Report on Virtual Experiment at Rimba II Primary School, October 26, 2009

REPORT

INTRODUCTION

Virtual experiment is another way to teach Science. It is an inquiry approach without using experiment apparatus which can be used to enhance pupils’ learning in the use of ICT (Information Communication Technology) in Science. This approach can be used if the school is not able to provide necessary experiment items relevant to the topics and it can benefit teachers in terms of preparation time. The virtual experiment has its advantages and disadvantages. However, if the internet connection is down teachers have to be prepared by using alternative means such as using broadband internet device to connect to the internet.
The website that we had used is shown below:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/science/living_things/plants_animals_environment/play.shtml

We conducted the lesson on Saturday, October 24th at Rimba II Primary School. The participants were 14 students from class 4C. The lesson was on Plants and Animals and the sub topic was habitat and food chain. We had only picked 14 students with high and average abilities because the class teacher wanted to prepare the rest of the students for their upcoming Final Examination on the 9th of November, 2009. Actually we had planned to conduct the lesson a week ago due to unavoidable circumstances where the school had problem with internet connections so we had to reschedule the lesson.

We started the lesson with reciting the `doa’ with the students. Students’ seating were arranged carefully so that they could view the whiteboard and the IWB (interactive whiteboard) clearly.

Our lesson includes the set induction, content, activities and assessment. Firstly, I began the lesson with set induction by asking students to give some examples of Brunei’s local fruits followed by the name of local animals. All contributions by students were noted down on the board. Next, students were also asked to give the similarities and differences between plants and animals. After the discussion, the students were shown some pictures of local fruits and animals using power point presentation. In my observation, all pupils were very active during the discussion. They could answer when they were asked questions I think it was because they had studied the lesson earlier this year. Also, the students were very interested when they were shown pictures using the power point presentation.

My colleague Shahriah continued the next part of the lesson which was the content. As for the content and the assessment we had used activities and assessment provided by the http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/science/living_things/plants_animals_environment/play.shtml. In this session, teacher showed students examples of habitats and they were asked questions during the lesson. Oral assessments were also given to check students’ misconception by using the virtual activities. Students sat and listen while teacher conducted the lesson using the visual experiment.

Next, Shahriah continued with ‘food chain’ and implemented similar strategies to deliver the lesson. In my observation, I found out that all students were very active during the lessons and activities at the same time some students looked restless in the activities.
Benefits for pupils
· The activity was fun and pupils enjoy the lesson.
· They used their hands-on and minds-on experience in the activity.
· The activity was colourful.
· The environment is a change from their classroom environment. Pupils usually enjoy going

into the computer room away from their class.
· The experiment is safe and effective.

Some vocabulary learned by pupils that day:
· Woodland
· Habitat
· Heron
· Desert
· Seashore
· Meadow
· Woodlouse

In the last part of the lesson, students were divided into 7 groups of two students to do the assessment. Worksheets were given and discussion in pairs were allowed. During the activity, we played our role by facilitating the students; showing them pictures of some animals using http://www.google.com such as heron, wood louse, desert and meadow.

As for my conclusion, teaching students using virtual presentation can be effective for delivering a lesson. The ideas or concepts are presented in a very interesting and colorful ways which helps to motivate students to learn. Also, Power point presentation can help teachers to plan ahead of what they want to teach in sequence and with the aid of animation it can attract pupils’ interest during lesson. In the lesson, students were very excited to see pictures and they looked very eager to see the next picture on the next slide during the presentation (power point presentation). On the other hand, surfing using http://www.google.com can be very useful to help teacher and pupils search for pictures of habitat and animals that they do not know; for example during the lesson the teacher used google to find pictures of Barnacles, Heron, Woodlouse and Meadow.

There are also weaknesses in using the virtual experiments. For example the `Habitat’ that is shown in the activity is not from our local habitat which is only suitable for students in the United Kingdom. In the future, if we were to conduct the same activity we would have to find some local habitats to be shown to students so that our students would be more aware of their local environment. Besides that, the written assessment that we have given to students provided by the website have very difficult terminologies that our students were not used to for examples; Barnacles, Heron and Woodlouse. As a suggestion teacher should modify the assessment paper if they are interested to use the assessment worksheet for example; use animals that students are familiar with which can be found in our local environment. After marking the assessment papers of the students we found out that many of the groups of students got wrong answers for some questions. We feel very disappointed that we could not do corrections with the students as they are going to sit for their final examination in the next 2 weeks.

