Tutorial 9...

During the tutorial we formed groups for Task 3.

Group members:

 

• Tegan Greenaway
• Sarah Stevens
• Roxy Coe
• Lisa Turner

We then accessed a brainstorming Google Docs document that Jenni had sent to us and each group member shared their details, (name and e mail address), so that we can all work collaboratively or individually on the document. This is a fantastic resource to incorporate into the classroom because students can work collaboratively together on assignments at home or with other students from different classrooms, schools or even countries.


For the rest of the tutorial we worked within our groups brainstorming ideas for the project that we were going to create.

We decided to focus on Science as our main topic area but also incorporate aspects of English, Art and of course Technology. From a previous unit "Thinking Scientifically," (that we were enrolled in last semester), we remembered how good the experiments were that involved chemical reactions and decided to base our project around this. At first we were designing our project at Year 6 but once we went onto the Australian Curriculum Council Website it was evident that we needed to focus on Year 8 to reach the outcomes that we were aiming for. This was a good learning curve and made me realise how important it is to check the learning outcomes for the specific year level in order to avoid a massive gap in the students understanding.

From here we put our heads together, (and again referred to the Australian Curriculum Council), to think of a real world situation that involved chemical reactions that is also taught at this specific year level. In Chemical Sciences at this year level students focus on chemical change that involves substances reacting to form new substances and in Earth and Space Sciences students look at rock cycles. From this information we decided to base our project on the study of volcanoes exploring how chemical reactions relate to the eruption of a volcano and how magma and lava relate to the rock cycle.

So basically, our project will involve the creation of a Wiki site that will enable students to independently research various websites and videos, (which we will link to the Wiki), and other resources such as books, (during set library times), to find out how and where volcanoes are formed and why they erupt. We will also create a blog page, (attached to the Wiki), so that students can comment on the information that they have found during their research. Once the students have completed their research there will be other various steps to follow on the Wiki such as how to make a chemical reaction, building a volcano, filming the created volcano erupting, screencast tutorial on how to complete a Lab Report and then complete their own Lab Report. During all of these activities the students are to make reflections on their blog.

In order for us to work to schedule and effectively we decided to create a Google Docs document with a weekly schedule attached so that each member can access it and know exactly what they have to do and record their progress. We also stay in touch with each other via Facebook.

We allocated the tasks based on the different skill levels that we each possessed in the various areas that needed to be addressed. Tegan is faster at navigating around the Wiki and enjoys researching, Roxy likes Blogging, Sarah has good organisation skills and I draw on my experiences from working as an Education Assistant.

For our first week we set these tasks to be completed:

Tegan - research websites and video clips on how and where volcanoes are formed and why they  errupt so that the links can be added to the Wiki for the students to explore.

Sarah - create a Wiki site and write an introduction to the project on the Home page.

Roxy - research appropriate books relating to volcanoes so that they can be added to the Wiki for students to explore during library time.

Lisa - create a Lab Report and make a screencast video to demonstrate what to include in each section so that the students can refer back to the video as many times as they need to when they are creating their own report.

As a team I think we work well because we listen to each others ideas and build on them.

I feel that as a group we have accomplished so much this tutorial by using the Google Docs brainstorming document and each of us sharing ideas and researching different areas. I think that as long as we stick to our weekly schedules and keep each other informed, (via Google Docs or Facebook), we will stay on top of the Task and create an authentic learning resource.

I am also feeling excited at working as part of a team because we all have different skills to offer and learn from.