Science and Math Learning Activites
Part 1: Simulations
The first simulation I tested was Gizmos from Explorelearing.com. I chose the activity Slope Intercept Form of a Line: Activity B. I have created a Clarify page to show the basic steps for running this simulation.
Personal Reactions: I am very impressed with Gizmos. The activity comes with a student exploration sheet, teacher guide, vocabulary sheet and assessment questions that self-grade. The assessment is very easy to understand and covers the topics covered. After I completed my answers, I received a page that explained the answers in detail and told me if I answered correctly.
Ease of Use: This website was extremely easy to use. I did have to update my Shockwave Player before I could complete the interactive activity. It was very easy to understand the directions. Students have several different options of ways to manipulate the graph of the line. It provides the equation of the line which students can watch as the graph is manipulated to see how it changes. Student can also turn on or off the small triangle to illustrate slope. Students have two tabs to look at: one has sliders to change slope and y-intercept, the other shows a table of data that corresponds to the line that is graphed.
Educational Value: Teachers have everything they need to present this as a lesson. Students could work independently, in small groups or as a class. There are so many different ways this simulation could be used in the classroom or at home. Students very often struggle with the abstract idea of linear functions but this visual representation paired with the ability to manipulate the line and watch the changes provides students with a way to take the abstract and make it concrete.
Age / Developmental Appropriateness: This simulation would be appropriate for students in pre-algebra or algebra. Introduction to functions and slope are necessary for students to understand the concepts presented. the instructions are straight forward and middle school students should have no problem using this simulation.
Applicability to Theme: This simulation would be a great addition to our study on linear equations and graphing lines in both pre-algebra and algebra.
Ease of Use: This website was extremely easy to use. I did have to update my Shockwave Player before I could complete the interactive activity. It was very easy to understand the directions. Students have several different options of ways to manipulate the graph of the line. It provides the equation of the line which students can watch as the graph is manipulated to see how it changes. Student can also turn on or off the small triangle to illustrate slope. Students have two tabs to look at: one has sliders to change slope and y-intercept, the other shows a table of data that corresponds to the line that is graphed.
Educational Value: Teachers have everything they need to present this as a lesson. Students could work independently, in small groups or as a class. There are so many different ways this simulation could be used in the classroom or at home. Students very often struggle with the abstract idea of linear functions but this visual representation paired with the ability to manipulate the line and watch the changes provides students with a way to take the abstract and make it concrete.
Age / Developmental Appropriateness: This simulation would be appropriate for students in pre-algebra or algebra. Introduction to functions and slope are necessary for students to understand the concepts presented. the instructions are straight forward and middle school students should have no problem using this simulation.
Applicability to Theme: This simulation would be a great addition to our study on linear equations and graphing lines in both pre-algebra and algebra.
The second simulation I tested was from National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. I chose the activity Function Machine. Here is the link to the Clarify page explaining how the site functions.
Personal Reaction: This program did not impress me quite as much as Gizmos. The graphics are nice and there are some teacher instructions. There are also instructions for the student. It did not include the worksheets like the gizmos simulation. Students can get a good sense of what happens when a number goes in one side of the function machine. It would be a good representation of the function machine metaphor that many math teachers use when explaining what a function is.
Ease of Use: The website was easy to use with instructions to help the student understand what to do. It was fairly simple to use the simulation. It did respond quickly to my input so students would not be frustrated by slow graphics. Students first drag numbers over to the machine and watch the output. Students are then able to observe the pattern and determine what values will continue the pattern at the bottom of the table.
Educational Value: This simulation would make a great quick activity for students to experiment with functions and determine what the pattern is. I have heard of teachers building an actual function machine from boxes but this would definitely be a quick alternative and much easier to implement with students. Functions are a difficult topic for students and a visual representation would be very beneficial.
Age / Developmental Appropriateness: This simulation would be best suited for students in upper elementary or middle school who are begining to learn about functions. I couldn't see older high school students getting much from this simulation. It is a great introductory tool.
Applicability to Theme: This simulation would be very helpful in my pre-algebra class when we begin our introduction to functions. I do not currently have a good visual representation of a function machine and this would help students visualize what is taking place.
Ease of Use: The website was easy to use with instructions to help the student understand what to do. It was fairly simple to use the simulation. It did respond quickly to my input so students would not be frustrated by slow graphics. Students first drag numbers over to the machine and watch the output. Students are then able to observe the pattern and determine what values will continue the pattern at the bottom of the table.
Educational Value: This simulation would make a great quick activity for students to experiment with functions and determine what the pattern is. I have heard of teachers building an actual function machine from boxes but this would definitely be a quick alternative and much easier to implement with students. Functions are a difficult topic for students and a visual representation would be very beneficial.
