Luke's+Work

Click Here to Return Home = = =Luke Module 1= toc
 * Content Area:** Earth Systems


 * Course:** The Hydrosphere


 * Course Description:**This unit typically lasts 3-4 weeks in my classroom and covers the water cycle, the major properties of water (polarity, adhesion, cohesion, etc.), water shortage and water pollution issues, ocean properties (salinity, temperature, depth, etc.), ocean dynamics (waves, currents, tides, etc.), and biotic factors in the oceans (adaptations to ocean variations, ocean energy flow, etc.)


 * Level of Instructional Strategy:** I’m having a hard time nailing down a level for this unit. If I analyze how this unit has gone in the past I have some definite moments of level 0 and others that are up to a 2. I suppose if I had to put a level on it I would say it is around level 1. I've given a little bit of a breakdown of each level, with respect to my unit, below:


 * Level 0: Information Only** - Much of what I teach about the water cycle itself falls in this category. I don't spend as much time on the different reservoirs of the cycle and the processes which link reservoirs (evaporation, precipitation, etc.). I also use a PowerPoint which I call "ocean notes." While these notes show graphical examples of most of the topics covered, I wouldn't say that these examples are necessarily in the realm of "demonstration." Much of what I teach is, sadly, tested / assessed based on "tell-me-what-you-remember" strategies.


 * Level 1: Information and Demonstration** - I do try and show the water cycle in a "water cycle in a flask" sort of activity where I demonstrate how the water cycle in action can clean dirty water and rid it of impurities. Also, after reading a little bit closer I think that some of the things covered in my PowerPoint would fall into the "kind-of" or "what-happens" categories of demonstration described in the text (ch. 2, page 11). I do a water properties lab where I demonstrate various properties in a lab setting and have the students identify which property they think is being modeled.


 * Level 2: Level 1 + Application** - There are a few instances where this unit currently meets the application standard, but there can be more. Most of my projects or activities are along the lines of "show me examples of what's been taught" or "tell me which property of water this portion of the lab is demonstrating". To make it more of an application level course I should change things around and maybe have the students apply themselves to show me the properties of water in action, to show me how water pollution can be an issue, etc.


 * Level 3: Level 2 + Problem-Centered** - I have to admit that I have a hard time seeing the big differences between application and problem-centered levels. I think the answer might lie somewhere in the extent to which application is being done or perhaps the purpose that it gives rise to. But I don't think that there's really any level 3 stuff currently in my unit.

Hopefully our discussion last week helped a bit here. Problem-solving is application. But problem-solving is holistic rather than a piece at a time whereas application can apply to a single component skill. Problem-centered implies not only solving a problem but putting the whole course in the context of a progression of problems to be solved so that every component skill is seen as leading to the solution of some problem in the progression. dm

All of this being said, my focus will be those chunks of class that are currently at a 0 or 1 and which I will be able to propel into higher levels – more of a focus on application and problem-centered learning.

I think that most of us are in this situation. As newer teachers, we tend to stay in Levels 0 and 1. One approach to teaching and trying to reach the Level 3 would be to turn the tables on the students. Give them the scenario of being the teacher. Tell them to prepare a presentation or demonstration to show at Parent-Teacher conference or at the county fair about water pollution, the water cycle, etc. After you have done the Level 0, 1, and 2, let them teach others.--Mike

Luke, one thing I see is that you need to come up with a problem for them to be able to solve. This will make it more meaningful to the students to have a real-world application, and will make it easier for you to design your project around.-Michelle

=Luke Module 2= A lot of what I have in my unit is information-about. There are some fairly new concepts in this unit. Although the students may have heard most of the terms before (tides, currents, water properties) they have only a basic familiarity with them. I do a couple of sections of notes where I tell and show the new information.
 * Information-about**:

Often the terms we use and have learners memorize are really concepts -- kind-of. For example, understanding the word, //tide,// implies that when a student sees water rise at the sea shore they are able to discriminate a water rise from the tide or from a storm. They can recognize that a tide usually affects only a large body of water not a small lake, or at least in a lake the effect is difficult to discern. Information-about is remembering the definition. Kind-of is being to identify the phenomena in a new previously unencountered situation. dm

