Science Learning Around the Globe

Britt Gow, Hawkesdale P12 CollegeTuesday 8th July, 2.05 – 4.10pm

Science and Maths teacherHawkesdale P12 College

SW Victoria

Technoscience blog since 2008

Twitter @brittgow brittgow@gmail.com

“Science is the foundation of our future and it’s very important that we remember that.” ~ Megan Clark, CEO of CSIRO and recipient of the Order of Australia this year.

Today’s learner’s are:• Multi-taskers• Digitally literate• Mobile and connected 24/7• Experiential and Social• Visual / spatial learners with • Fast response times & short attention spans

• The Power to Engage• Students use technology already • It's not going to go away...it will only grow• Professional development• Employers want their workers to use internet tools

Aim: To engage students and allow them to connect, communicate and collaborate with peers and experts around the globe and enhance their understanding of science concepts.

Over 50,000 views and 1,200 downloads onSlidesharehttp://www.slideshare.net/brittgow/malaria-powerpoint

http://www.slideshare.net/brittgow/year-7-minecraft-maths

https://www.youtube.com/user/brittgow/videos

Social Networks

• Edublogs – http://edublogs.org• Wikispaces - https://www.wikispaces.com/• Twitter - https://twitter.com/• Skype - http://www.skype.com/en/• Slideshare - http://www.slideshare.net/• YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/• Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/

What do these sites have in common?

• Sign up with a username and password• Sometimes you can use another platform (eg.

Google or Facebook)• Create a profile (image, occupation, interests)• Share an object (text, image, slideshow, video)• Connect with people based on interests• Comment, ‘Like’, Discuss and Share

How can you find teachers willing to work together to create global

projects?

• Science Blogs • Twitter (#scichat)• Skype for Education• Nings (Classroom2.0)• Conferences (online and F2F)• Facebook for Educators

What tools can you use to allow students to learn collectively?

• Google docs (upload to spreadsheets)• Edmodo (create classes online)• Wikispaces (Wetpaint or PBwiki)• Skype• Voicethread• Blackboard Collaborate

Since 2011 I have used Blackboard Collaborate to teach Unit 3 and 4 VCE Environmental Science to students from different schools around the state. We connected for 90 minutes each week synchronously and used my blog, email and Facebook asynchronously.

We have met at Ecolinc, Bacchus Marsh in term 1, Grampians in term 2 and at EcoBeach Apollo Bay YHA during term 3 holidays.

Some Global Science Projects...

• Google Science Fair• Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the

Environment (GLOBE)• The Moon Project• SHOUT Tree banding program• Online Science Fair• International Energy Challenge

With varying degrees of collaboration.

https://www.googlesciencefair.com/en/

Google Science Fair

“The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program is a worldwide hands-on, primary and secondary school-based science and education program. GLOBE's vision promotes and supports students, teachers and scientists to collaborate on inquiry-based investigations of the environment and the Earth system working in close partnership with NASA, NOAA and NSF Earth System Science Projects (ESSP’s) in study and research about the dynamics of Earth's environment.”

http://www.globe.gov/explore-science

GLOBE Science Projects

http://www.worldmoonproject.org/

World Moon Project

http://onlinesciencefair.wikispaces.com/

Online Science Fair

• Students chose individual projects using the “Science Buddies” site.

• Teachers set up a wiki in which each student had a page with a template.

• Template showed which parts of the project need to be completed each week.

• The aim was to upload a digital product (slideshow, video or Voicethread) that explained their hypothesis, results and an explanation.

International Energy Challenge

http://energychallenge.wikispaces.com/

International Energy Challenge

• A Seimen’s STEM project, initiated by teachers in USA.

• Five schools in four countries each looked at Renewable and Non-renewable Energy sources.

• The main focus was a wiki, with all resources linked or embedded to pages for each school and energy source.

• Students worked together in groups around 12 different forms of energy.

International Energy Challenge

• Each group produced a wiki for research and discussion and a Voicethread.

• The conclusion of the project was an online “Town Meeting”, using Blackboard Collaborate, moderated by older students, in which each group nominated a spokesperson who outlined their case for that particular form of energy, stating the positive case and outlining why other forms of energy where inferior.

http://shoutlearning.org/treebanding.html

SHOUT Tree Banding Project

• An international project sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute.

• Resources available online (YouTube videos, website and downloads)

• A tree-banding kit is sent out, which contains all the necessary materials and equipment to measure tree growth using dendrometers.

• Data is uploaded to the website for scientists to use in climate change analysis.

CSIRO Scientists in Schools

• http://www.scientistsinschools.edu.au/

We use Skype and Blackboard Collaborate to connect with our Scientist in Schools partner, Melissa Toifl,

from CSIRO Land and Water Technologies, in Highett and Clayton.

Skype in the Classroom

• https://education.skype.com/help

@genegeekCatherine Anderson, a geneticist from Canada.

@ScienceMagsMagdeline Lum, a

Metallurgist, photographer and science writer from

Perth

Polycom with GTAC

• Grade 5 to VCE Biology• http://www.gtac.edu.au/site/home.html

Polycom with Gene Technology Access Centre, Melbourne

Collaborations around the Planet

CAP Space - http://projects.twice.cc/

Facebook Pages for science lovers

• Science Alert• I F*cking Love Science• Australian Science Teacher’s Association• ScienceDaily• ABC Science• Climate Reality• An Inconvenient Truth

Citizen Science

• “Scientific research, conducted in whole or in part, by amateur or nonprofessional scientists, often by crowd-sourcing or crowd-funding.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizen_science• “The systematic collection and analysis of data;

development of technology; testing of phenomena and the dissemination of these activities by researchers primarily on an avocational basis.”

http://www.ala.org.au/get-involved/citizen-science/

Citizen Science Apps

• OzAtlas “Atlas of Living Australia”• Ecolinc “Biodiversity of the Western Volcanic

Plains Flora and Fauna Field Guide”• ClimateWatch• Leafsnap• Project Noah