Age / Developmental Appropriateness: This simulation would be best suited for students in upper elementary or middle school who are begining to learn about functions. I couldn't see older high school students getting much from this simulation. It is a great introductory tool.
Applicability to Theme: This simulation would be very helpful in my pre-algebra class when we begin our introduction to functions. I do not currently have a good visual representation of a function machine and this would help students visualize what is taking place.
The third simulation I sampled was from PhET Interactive Simulations. I chose the simulation for Fraction Matcher. The Clarify walk-through is available.
Personal Reaction: This is an impressive simulation. The graphics are very interactive and refresh quickly. The simulation does come with lesson plans for teachers with suggestions of how to use the simulation in the classroom. There are several different levels to choose from and the student can also choose between fractions or mixed numbers. There are plenty of activities to keep students busy. Students gain stars and progress to more difficult levels to keep students engaged.
Ease of Use: This simulation was very easy to begin. I chose to run the simulation in HTML5 and had no issues. It was very easy to drag the fractions to the scales.
Educational Value: The balance scales make it clear that we are putting things that are the same on each side. Students sometimes struggle to visualize equivalent fractions when they are just numbers on a page. This simulation allows students to see different shapes representing fractions. Students can practice choosing different representations for equivalent fractions. This allows students to see how the numbers in fractions are related. Equivalent fractions are important to being able to perform operations correctly.
Age / Developmental Appropriateness: This activity would be appropriate for older elementary school or middle school students. Students need to be introduced to fractions and this simulation would help them see how equivalent fractions are related.
Applicability to Theme: My middle school students often struggle with fraction operations. One key to working with fractions is the ability to find equivalent fractions. This simulation allows students to visualize equivalent fractions and engages them in practice on several different levels of difficulty.
Ease of Use: This simulation was very easy to begin. I chose to run the simulation in HTML5 and had no issues. It was very easy to drag the fractions to the scales.
Educational Value: The balance scales make it clear that we are putting things that are the same on each side. Students sometimes struggle to visualize equivalent fractions when they are just numbers on a page. This simulation allows students to see different shapes representing fractions. Students can practice choosing different representations for equivalent fractions. This allows students to see how the numbers in fractions are related. Equivalent fractions are important to being able to perform operations correctly.
Age / Developmental Appropriateness: This activity would be appropriate for older elementary school or middle school students. Students need to be introduced to fractions and this simulation would help them see how equivalent fractions are related.
Applicability to Theme: My middle school students often struggle with fraction operations. One key to working with fractions is the ability to find equivalent fractions. This simulation allows students to visualize equivalent fractions and engages them in practice on several different levels of difficulty.
The last simulation I tested is from Science Kids: Math Games for Kids for Mean, Median & Mode. There is a Clarify walk-through available.
Personal Reaction: This game was very engaging. The activities are broken up allowing students to complete quick activites. The graphics are high quality and the directions are very clear. Students will have no problem following the instructions and completing the activities. This simulation would be a great practice activity to help students learn how to compute the mean, median and mode.
Ease of Use: This simulation was very easy to use. The directions were clear and broken into small sections so that students may find one value in each step. The labels on the buildings make determing the heights simple.
Educational Value: Some aspects of math require repeated practice and paper and pencil practice gets old. This simulation would allow students to perform repeated practice in an engaging manner. Students are often asked to find measure of central tendancy. This practice will help student visualize the differences in size.
Age / Developmental Appropriateness: This simulation is best suited for students in middle school who are studying measures of central tendancy. Students would benefit from being able to see the change in buliding heights as well as seeing the numbers values to correspond. The combination of both images and numbers will help students form numerical reasoning skills.
Applicability to Theme: We often struggle to spend enough time on some topics in pre-algebra due to the amount of material that needs to be covered. This simulation provides a fun, quick way to get students to practice finding measures of central tendancy. This would make a great activity that could be repeated over several days as an activity to provide a break during class or as a reward for completing other assignments.
Ease of Use: This simulation was very easy to use. The directions were clear and broken into small sections so that students may find one value in each step. The labels on the buildings make determing the heights simple.
Educational Value: Some aspects of math require repeated practice and paper and pencil practice gets old. This simulation would allow students to perform repeated practice in an engaging manner. Students are often asked to find measure of central tendancy. This practice will help student visualize the differences in size.
Age / Developmental Appropriateness: This simulation is best suited for students in middle school who are studying measures of central tendancy. Students would benefit from being able to see the change in buliding heights as well as seeing the numbers values to correspond. The combination of both images and numbers will help students form numerical reasoning skills.
Applicability to Theme: We often struggle to spend enough time on some topics in pre-algebra due to the amount of material that needs to be covered. This simulation provides a fun, quick way to get students to practice finding measures of central tendancy. This would make a great activity that could be repeated over several days as an activity to provide a break during class or as a reward for completing other assignments.