The piece of my unit that really belongs here is the water cycle. There is a whole (the cycle) and its component parts (the reservoirs and pathways of the cycle). They are linked together and by analyzing the parts you get a better picture of the whole.
 * Part-of:**

This was definitely one oft he harder ones for me to figure out. I initially thought that "water properties" fell under this category. There are multiple properties that make water unique and time is spent understanding each one of these properties - but now the more I think about it the more confused I get. Do water properties fit here? Where does "type-of" fit in? Is it the same as "kind-of" and this whole thing is a matter semantics? Is what I envision as "kind-of" only kind of "kind-of" (sorry, I couldn't resist wording it that way). I'm having a hard time meeting the content element requirements for the "kind-of" category for anything in my ocean unit. Maybe ocean properties would work better - like "salinity" is a "kind-of" ocean property... but then I think that's no different than saying "cohesion" is a "kind-of" water properties. I think I'm really missing the mark on this category. Does anyone have some feedback on what might be included for this category for my particular course (you can read the course description in module 1). Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 * Kind-of:**

Take cohesion -- it is a property of water but when a student can identify a given situation as involving cohesion then he/she is classifying the situation as one that involves cohesion. On the other hand cohesion is also a property that explains what happens. As a property of water it is a condition that leads to certain consequences in situations involving water. In this sense it is a condition of a what-happens component skill. The same idea can be different kinds of learning depending on how we are asking students to respond or use the information. All properties must first be identified when they occur -- kind of -- but then they can also be conditions for predicting what-happens. This is explained in more detail in Chapter 6.

Teaching is a bit more complex than we sometimes think. This course is trying to provide you with a vocabulary and way of thinking to deal with the complexity in a way that improves the ability of students to acquire skills. dm

Thanks, this really helps clear up some of my confusion! - Luke

The most obvious example of this to me is the oil spill activity - I outline the steps (focus on the problem, identify materials that will be used, identify how each material will be used, use the materials according to plan, analyze the results, describe the experience and the effectiveness of your method). I can then demonstrate going through the steps with a material that would not generally be effective but can be used as a model - something like duct tape. I then turn it over to them.
 * How-to:**

And a good example of a whole problem.

This was another one that was difficult for me, but I think that I hit this in two of the activities that I have planned for this unit - the water properties lab, and an activity I call "the fishing game" which shows that consequences of uncontrolled over-fishing. In the water properties lab is more of a mix between how-to, "example-of" (which I'm not sure where it would fit - maybe the same as "kind-of"), what-happens. You are mostly performing prescribed steps and analyzing what happened as a result of performing the steps. The text did say that analyzing consequences is part of the how-to category so as I write this I'm convincing myself more and more that it belongs more in the how-to section. To make it more what-happens I think I would need to transform it from a "cookbook lab" to an "inquiry" lab where students come up with their own ways of demonstrating the various properties of water. Something like "how can I show surface tension? Hmm... well maybe **IF** I do this **THEN**..." would be the natural process for students minds to follow if things were set up this way. In the fishing game the idea is to have several "underdeveloped" nations fish for food to feed their growing populations. Any extra fish can be sold and the money can then be used to by newer equipment, develop better technology, or just to splurge on niceties. Inevitably people fish more than they need for their nation and the ecosystem of the "sea" from which they are fishing is adversely effected. It's a great activity to show what happens in a situation where a common resource (in this case the ocean) is tragically misused (the tragedy of the commons).
 * What-happens:**

Chapter 6 and 7 will help you sort these confusing ideas out. dm

The reading for this unit was fairly difficult for me. I had a hard time framing all of the new vocabulary and applying it to my unit in a way that fit and made sense. I can think of activities and examples from my unit, but when I try and view these same activities in the light of the concepts from our reading it seems that they don't fit neatly into any of the five instructional strategies. It was frustrating to me to not have things fit neatly and it felt like sometimes I was searching to change things just for the sake of making them fit better into a new framework when it was in no apparent way (at least to me) enhancing the quality of the activity. I don't know, these are just some of my thoughts. If anyone echoes them or can help me to see things a little more clearly than please let me know. Thanks!
 * Personal Notes:**

