Hyperdocs for Science Design Projects

 The students in Mrs. Shwaluk's Grade 7 and 8 classes at Shoal Lake School have been using technology to enhance their learning. They've agreed to let me share their recent science design project to show how technology was integrated.  

The project

As part of their science class, students were challenged to design a cooler to keep ice frozen as long as possible. They were responsible for documenting the design process and collecting data.  

The technology

Students used different tech tools to enhance their design project and the presentation of the data.  

Hyperdocs with Google Slides: Students created a hyperdoc in Slides which included each step of the design process, including details on the materials, planning, results and conclusion.  Students added links to research sources, Sheets used for data collection and videos of their initial build and re-iteration to make improvements.  

Google Sheets: Students collected their temperature data in a table in Google Sheets, which was used to create the graphs they included in their final hyperdoc.  

WeVideo: Students used WeVideo to record and edit their videos, which showed them building their coolers and then revising them based on initial testing.  

Micro:bits: Students programmed micro:bits to take temperature measurements as a way of collecting data while testing their coolers.  

The projects

I was so excited to see this student work when Mrs. Shwaluk shared it with our professional learning community!  It is such a wonderful example of how we can use technology to enhance learning and the students did a great job of demonstrating their understanding through their videos and hyperdocs.  Here are some examples from students who agreed to share their work.

Jacob's video explaining his cooler build

Reese's Hyperdoc

Optics and Light Science Research Videos by DCS Grade 7 & 8

 The following work is from Mr. Elias Wipf's Grade 7 and 8 class at Decker Colony School. Thank you to this group for allowing me to showcase their work here on the blog.

About our Research Project

These fantastic WeVideo creations were created in our grade 8 Optics and Light unit. All of these research projects were to show that light and wavelengths have energy that can be used in all kinds of applications. We all picked a topic to research, did the research, created a script for the narration, recorded and edited video, uploaded it on YouTube, and made a QR code for it so that people can access it.

Abigail:My project was X-Rays. Once the research was complete, the rest was easy. All in all I think the greatest challenge was the research, and uncovering the meanings of the complicated scientific terms. Although at some points it was challenging, I am pleased to know what is happening as the doctors and nurses are taking X-Rays.

Jesse: My research was about Satellites and Satellite dishes. In the beginning of my research, I had absolutely no idea what a Satellite or a Satellite dish was. I didn’t even know that they were used for live broadcasting. As I started researching my project, it became more and more clear in my mind. After a little more research, I can proudly say that I am now a Satellite and Satellite dish “expert.”

Gabriel: My research project was a microwave. At first my microwave research went awful. I only had about two sentences when the other students had twenty. I slowly started to advance. I was writing more words than the day before. Then I got permission to record. I wasted an entire half hour because I messed up big time. I wanted to throw my laptop through the wall. After a few minutes, I finally got it right. Now I can watch a microwave oven cook food and know exactly how it works.

Matthias: My research project was about motion sensors. I hardly knew anything in the beginning of my research. When I finally started researching, I got an Idea about how it works. I kept building on my information until I knew enough about it to start my video. So here is my finished video for you to enjoy.

Scavenger Hunts with Seesaw

 More and more teachers in our school division are using Seesaw with students.  Seesaw is a great tool to use for collecting student work samples in a digital portfolio (or learning journal, as Seesaw calls it).  Teachers can also create or source activities for students to complete in Seesaw, which was super helpful during remote learning and continues to be useful for classroom learning activities.  

I've found some good Seesaw scavenger hunt activities created by other teachers and now created some of my own templates to share with colleagues as well.  The concept of a scavenger hunt works well for any grade level and subject area because you can customize your list of scavenger hunt items to whatever skills or knowledge your students are working on.  

I like that these Scavenger Hunt activities allow students to apply their skills and knowledge by finding examples of the concepts they've been working with.  I also like that there are many ways for students to show their examples: they could take a picture, write with the pens, type their response or even take a video.  

Examples of Seesaw Scavenger Hunts:

click the links to find these activities and creators on Seesaw

Math Scavenger Hunt 
by Leah Obach

3D Shapes Scavenger Hunt Activity
by Kirsten Lofton

Text Features Scavenger Hunt
by Mary Klempke 

Colour Scavenger Hunt

by Ronit Shapiro

Seesaw Templates for Creating a Scavenger Hunt

I like to keep a template that I can copy and edit in Seesaw to make new scavenger hunts for different grade levels or subjects. I've created a single page or multipage template, both of which you can access below! You can customize an activity by following the steps here.  