In brief, our objectives were achieved in the session based on our observation. However, we feel that the lesson could be more effective if the students could make used of the computers in the lab to carry out the activities. The pupils could learn more if the students were able to manipulate the computers; which could help in developing their skills in handling the computers.

VIRTUAL EXPERIMENT LESSON PLAN

Topic: Plant and Animals
Sub topic: Habitat and Food chain

Objectives

1.Recognise there are different types of plants and animals in a local

environment.
2.Name some plants and animals and understand they require different habitats

to live.
3.Relate simple life processes to plants and animals found in a local

environment.

National Curriculum
Key Stage 2, Science, Sc2, 2e.

Resources

•Online activity: Plants and animals
•Secondary sources of information (reference books, CD-ROMs)
•Copies of Plants and animals worksheet

Teaching activities
Introduction
Ask the children to name some plants and animals found locally. Make two headings on the whiteboard, Plants and Animals, and ask children to add their contribution to the correct place. What is different about plants and animals? What is the same?

Activity
Select Plants and animals in the local environment from the KS2 Bitesize website. Explain they are going to spot some wildlife. Ask the children to predict where an animal might be found. Why there? Select a child to spot and click on the wildlife. Click on each magnifying glass and read through the information. Explain any unfamiliar words. Click on Sorter 1 and show the children how the plants and animals can be sorted by where they were found. Complete this activity. Click on Sorter 2 and explain the living thing has to be matched with where it came from. Do all living things begin life in the same way? What did a bird look like at the beginning of its life? Complete the activity. Form groups, each group will need a computer. Select and explain the activity as above. Ask the children to find the oak tree and click on it. Where was it? Tell the pupils they should remember where each thing is found. When the children know what to do, let them complete the rest of the experiment. Encourage them to read or listen to the information.

Plenary
What different types of wildlife were found in the park? Make a list on the whiteboard. Choose one and ask the children to give some facts that they have found out or knew already about the subject.

Extension
Have a selection of reference books or CD-ROMs available for the children to find out more about local wildlife. Ask children to create a simple What Am I? quiz. The quiz has to give as many clues about the plant or animal that the children are able to find out e.g. where they live, what their offspring are called, drawing part of their body or complete the Worksheet.

Homework
Hand out copies of the Plants and animals worksheet. Remind the pupils of what they did in the activity. Explain that the children must draw or write plants or animals into the three different habitats.

Result of Assessment

Results of Assessment

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/science/living_things/plants_animals_environment/play.shtml

Picture Slideshow on Saturday 24th of October, 2009

Check this website on Primary Science Information

http://uq.edu.au/_School_Science_Lessons/year1.html#1.2

Drawing Figures Using Euclidean Reality (5th Oct, 2009)

http://WWW.Scribd.com/doc/20635017/Drawing-Figures-Using-Euclidean-Reality

Drawing Figures Using Euclidean Reality

Euclidean Reality Kitz

A Research on Pc Logo Program by Year 4

REPORT

Last Monday on the 28th of September 2009, I went to Rimba II Primary School to carry out a research on Logo program. It was conducted in the staff room. I had chosen one pupil from year 4 for the research. Before conducting the study, I interviewed the pupil whether she had done basic Pc logo program. It seemed that the program has never been introduced to her during ICT lesson.

As the program was very new to the pupil, I had to show basic instruction like `FD’ (Forward) to move the turtle to the front, `RT’ (right turn) to turn the turtle to the right, `LT’ (left turn) to turn the turtle to the left and `CS’ to delete a figure before drawing a new figure. The pupil was able to catch up with the tutorial easily by applying `FD’, `RT’, `LT’ and `CS’ appropriately to draw a basic figure of a square.

After the tutorial, the pupil was given time to draw squares of different sizes on her own. The pupil was able to draw a rectangle by applying the same method as in square. The pupil cleverly used a bigger number after `RT’ 90 to draw a rectangle. As an example in drawing a square, she used Fd 100 Rt 90 fd 100 rt 90 Fd 100 rt 90 Fd 100 while in drawing a rectangle, she used Fd 100 Rt 90 fd 60 rt 90 Fd 100 rt 90 Fd 60. In the research, the pupil was instructed to draw a figure of her interest. The pupil was able to draw a house by combining a triangle and a rectangle.