Hi Luke -- For sure I don't want you to modify anything just to make it fit. If it does not appear to you that applying a given prescription will improve the instruction, then it probably won't. Hopefully as time goes on this approach will begin to make more sense. I apologize for the large amount of new vocabulary, the intent is to try to find words that have a very specific meaning so the intent is clear. dm

Luke, I experienced the same difficulties you did. I think it's more of a matter of thinking about improving the format of our instruction than about making what we already do fit into new categories. It's looking at things in a new way. I'm definitely feeling my mind being stretched and I'm out of my comfort zone. We'll figure it out. :-) Michelle

=Luke Module 3=

Below is a list of content and current activities and assessments used in my hydrosphere (as it exists now). I've also identified some of the problems that I already have built into the unit which can be improved upon and a couple of ideas that I've just now come up with and haven't really thought through much yet.
 * Content || CurrentAssessments / Activities || Content Mode || Component Skills || Existing Problems / Possible Problems to center things around ||
 * Overall || Pre-test || Ask || Information-about, kind-of, part-of, what-happens ||  ||
 * ^  || Post-test ||  Tell-Show-Do à Ask  || Information-about, kind-of, part-of, what-happens – all in a multiple choice, short answer blend ||   ||
 * Water Cycle || Water Cycle Reading Packet and Analysis Questions || Tell-Ask || Information-about, part-of (or maybe kind-of,,, I’ll call it ** kinda-part-of **) || Existing problems: How nature cleans dirty water using the water cycle. Except this problem is too basic to turn into a series of harder and harder problems. How about recognizing the components of the water cycle in a real world situation. There are many varieties of the water cycle and it is easy to talk about in the abstract but in a given situation it may be more complex. For example in Zions canyon, near me, I'm told that the water we see dripping form the rocks may have been rain from decades ago that is finally seeping through the rocks. Very delayed water cycle. Just a thought. dm Possible Problems: ??? drawing a blank. ||
 * ^  || Water Cycle Notes || Tell-Show || Information-about, ** kinda-part-of ** ||^   ||
 * ^  || Reservoir Demo (shows the relative amounts of water in Earth’s top 8 reservoirs || Tell-Show || Information-about, ** kinda-part-of ** ||^   ||
 * ^  || Water Cycle Pop Quiz || Ask || Information-about, ** kinda-part-of ** ||^   ||
 * ^  || Water Cycle Comic || ** Do ** || ** How-to ** (or am I making this more than it is, information about and ** kinda-part-of **, like the rest)  ||^   ||
 * ^  || Water Cycle in a Flask Demo || Tell-Show || Information-about, what-happens, how-to ||^   ||
 * Water properties || Water Property Lab || Do-Ask || What-happens, kind-of || Existing Problems: None at the moment.Possible Problems: Could change the existing lab so that it is more problem centered. The problem or challenge would be for the students to demonstrate for me each of the properties of water that we learned about using the materials provided or obtainable upon request. ||
 * ^  || Follow-up Notes || Show-Tell || Information-about, kind-of, what-happens ||^   ||
 * Water Shortage and Water Pollution Issues || Class Discussion about where we get our water and risks of shortages and contamination || Tell-Show || Information-about, what-happens || Existing Problems: these can all be revamped to work better, but there is a lot of potential of creating a large scale problem with the midnight dumper and oil spill activities about water pollution.Possible Problems: I could have the students divide up into groups and be “water management specialists.” I could present them with various scenarios of cities and their respective water supplies. The groups would have to recommend a “long-term water usage plan” for each of the cities and maybe even tackle selling of water rights between cities.Could also create a game in place of the webquest that tackles some of the same topics but presents them in more of a problem-centered way. ||
 * ^  || Midnight Dumpers || Do-Ask || What-happens, how-to ||^   ||
 * ^  || Water Webquest || Ask-Do || Information-about, what-happens ||^   ||
 * ^  || Oil Spill Activity || Tell-Show-Do || How-to, what-happens ||^   ||
 * Ocean Properties (Salinity, temperature, depth, pressure, light) || Ocean Notes || Tell-show || Information-about, part-of, kind-of || There’s a lot of overlap between the ocean property content and the ocean dynamics content so I’ve just combined them both here.Existing Problems: I have nothing currently that works as a problem concerning any of these topics.Possible Problems: It wouldn’t be very large and I can’t really see how it would be tiered and repeated, but I could do something along the lines of planning a voyage across the ocean and taking into account the currents. Almost anything that I can think of in this field revolves around only one or two of the content pieces at most. I could create a game that would involve exploring the oceans, sailing and then diving for treasure or something along those lines. I could find ways to tie in most of the major concepts. ||
 * ^  || Ocean Properties and Dynamics Assignment || Ask || Information-about ||^   ||
 * ^  || Ocean Fair || Tell-Show-Do || Information-about, what-happens ||^   ||
 * ^  || Water Webquest || Ask-Do || Information-about, what-happens ||^   ||
 * Ocean Dynamics (waves, currents, tides, etc.) || Ocean Notes || Tell-show || Information-about, part-of, kind-of ||^  ||
 * ^  || Nike Shoes at Sea || Ask || ** Kinda-part-of ** ||^   ||
 * ^  || Ocean Properties and Dynamics Assignment || Ask || Information-about ||^   ||
 * ^  || Ocean Fair || Tell-Show-Do || Information-about, what-happens ||^   ||
 * ^  || Water Webquest || Ask-Do || Information-about, what-happens ||^   ||
 * Biotic factors in the oceans || Ocean Fair || Tell-Show-Do || Information-about, what-happens || Existing Problems: NonePossible Problems: Something about creating their own ocean organism and describing how it is able to adapt to changes in its environment (changes in both biotic and abiotic factors). I would be able to tie in the ocean dynamics and properties pretty easily, but it would also be pretty redundant with some of the things I currently have going on for the ocean fair project. ||
 * ^  || Water Webquest || Ask-Do || Information-about, what-happens ||^   ||
 * Hydrosphere interactions with other systems || Oil Spill Activity || Tell-Show-Do || How-to, what-happens || Existing Problems: I’ve already discussed the oil spill activity and the midnight dumpers activity above and I think they could both work pretty well. The fishing game is another activity that I do – but in this case the problem is not apparent until the end of the game (by design). I suppose I could follow up the game with having the students design a sustainability plan for their nation. ||
 * ^  || Midnight Dumpers || Do-Ask || What-happens, how-to ||^   ||
 * ^  || The Fishing Game || Do-Tell || What-happens ||^   ||

