Today we did the official Alka-Seltzer Lab. We spent time describing scribepost a little bit as well. We split into a few 2-3 person groups and created a lab. We had to include the independant variable is what we can change(concentration, temperature, etc...), the dependant variable which is what you measure, and the control which is what we dont change. We wrote a lab procedure, a conclusion, a hypothesis, and what our variables are. For example, in the experiment in this blog we measured the time it takes for the alkaseltzer to pop, and used crumbled and non crumbled pieces of alkaseltzer. We came to the conclusion that crumbled pieces of alkaseltzer popped faster. We also have to a formal group write up due Monday.
Today, we started our Alka Seltzer Rocket lab. We took old film canisters, and filled them up with different levels of water, and tablets of Alka Seltzer. We had a control group, which was having the canister half full of water. And in our other tests, we had different levels of water, and we would see if the rocket shot higher, or lower. Basically, this lab was teaching us to understand The independent and dependent variables.
Much of what is written here is from a teacher experienced with using the web as a forum for us to share our learnings and reflections. Darren Kuropatwa writes, "Blogging is a very public activity. Anything that gets posted on the internet stays there. Forever. Deleting a post simply removes it from the blog it was posted to. Copies of the post may exist scattered all over the internet. I have come across posts from my students on blogs as far away as Sweden! That is why we are being so careful to respect your privacy and using first names only. We do not use pictures of ourselves. If you really want a graphic image associated with your posting use an avatar -- a picture of something that represents you but IS NOT of you."
Reflect as you watch this.
Two teachers in the U.S.A. worked with their classes to come up with a list of guidelines for student bloggers.
One of them, Bud Hunt, has these suggestions, among others:
Students using blogs are expected to treat blogspaces as classroom spaces. Speech that is inappropriate for class is not appropriate for our blog. While we encourage you to engage in debate and conversation with other bloggers, we also expect that you will conduct yourself in a manner reflective of a representative of this school.
Never EVER EVER give out or record personal information on our blog. Our blog exists as a public space on the Internet. Don’t share anything that you don’t want the world to know. For your safety, be careful what you say, too. Don’t give out your phone number or home address. This is particularly important to remember if you have a personal online journal or blog elsewhere.
Again, your blog is a public space. And if you put it on the Internet, odds are really good that it will stay on the Internet. Always. That means ten years from now when you are looking for a job, it might be possible for an employer to discover some really hateful and immature things you said when you were younger and more prone to foolish things. Be sure that anything you write you are proud of. It can come back to haunt you if you don’t.
Never link to something you haven’t read. While it isn’t your job to police the Internet, when you link to something, you should make sure it is something that you really want to be associated with. If a link contains material that might be creepy or make some people uncomfortable, you should probably try a different source.
Thoughts on the videos or on these guidelines? Any other guidelines you'd like to add?
We will be creating our own class version of the textbook. I am hoping this will help you immensely. Again this is for you, written by you.
Each time a reading is assigned, a texter will be assigned to summarize the section of reading assigned. It will be your job to explain this section as well as you possibly can so that the whole class can read your summary and feel as though they understand the main points of the section. Feel free to include any visuals that would help bring clarity and understanding you the section.
Post whatever you want here that relates to something in class. Have a good story that relates to the disease unit? Write it here. Don't understand something? Blog it here... hopefully a fellow classmate can help you out.
Anything and everything that relates to p1chem2010, here's a place to write whatever you want that's... on your mind.
A friend advertised on Craigslist for a housekeeper. Three interesting resumes came to the top. She googled each person's name.
The first search turned up a MySpace page. There was a picture of the applicant, drinking beer from a funnel. Under hobbies, the first entry was, "binge drinking."
The second search turned up a personal blog (a good one, actually). The most recent entry said something like, "I am applying for some menial jobs that are below me, and I'm annoyed by it. I'll certainly quit the minute I sell a few paintings."
And the third? There were only six matches, and the sixth was from the local police department, indicating that the applicant had been arrested for shoplifting two years earlier.
Three for three.
Google never forgets.
Of course, you don't have to be a drunk, a thief or a bitter failure for this to backfire. Everything you do now ends up in your permanent record. The best plan is to overload Google with a long tail of good stuff and to always act as if you're on Candid Camera, because you are.
Period 1, welcome to our blog! This is going to be a site by you and for you. It'll be a place to share your knowledge with fellow classmates, to reflect on what you've learned, and to learn concepts that you may have missed in class. We'll talk more about the details later.
Just remember, you must add at least 3 labels to every post.
1. Your blog name
2. Either scribepost, texter, onmymind
3. Unit the post is about
Scribeposts are meant to be a daily summary of what was learned in class today. It will be written by you, for you and your classmates. You will only have to write 3-4 of these per SEMESTER. Please do yours the best that you can. Your class and others are depending on you and will appreciate it.
A few guidelines.
1. Create a summary of what you learned in class. Use any pictures, graphs, worksheets, UP pages and/or any other resources that will enhance your post.
2. Include any thoughts and personal reflections connecting the learning to what you already know or personal experiences.
3. Must have 3 labels. Your name (first name and last initial or an alias only!), scribepost, and unit name.
