Ms. Hutchins Getting Involved

I am asking for students to get involved in their community. For the first opportunity to earn extra credit I want students to come up with a way that they could better the environment around them. Whether it is a creative way to recycle trash in their community or planting a tree in their yard. How can you make the world a better place? I want you to make a 5 min video on what you may have came up with and how others can do the same thing in their community. Using (http://www.sliderocket.com/) to upload your video to our class web page. Details on how to do this will be giving to you on Monday. Remember to have fun and be creative!

Technology in Science classroom New video

Teachers Embrace Technology In Science Class

Technology is Important to Science

Technology is very much important to my science class because it give my class an opportunity to learn on a different level. Now I have the power to teach kids with different learning styles and with different resources. Using technology opens the door for students to become more involve with their learning. Learning which includes students doing their own research through the web, students connecting with each on projects, and students learning how to experiment in a way scientist do every day in real labs. I even have the opportunity through this blog and other web 2.0 tool to connect with parents about the learning that is taking place in my classroom. Technology is a way we can advance the learning curve and open up many new doors for our students. In fact, I think with the use of technology we can learn more in such a small time frame. 

Collaborative Learning Project

Using and effective learning technique and a Opportunity to meet Georgia Standards we will have the opportunity this year to do a Collaborative Learning project. This project not only calls for students to work together,but also involves the parents getting involve with their children completing the project when at home.

In 8th grade we try to meet the Ga standard:

S8CS9. Students will understand the features of the process of scientific inquiry.
Students will apply the following to inquiry learning practices:
a. Investigations are conducted for different reasons, which include exploring new phenomena, confirming previous results, testing how well a theory predicts, and comparing different theories. Scientific investigations usually involve collecting evidence, reasoning, devising hypotheses, and formulating explanations to make sense of collected evidence.
b. Scientific investigations usually involve collecting evidence, reasoning, devising hypotheses, and formulating explanations to make sense of collected evidence.
c. Scientific experiments investigate the effect of one variable on another. All other variables are kept constant.
d. Scientists often collaborate to design research. To prevent this bias, scientists conduct independent studies of the same questions.
e. Accurate record keeping, data sharing, and replication of results are essential for maintaining an investigator’s credibility with other scientists and society.
f. Scientists use technology and mathematics to enhance the process of scientific inquiry.
g. The ethics of science require that special care must be taken and used for human subjects and animals in scientific research. Scientists must adhere to the appropriate rules and guidelines when conducting research.


So our project will involve students working in group of two. The groups of two will be given a research topic or question in which students will have to research, explain, build an experiment, and display their results or data collected. This project will take quite some time and will be due at the end of the semester.  Even though their will be allowed time over the course of this semester, in which students will have an opportunity to work on project; It is also important that they the complete project at home as well. Sites useful for students will always be listed here on this blog. Sites such as epal (http://www.epals.com/) which allows for students to connect and research in a safe environment will be listed under useful sites on the right side of blog. At the end of the semester, a Project display broad, a video of their experiment, and a detail lab report will be due. Details will be given in class during the first week of school. This is a major part of students grade and a major opportunity to have fun with science.

Using technology in the classroom

This is an example of how we will use technology in our classroom through the course of the year.

Welcome to a New School Year!

I want to take this time to welcome all my students and parents to the 2012- 2013 school year. I hope you guys have enjoyed your summer. However, it is the time of year where we start to think about your kids future. And as a science teacher it is important for me to connect and build a great relationship with not only the kids in my class, but the parents as well. In order for me to connect with you guys I have build this blog, so that student as well as parents can follow exactly what we are doing through out the school year. I am very excited to tell you that this school year will be great because the science department has adopted a learning with technology program. Which means that students will have the opportunity to use technology as a learning tool throughout the year. Computers, software, smart boards, and Advance science tool have been add to our classroom. HOW COOL! I really can not wait to start this amazing school year with you. I hope this is the beginning of a better learning environment for not only you,but also for me as well.