The table above was to help me organize what I currently have with regards to my ocean unit and where some of the activities and assessments might fit within the framework of ideas and concepts covered in this class. As for the problems that I have in this unit I’ve listed them on the right side of the table. If I had to pick three problems to focus my unit around I would choose the three that I list in the next few sentences. First off would be the not-yet existing problem of students developing long-term water usage plans for fictional cities. Second would be the existing-but-not-yet-in-a-satisfying-form that I dub “the oil spill” activity. Lastly would be another not-yet existing game that maybe involved a water droplet traveling the hydrosphere – it would cover topics ranging from the water cycle to biotic factors in the ocean and would try to turn a lot of the loose ends into a problem that students are trying to solve, receiving information on the basis of get-it-when-you-need-it.

These sound like good problems. Good thoughts. dm

The content elements and component skills of all of the above-mentioned problems would follow the format outlined in chapter 7 - that is, demonstrating the problem at a very basic level, then guiding students through their own version, then leaving the students to work through a scenario on their own. >> **I haven’t thought through the steps yet, but I suppose they would be as follows** i. Identify local water reservoirs (information-about, show) ii. Study data indicating amounts of annual inflow and outflow of these reservoirs (information-about, show) iii. Make a plan, based on this data, of whether to sell water rights, buy water rights, or simply ration water usage by citizens (what-happens, show)
 * 1) City Water Shortage Plan:
 * 2) Provide information about water shortages here in Utah and in other places (information-about, tell)
 * 3) Model the steps of coming up with a plan (how-to, show)
 * 1) Guide students through a local scenario of water in Utah, following the steps above(how-to, what-happens show-do)
 * 2) Have students run through a new scenario involving a different location (how-to, what-happens, do)

