. A digital level! 

In Ms. Anderson's class students used a web based tool called ToonDoo to let their creative, artistic talents shine as they worked to create a comic strip that truly showcased and extended their understanding of the water cycle.

Their task was to use the five vocabulary words learned through their water cycle lessons: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, accumulation, and water vapor. Students had the use the vocabulary words correctly and search for images within ToonDoo that clearly depicted that vocabulary term. The students worked independently on laptops to type and create their comic strip. Choosing layouts, selecting images and formatting the text provided a variation among products and allowed students to make their comic strip look exactly as they wished. Creative choice was motivating to these students.

 "I liked how you could type in what you wanted to find and it would find what you needed." -Brenden

 "It was challenging to find the picture and typing everything up but it was fun." -Genesis 

 "I liked how you picked all the pictures that you wanted in your comic that the website had." -Isabella

Maren, a second grader in Mrs. Spratt's class, chose to share her knowledge of the water cycle in a different way. Prior to lessons taught on the subject, Maren asked if she could create a Kahoot for her classmates to use as a review. Mrs. Spratt provided Maren with key vocabulary terms and Maren did the rest. Independently, Maren researched the vocabulary terms and created her Kahoot. Students in her class were able to use her game as a fun review before their water cycle assessment.

 

"I wanted to create a Kahoot because I like to try new things. I already remembered a lot about the water cycle from first grade." 

-Maren

Click HERE to play Maren's Kahoot

Student projects highlighted in this post were also presented at this year's Techno Expo.

Crazy and Unpredictable Weather Right Here in North Texas

In Mrs. Briseno’s 2nd grade class at Justin Elementary, students are learning just how extreme and unpredictable our weather can be.  

"Our teacher gave us a choice of weather topics like flash floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and heatwaves.  We brainstormed different avenues to collect our research using graphic organizers.  We were also charged with how are we going to share our knowledge with a global audience.  When our information was presented in class we asked for feedback from our class peers.  Mrs. Briseno then posted the projects on her class Twitter to share."

Project 1 -  Grey wanted to showcase his learning using the graphic organizer about Tornadoes.  He chose the app on the classroom iPad called Corkboard.  He found his free educational images on Google.  Grey states, “Did you know right here in Justin, TX, we are in what is called Tornado Alley? The weather trackers find the storms and send the data back to the news or home base to protect the people in our community.”

Project  2 - Tyler and Gracie wanted to learn about Flash Floods.  Their collaboration and research began with several questions: How do flash floods form?  How do they stop? How can you protect yourself if you are in a flash flood?  They chose to culminate their research in a document with images that were converted into a flipbook using a tool called FlipSnack.  

Click here to see the book in action

Tyler mentions that Oklahoma, Mississippi, and China are more prone to flash floods due to their weather habits and the soft land.  Gracie stated that her dad is always looking at his radar on his smartphone when bad weather is approaching.  He is a paramedic/policeman and he needs to protect people.

These are just a few examples of projects that will be showcased at Night of No Limits in May.  

This post was written in collaboration with Grey, Tyler, Gracie, and Mrs. Briseno

Texas Oil: A Digital Exhibit

For this project, 7th grade Medlin students were asked to create a digital exhibit that records the history of the first Texas oil boom at Spindletop in 1901 and describe the social and economic effects of the discovery. Students researched the history of Spindletop, collected data, composed relevant charts and/or graphs, and present the information digitally. Students had the choice of what to use and   how to present their digital exhibit.

This student group created an emaze to communicate their learning on Texas oil. "I benefited from this project as a student and learned how the oil discovery at Spindletop accelerated the production and use of oil. The old discovery at Spindletop made oil the leading energy product for automobiles. This large oil discover led to oil production taking over as one of the World's largest industries is in the US and even the World."

Vanessa and Isabella created a video using Microsoft Movie Maker for their digital exhibit. "This project was so much fun! This project was a good experience for us to learn more about the oil industry. The technology we used was appropriate for the task given. I thought the fact that boomtowns arose in a matter of days was very interesting. I loved this project!"

For more projects, please visit the links below:

Smore: Oil, how did it affect Texas? 

PowToon: Texas Oil Project

Smore: The Rise of Black Gold


Thanks to Mr. Perrin and Ms. Scholler for their collaboration on this post.

Before Buying That Car...Consider Using Linear Regression

How can linear regression be used in "the real world?"  8th grade algebra students at Tidwell
Middle School were given a scenario that asked them to answer this question.  Given a list of prices for used cars, groups of students used linear regression to find out if specific offers were reasonable based on their data. Using Google docs, groups collaboratively wrote a letter explaining whether the price was reasonable, how they found their answers, and made a new personal offer on the car.

Alyssa, Maggie, and Ethan enjoyed this particular project and comment on the learning process. "First, we used the list of prices for a car to make a scatterplot and find the line of best fit, " described Ethan. " We all were doing research and completing the work at the same time on the same document.  While I was doing research, Chloe found an online program that would help us create the graph. Then, we had to decide whether the price given was reasonable."  Ethan adds, “I learned that it is important to do research before making big financial decisions. In fact, I would do a little more research if I could do this project again.  I would have liked to explain using even more facts to justify the price in the letter."  Students were asked to do a lot of writing for this project.  Maggie explains, "I prefer writing in math because it is very to the point and accurate.  We are showing facts rather than expressing opinions.” 

"We used Google Docs and Google Spreadsheets for this project so that we could all work on the project at one time, explained Chloe. "Google sheets is great because it autosaves and updates for all of us." Alyssa adds, "Writing allowed us to get our ideas in order.  We explained each step and were able to write at the same time to make sure we were all on the same page."

The team receieved feebback on their letter from Mr. Horn and walked away well aware of the benefit of using linear regressions to find the best price point.

Elizabeth, Maggie, and Alyssa's Letter and Explanation
Ethan, Kennedy, and Chloe's Letter and Explanation