Comparing Blogs and Edmodo for Educational Usage

In the posts below, you will see a now-defunct blog that I created for the 2010-11 school year that was used regularly to keep students and parents updated regarding our 8th grade science class. This blog also served to provide download links for assignments. Students were able to ask questions and give feedback, but I think the concept was so new to them at the time, I didn't see as much interaction as I would have liked. Feel free to look through it, and let me know what you think, and yes: even what you would change. I think blogs work well as communication tools but tend to shed more light on the author rather than the audience. Lots of blogs are written as a series of op. ed. pieces or personal stories that can either become hotbeds of discussion or sleep reading depending on the subjects. Since students could not start conversations, I think that really stifled the initiative of some. Last year, one of our teachers discovered Edmodo, a lightweight LMS with far more security and functionality than a blog. Tests, grades, file sharing and a Facebook-inspired discussion interface are all positives. Negatives are few, with the lack of some key LMS features such as replying directly to a post within a thread, recorded lectures and live interaction being the main "issues". An Edmodo account is free, easy to start and just might push you or your administration over the edge to commit to a full LMS. Listen to my podcast regarding Edmodo below. Better yet, get on over there to www.edmodo.com, and sign up for an account, and see for yourself why I'm pretty high on it.

Test Tuesday and Grades

By now, all students should have been studying for their test on Tuesday covering fossils. The notes are posted here. Please download them and compare to your notes. Link should be fixed (4/25, 8:29 pm).

Grades have been updated this week. Please check to make sure there are no 1's in the book. If a 0 is entered, then that assignment may not be turned in for credit. If there is a blank next to the grade, it has not been entered.

This week, 3/28

This link will carry you to a website for your review of the electromagnetic spectrum. We will quiz tomorrow, 3/29, on electromagnetic waves. You will use the notes given to you last week as well as the review assignment given today. This quiz will count as a 40 point test grade. This week we will be moving into the geological side of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, by studying Earth processes such as tectonic plate movement and all of the associated phenomena such as earthquakes and volcanoes. SAT testing Wed, Thu, and Fri during 1st and 2nd pd. timeslots, although periods are being rearranged. Details will be passed along in class this morning.

Nuclear Decay and Radiation

This is the link covered in class today.

Japan Earthquake Analysis and HW

Please click on the following link and read the analysis of the earthquake in Japan and the sequence of events that followed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8392733/Japan-earthquake-how-the-nuclear-crisis-unfolded.html

Use the information in the article, your notes on waves as well as your earlier reading in the physical science book to answer the following questions? This is a 25 point project grade that will likely need to be completed at home as well as in class. Use complete sentences to answer the questions. 20% of the grade will be deducted if you do not. This is due on Wednesday, March 23.

Questions:

1. When the earthquake occured, what prompted the shutdown of the the 15 nuclear power stations in Japan? What type of longitudinal waves are produced by earthquakes?
2. This earthquake also produced a tsunami. In what ways did this tsunami indirectly cause the reactors to overheat?
3. In your own words what caused the explosions in reactors 1,2, and 3. From your reading in the book, why do nuclear reactors need to generate heat?
4. Besides heat, what is the single most potentially harmful byproduct of nuclear power generation? What type of wave do you think is produced by this byproduct?
5. In your own words, briefly describe three things that are being done to control the overheating. Why would the best final solution possibly be encasing the reactors in metal or concrete?

For more reading on nuclear energy, please click on the following website:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power.htm

Grades...

Some of you (especially 1st pd.) have yet to turn in the small lab assignment given to you in class on Tuesday. I put a 1 for your grade in INow if it was not turned in. Make sure I get this in the morning. Also, your circuit construction lab was due today, and this will be counted late tomorrow, unless I have already talked to you.

Notes for Quiz on Friday

Friday will be our last test of the quarter. It will be open-note but will not be a traditional 9 week exam. Please take the time to study this material over the next couple of days as well as finish your lab tonight if you did not finish today.