i. Identify materials to be used ii. Identify how each material will be used iii. Obtain the materials, prepare them, and use them according to plan iv. Analyze the results v. Describe the experience and the effectiveness of the method chosen
 * 1) Oil Spill:
 * 2) Give information about oil spills – what causes them, consequences, etc. (info-about)
 * 3) Brainstorm ways to cleanup oil spills (info-about, ask)
 * 4) Create a mini oil-spill in the room and brainstorm again, how can the large-scale ideas listed on the board be applied to the small-scale situation in the classroom. Come up with a list of, materials that might be helpful when cleaning up the oil spill in the class. (info-about, ask)
 * 5) From the list on the board, model the development and implementation of a plan to clean up an oil spill. Be sure to model something that would not be very effective in cleaning up the oil spill, but which illustrates the point, perhaps something like cotton balls which will eventually get the job done, but which will be messy and wasteful. (show-tell)
 * 1) I then turn it over to them to guide them through a class wide implementation where everyone does the same thing (as decided and voted on by the class)
 * 2) I then let them develop their own plans within smaller groups and compete to see who can be the most effective in cleaning up an oil spill.

Great thinking. Perhaps for this class you may want to concentrate on one of these problems. A course such as yours is really a series of mini courses each centered around a problem, as you have outlined. If you can really improve one minicourse then you have a model for the others that you can modify over time. Great start. dm
 * 1) Oceans game
 * 2) Doing all of this work has taken longer than I thought it would and I’ve run out of time for now, I will add more to this after Tuesday’s class.

=Luke Module 4=

Answer: Currently? Uses a PowerPoint covering ocean notes, a webquest which also covers various ocean-related topics, a PowerPoint displaying a diagram of the water cycle with animations, and a supplemental PowerPoint to guide the fishing activity.
 * Question:** How did this course use multimedia to implement their instructional strategies?

Answer: According to the descriptions in the book, but I’m still not won over. An example is my ocean notes PowerPoint. As I go through each topic with my students there is a fish that experiences different things on each screen. On one screen he is chased by a shark and as they both pass by the title for the next topic of discussion appears above them. We then discuss this next topic as a class. Personally I don’t feel that this is distracting the students from learning, but rather I feel that it increases student engagement. Anyways, according to the guidelines in the text this entire PowerPoint would be considered riddled with irrelevant multimedia (as would most of the PowerPoints that I use in my class). The webquest is student created and so I suppose it shouldn’t really be on the list. Students are directed to find websites about particular topics and then to come up with questions that another student could answer using the websites that the students find and then create a webquest for a fellow student. The fishing activity supplement PowerPoint and the water cycle animation PowerPoint are both relevant. The guidelines are not commandments! If you find a given graphic device is effective then use it. The idea is to be sure that any graphic device has a purpose and that the time cost and distraction cost is not so high as to interfere with learning. dm
 * Question:** Did this course avoid irrelevant multimedia?

Answer: Again, as mentioned above the Ocean Notes PowerPoint does not, but the other two PowerPoints do, I would think Can you give an example? dm
 * Question:** Did this course use multimedia to effectively implement instructional events?

What you said about the fish that experiences things on different screens. This is something, like you said, that engages the students. This is multimedia. Getting others to learn by interaction. Students will now anticipate what will happen next. What will the fish learn this time. (Subliminally, the student is the fish.)--Mike

Answer: No, none of the current multimedia that exists for this unit implements any of these aspects of multimedia. What ideas do you have for such an implementation? I look forward too seeing what you do when you design a module for part II. dm
 * Question:** Did this course use multimedia to indicate the format of the materials; to provide efficient navigation; and to provide for learner interaction with the content and instructional events?

Answer: It does not have a strong structural framework. I do use analogies and metaphors when teaching ocean currents (like a river, except flowing through water), water properties (polarity and magnets, surface tension like a blanket, etc.), and tides (tug-of-war), but other than that there is not much. Any of the suggested frameworks from the text would work great and enhance this unit. Mnemonics could be used to help students remember parts of the water cycle, more metaphors and analogies could be implemented, and I had never even considered the use of checklist summary frame. Again, I'll be interested to see what you come up with for the design assignment in Part II. dm
 * Question:** It is unlikely that the course you selected used a structural framework but if it did was it used effectively? If it did not can you suggest a structural framework that could be added to this course to enhance learning?