Single Page Scavenger Hunt Template

Multipage Scavenger Hunt Template

I'm pleased to be part of the Seesaw Ambssador program and I'm happy to share about this tool with my teacher friends and colleagues!  Find me on social if you have questions or would like to connect.

Connect with Leah online:

Twitter: @LeahO77 

Instagram: @kgeducation.ca @mrsobach

Facebook: @kgeducation.ca

Designing Digital Posters with Binscarth Grade 7/8

I had the opportunity to work with an awesome group of Grade 7 and 8 students at Binscarth School last week.  This group of students used Canva to design digital posters related to the concepts they are studying in science class.   The posters turned out really well, so I asked students for permission to share their work here on my blog - you can see their designs below!

Designing digital posters is about more than just learning to use technology tools.  This project integrated important Literacy with ICT skills and science knowledge.  

• We began by co-constructing criteria for our work, which relates to LwICT outcome P-1.2 participates in establishing criteria for own work. 

• Next, students had to select a concept/term from their science studies and develop a description/definition of the term (which links to science outcome 8-3-01 Use appropriate vocabulary related to their investigations of fluids and LwICT outcomes G-1.1 gathers information from given source(s) and G-2.1 identifies relevant information from sources)

• Then, students had to select images that related to their concept and design a poster that conveyed the meaning of their concept/word (which links to the "Produce to Show Understanding" section of our LwICT continuum, particularly P-2.1 uses a given format to demonstrate learning and P-3.1 edits work based on feedback from teacher and/or peers, according to established criteria, conventions, and/or standards). 

• The final designs turned out really great!  Plus, I think that students will be able to use their knowledge of how to design digital posters as a way of sharing their learning for other projects and activities.  

P.S.  Canva recently announced free premium accounts for educators - get the details here!

A Polar Bear Project: Writing about Polar Bears

As part of our polar bear project, our class did a lot of research about polar bears.  Using what they learned, students each wrote a page for a class book about polar bears.  They also narrated their work to create an "audiobook". 

A Polar Bear Project: Guest Speakers help us learn

We continue our polar bear project with much enthusiasm!  In addition to building our knowledge of polar bears through research and shared note-taking, we also had the chance to learn from a couple of awesome guest speakers this month!  A guide from the Buffalo Bill Center in Cody, Wyoming took us on a Skype virtual field trip around the center to teach us all about animal adaptations.  A teacher from Winnipeg, Mr. Andy McKiel, also joined us via video call this month to tell us all about his adventures with polar bears when he traveled to Churchill, Manitoba.  We learned a lot from these special guests and we are very grateful that they shared their knowledge with us.  Using video calling in our classroom has allowed us to connect with guest speakers and experts that would not otherwise be available to us.  Check out the Skype in the Classroom page to learn more about how you can use Skype to enhance teaching and learning!

Science Discovery Debuts in Grade 2

As part of our science learning on properties of solids, liquids and gases, we are learning about floating and sinking.  Since, Our discovery tubs were a huge hit in grade one last year, I decided to introduce some new ideas with discovery sessions this week.  Students found this type of learning very engaging and enjoyable and I am impressed with the learning, observing and questioning taking place. I felt that it was appropriate at the Grade 2 level to have students record some of their thinking, so as good scientists, each of my students is keeping a recording sheet of observations, materials, questions and ideas.  I put together two "types" of tubs: object tubs and construction tubs.  Each station had an additional water tub and a towel!  Read below to find out what our discovery tubs included this week!

Discovery Tub Contents:

Construction Tubs - these tubs encouraged learners to construct/build something from smaller parts. 

Tub 1
masking tape
popsicle sticks
plastic bottles (from recycling)
wooden rulers
clay

Tub 2
wooden blocks
plastic blocks
masking tape

Tub 3
aluminum pop cans (from recycling)
egg cartons (also recycled)
paper and cardboard (recycled)
masking tape
 

 

Discovery Tub Contents:

Object Tubs - these tubs encouraged learners to find out which individual objects would float or sink.  I used a variety of objects from around our classroom to fill each tub. 

Tub 1:
plastic cutlery
foam dice
plastic dice
plastic pieces
foam pattern blocks
wood pattern blocks
wooden blocks
plastic people manipulatives
coins
markers
foam dominoes
sponges

Tub 2:
egg cartons
plastic blocks
plastic fish manipulatives
dinosaur manipulatives
lego blocks
plastic mouse manipulatives
erasers
paper clips
popsicle sticks

 

Finding out which objects float and which objects sink

Putting materials together to build an object that will (hopefully) float!

Tree Of All Seasons

Today we spent some time making a tree that showed the four different seasons! We decorated our tree branches and used recycled toilet paper rolls as the tree trunk. Have a look at all the beautiful trees in our classroom!