Classroom Update

The flipping saga continues. :) 

I thought I would give an update of what my students are working on now and share new ideas of new units as we begin them. 

I have two preps: 5th Grade Science and 6th Grade Science. 

5th Grade Science: My students have been filling out a moon phase chart for the past month. Each day they enter my classroom their first job is to fill out their planner (of which I post the daily assignments/objectives on my website https://sites.google.com/site/libbertsdomain/). Their second job is to get onto the following website and record the moon phase for the current day. http://www.calculatorcat.com/moon_phases/phasenow.php

If it is a Monday, students must catch up on their moon phase from over the weekend using the following website. 

http://www.almanac.com/moon/calendar/zipcode/65101/2011-01 

After they do those chores at the beginning of class, then they begin work on their current on-going assignment. The one we are working on now is they are making a Prezi for the moon phases. Students are responsible for learning why we have the moon phases, the order of how the moon phases transition, how each phase looks, and what the names of each phase means. They will then put that information into a Prezi. I provided the rubric for them and they use it to guide them through the assignment. 

6th Grade Science: The sixth graders also know that when they enter my classroom they need to fill out their planners and see what we will be working on for the day by looking on my website. After they fill out their planner, they are also supposed to begin work on their current project. A few are finishing up making a Google Presentation on Plate Tectonics. I, too, gave them a rubric for this assignment and then they are responsible for creating the slides based off of what the rubric requires. I also have them research the information themselves. 

Most of them are finished with that assignment and have begun the next one, which involves many aspects. The first thing they do is use the internet to research locations of 20 major volcanoes and 20 major earthquakes that have happened around the world. They are to type the data they find (location, magnitude, date, etc.) into a Google Spreadsheet which they create themselves and share with their group members. After they get that data collected, they will use a blank poster board and create a topographic map of the world by either drawing the continents or printing them off, put the grids for the lines of latitude and longitude, and then plot the locations of their earthquakes and volcanoes. 
I'm very anxious to see how they do with this assignment. It's going to be a challenge for a lot of them, but I told them that I knew it would be hard and I knew they could all rise to the challenge. My kids are truly enjoying my classes. They want to be engaged! 

I will keep you updated on how things go and what else we try!