I think a mnemonic would really help students remember the water cycle. -M

Answer: There are a few areas where parts of the peer interaction formula (as outlined in the book as Sharing – Discussion – Collaboration – Critique) are implemented, but in a very incomplete form. Right now it’s more “activities where you work with your table” than anything else. Those activities include the water properties lab, the fishing game, and the oil spill activity. All of these activities lend themselves well to peer interaction, but none of them are currently implementing this interaction in the best ways as outlined in the book. In addition to these areas, as I give my unit more of a problem focus then even more opportunities for peer interaction will open up. And I look forward to seeing how you will implement these ideas. dm
 * Question:** It is unlikely that the course you selected used peer interaction, but if it did was it used effectively? If it did not, can you suggest a way to add effective peer interaction to the course?

One thing I've been thinking about is having kids get together more often to talk about the individual work they're doing and to defend it by demonstrating and discussing what they've learned. I think this would help them think about what they know, how they're applying it, and that it would reinforce concepts and skills to other students. I'm still working out the details. :) -M

Its funny how we all learn when we discuss things with each other.--Mike

=Luke Module 5=

I've done a lot of trimming since our class last Tuesday. I've taken this big unit on the hydrosphere and decided to focus on one part - how humans rely on and are impacted by the hydrosphere. Since I've done so much reorganizing and narrowing down this past week I decided to first post my proposed project flow. I've posted my checklist at the bottom of module 5. I decided to leave all of my old work up to give some larger context for the project that I have decided on.

Background Knowledge: Students have just finished receiving expertly rendered e3 instruction regarding the water cycle and water properties J

1. Show an introduction PowerPoint containing pictures designed to facilitate class discussion around three topics: 1. How we rely on water in our everyday lives – for drinking, cooking, bathing, washing, playing, etc. 2. How water can have life-altering impacts (large scale events like floods, droughts, storms, El Nino, etc.) 3. How we can have huge impacts on the world’s hydrosphere (diverting water through irrigation and dams, large scale polluting of water either advertently or inadvertently, overexploitation of the oceans resources, etc.). This is designed to build student interest in the upcoming problems that we will be tackling. [I like]

2. Where do we get our water? Ask students to draw the pathway of water backwards from their house to the reservoir. Show several examples of what students came up with using a document camera then discuss similarities and differences between the examples. After this go over the actual source for most of the potable water in our neighborhoods and possible exceptions that may exist. This is designed to help students realize that water is not simply a magical resource that eternally flows from pipes, but that we rely on water from reservoirs of limited supply. [I like your posing challenges in a student's knowledge that may motivate them to know more.]

3. Water Management Problem – This will be the problem that my unit will have been building up to for a while. Students will be told that they are taking on the role of “water management consultants” and will be divided up into groups. I will present each group with various scenarios of cities and their respective water dilemmas. These scenarios will start easy and will get more difficult as they build on each other with the last problem encompassing all of the others plus adding in some new elements. The goal of each scenario will be for the groups to recommend both a short-term and long-term water usage plan for the cities in each scenario. Their plans will need to consider local reservoirs, water pathways, purchasing and selling water rights, establishing water usage restrictions, and handling water contamination issues. The final scenario will pit students against all of these challenges at the same time. Although I do not have the fine details of each scenario worked out yet (actual cities and geography), I have come up with the following flow for the scenarios from simplest to most complex. [Really good idea!]