In the research, the pupil had acquired the basic skill in using Pc logo program. She was able to draw a square, a rectangle and a triangle. The pupil understood that `Fd’ is used to draw the length. She was able to recognize that the numbers used in drawing a square `Fd 100’ is the length of the sides. Therefore, when drawing a rectangle the pupil applied a smaller number to draw the breadth of the rectangle `Fd 60’.But on the other hand, she could not relate `Rt’ which has the same concept with angle. When she drew the triangle she blindly type numbers for `RT’ and `FD’ to arrive at the figure of a triangle. Above all, the pupil was very interested during the practical.

As a conclusion, the pupil was able to carry out simple instructions given by the teacher. The knowledge was not in depth due to limitation of time. The pupil wished to spend more time to learn more about the program. If I had the chance in the future I would like to help the Year 4 pupils in Rimba II Primary school to study the basic Pc logo program during ICT lesson.

Lesson Plan for Teaching Virtual Manipulatives Year 4

Teaching Using Virtual Manipulative

Mathematics Activity Worksheet for Year 4

http://www.scribd.com/share/upload/15175814/2edwole1vd73d4rxxreb

Observation Report

On 13th of August 2009

Assalamualaikum. Let me start by introducing about myself. Hi I'm Kity. I'm 30 years old. I'm the third in a family of five. I love anything that is to do with shopping and i'm a food lover. Now, i've been teaching for 6 years. My previous school is Sekolah Rendah Rimba II, Brunei III. There were lots of good memories as well as bad; the ups and downs that i have gained from that school. Currently, i'm updgrading my education in University of Brunei Darussalam taking Primary Mathematics and Science in Bachelor of education for 3 years. I hope to be back at my previous school after i have completed my study.

ICT (Information Communication & Technology) is a core subject under the National education (SPN 21) which is implemented at the primary, secondary and higher level. It aims to help students to be more confident in ICT. So, this blog will tell you how technology is used in teaching Science and Mathematics in the primary level. Since, i have just learned how to create a blog so dear readers when you visit my blog please add comments and suggestions for improvements and please do share any interesting and relevant websites with me. Thank you.

Why learning math is important?

Almost every student in school dreads math classes because they see no real world applications, especially in algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus. The simple answer to why learn math and other similar math questions – computers.
For example the animation industry has become a teacher’s friend; animation uses computers which rely heavily on the application of advanced mathematics. Computer animation programmers must know algebra, geometry, calculus, and trigonometry. Without extensive knowledge of math applications in animation, movies would not have visually rich environments and characters that we see today.

http://teachertipstraining.suite101.com/article.cfm/why_learn_math_it_has_no_purpose_in_real_life#ixzz0NmsUG8Vs

How about Science?

The answer lies right in front of our eyes. Think about a world without technology. No computers, no cars. No vaccines or cures for diseases. Life would be joyless and extremely hard. It was not long ago that this was the case. However, now with science on our side it’s a whole new story.

http://scienceray.com/philosophy-of-science/the-importance-of-science/

Introduction

Science and Mathematics are the fundamental subjects under SPN 21 the Brunei National Educational System. As a result, this creates challenges among the ICT `illiterates’ in implementing ICT in their teaching. Therefore, the Government and especially teachers who deal with the pupils firsthand should be creative in their approaches in improving education. One of the guidelines that is being emphasised by the educational system is the use of ICT in teaching and learning Science and Mathematics.

How should technology be used in mathematics and science teaching and learning?

http://adrianoldknow.org.uk/ma%20BETT%202004.doc·

. a curriculum which encourages teachers and pupils to use ICT
· an extensive programme of ICT for mathematics teachers to support it, with opportunities for accreditation
· funding to support schools to purchase licences for key mathematics software packages such as for graphing, geometry and data-handling
· funding to support schools to purchase ICT equipment to support interactive whole class teaching in mathematics
· funding to support schools to purchase mathematics specific ICT to enable pupils to have hands-on access in ordinary classrooms
· a good range of additional ICT materials and resources available free of charge to support mathematics teachers and learners
· convenient sources of guidance and information to help schools make appropriate purchases and plan their development
· a system to encourage experimentation with innovative pedagogy using ICT, together with an effective framework for evaluation and dissemination

www.shbie.ict.wordpress.com