 * Note: Ideally I would like to develop a computer simulation that calculates a score based on how successful students are in implement a short and long term water shortage plan for each scenario. As of now I don't have the know-how to make it myself and as far as I know nothing like I'm envisioning currently exists. I will be doing my best to implement some version of my idea for the class project. [It's ideas like this that can lead to careers.] **

a. I will explain the resources available to me in determining the scope of the problem (information provided could include scenario summaries, mock city documents, city models, and the internet) b. I will show students the different areas of need to consider when making decisions including irrigation/farming needs, residential needs, commercial needs, and recreational needs. c. I will explain and show the options available to meet the city’s needs (which for this beginner level will only include placing restrictions on water usage but which will later include diverting water from neighboring areas in order to maintain current trends). d. I will explain and show the consequences for the various groups and the city as a whole while implementing restrictions / deciding who will not have restrictions if anyone. e. I will think out loud with the students as I make decisions and implement decisions for this city (**Note: again, ideally this will be a computer simulation that can be carried out) [Best way to design a computer simulation if for you to play the role of the computer in early implementations.]** f. I will analyze the results of my decisions with the students and discuss what could have been done better or maybe what would have happened had I decided differently. (**Note: in the** **simulation that we would be using I would have to develop some sort of scoring or value system that weighted students decisions and calculated a score based on their** **decisions) [This can come later ... for now I'd concentrate on getting the problem interesting and sufficiently simple or complex to be challenging to the students.]**
 * I. Scenario A** – completely demonstrated and enhanced with class discussion – a city with dwindling water reserves which has a projected shortage in 5-years if current rates of reservoir depletion and replenishment remain constant up to that time.


 * Scenario B** – this would be very similar to Scenario A in that the problem involves a city facing a projected water shortage in 5 years’ time given that current trends remain constant. The differences would lie in the city details, the amount currently being used to meet various city needs, and local geography / reservoirs of the region. Students would be given the option to receive coaching / guidance in this scenario through help buttons. These buttons will give tips about what type of activities should be a city’s priorities, what might be considered a reasonable water allocation to meet different needs, etc. Students will be allowed to replay the scenario as many times as they like.


 * Scenario C –** this would be a different setting again and would perhaps implement the idea of a budget. Things that might have been a great idea to implement in scenarios A and B might suddenly appear unrealistic in light of budget restraints. Students would still be allowed coaching but it would be scaled back and perhaps if they really needed more hints in addition to what is given they can “purchase’ guidance. Since budgets would be limited it would encourage students to try things on their own before resorting to the coaching. I would model how to successfully navigate the new implements as an “add on” to scenario A. [I would implement this originally with you playing the part of the coach. This will give you the idea of what needs to be included, etc.]


 * Scenario D –** in this next scenario the setting would be different, and I would implement the idea of moving beyond simply placing restrictions on different city functions, but allow students now to divert waterways (given sufficient budgets) and purchase water rights from other cities. The coaching would be scaled back to almost nothing unless purchased from the budget (except with regards to the new implementations). I would model how to successfully navigate the new implements as an “add on” to scenario A.


 * Scenario E -** This would be the final scenario and would implement everything from previous scenarios as well as the problem of water contamination. Students would need to locate the source of contamination from a “midnight dumping” incident in addition to dealing with a city’s other water issues. The setting would be different, the coaching would be minimal and I would model how to successfully navigate the new ideas as an “add on” to scenario A.

Note: While these scenarios are not set in stone they give me a good outline to work off of and adapt as I move ahead.

Critique Checklist
These are the results of my self-analysis: Comments: As I mentioned above I put a lot of time into trimming things down and planning this week. I've run out of time to really analyze what my score means and to take the next steps from there, but that will be one of my priorities in the week to come. [I think that you have the outline for the project for the remainder of the course. It is hard to use the checklist with broad ideas outlined above since the checklist is designed to evaluate actual instructional events that implement these ideas. However, as you proceed with the development of this project the checklist can be helpful in your designing actual instructional events to implement the ideas you have outlined. This is a great problem-centered approach but I would put the computer simulation on hold and try to implement this with a simulation where you provide the coaching, guidance, pose questions, etc. You may want to explore having other students pose problems, serve as coaches, etc. Good ideas. I look forward to their development.
 * all columns in the header of my table should be shifted over one to the right, I can't seem to make it work :(
 * Tell || Show || G || M || > || S || Do 1 || Do 2 || C || F || > || P || Score ||
 * Problem: develop a long term and short term water usage plan for a city ||
 * Step (S) ||  || + || + || + ||   ||   || + ||   || + ||   ||   || + || 6/11 ||
 * Conditions ( C ) ||  || + || + || + ||   ||   || + ||   || + ||   ||   || + || 6/11 ||
 * Consequence (Q) ||  || + || + || + ||   ||   || + ||   || + ||   ||   || + || 6/11 ||
 * Component Skill 1 = implement usage restrictions in your plan ||
 * Conditon || + || + || + || + ||  ||   || + ||   || + ||   ||   ||   || 6/9 ||
 * Step || + || + || + || + ||  ||   || + ||   || + ||   ||   ||   || 6/10 ||
 * Component Skill 2 = implement a budget in your plan ||
 * Conditon || + || + || + || + ||  ||   || + ||   || + ||   ||   ||   || 6/9 ||
 * Step || + || + || + || + ||  ||   || + ||   || + ||   ||   ||   || 6/10 ||
 * Component Skill 3 = include diverting reservoirs and purchasing water rights ||
 * Conditon || + || + || + || + ||  ||   || + ||   || + ||   ||   ||   || 6/9 ||
 * Step || + || + || + || + ||  ||   || + ||   || + ||   ||   ||   || 6/10 ||
 * Component Skill 4 = include handling water contamination ||
 * Conditon || + || + || + || + ||  ||   || + ||   || + ||   ||   ||   || 6/9 ||
 * Step || + || + || + || + ||  ||   || + ||   || + ||   ||   ||   || 6/10 ||
 * Total Score || 60.5% ||

=Luke Module 6=

Well I think I followed the instructions, but I may be wrong. I started working on a short lab safety interactive PowerPoint. I really enjoyed making it, I may even change my unit (again) to cover lab safety instead of water issues so that I can work on the rest of this PowerPoint for my course project. I changed the PowerPoint display settings to be on "kiosk mode" - that way you can't just click for the next thing, you HAVE to rely on the navigation buttons - at least that's how it works here on my computer. It only has two pages and is far from complete, but it gave me a general idea of how to work with the triggers in the way that I wanted and gave me some thoughts on where to go next. Anyways, here it is posted below:

Good job. Nice layout. I liked the timer but I had no clue as to how to answer the question. Do you plan to include a way for the learner to respond? dm

I think your idea to work on lab safety would be great. The water cycle was such a huge topic that I think it might have been difficult to narrow it down into workable components in the short time available for this class. I look forward to seeing what you come up with. -Michelle

Good Job! I like the animation you used for the fire. I wasn't sure what the timer was used for unless it was to try to have the question answered before the time ran out.--Mike

=Luke Module 7=


 * Content Area:** The Carbon Cycle
 * Description: when I say carbon cycle I refer to the various places around Earth that carbon is stored (reservoirs) and the pathways that it takes from reservoir to reservoir. Some parts of the carbon cycle are very straightforward and easy to follow (though perhaps not as easy to fully understand at a chemical level), such as the path of carbon in the atmosphere (as CO 2 ) going to plants through the photosynthesis pathway where it is stored in the plants as sugar. The carbon then moves on to animals as they eat the plants and then finally back to the atmosphere as the animals exhale CO 2 as a byproduct of breaking down those carbohydrates obtained from plants. This is only a piece of the carbon cycle. Carbon can take much longer to cycle if the plants and animals happen to die somewhere along the way (and they always do). If conditions are right these plants and animals can become fossil fuels after millions of years of compaction in the Earth. There is still carbon clinging tightly to other elements in energy-rich bonds which can be broken to release energy. These fossil fuels will naturally make their way back to the atmosphere eventually, but humans have vastly sped up the natural process by extracting these fossil fuels and burning them to power society. Just like our bodies burning sugar creates CO 2 as a byproduct, the burning of fossil fuels also produces carbon dioxide which is released back into the air. This is the carbon cycle in a nutshell.

Not clear what you expect the learner to do? Perhaps you could give them a speech, perhaps from someone who thinks global warming is just a political ploy and not real, and have them critique the speech. As it stands you have not really posed a problem. Later you will be asked to find a progression of problems of this class, those that involve the carbon cycle. You might want to begin thinking about what specific problems might be used in this progression. dm
 * Complex-Real World Problem:** Formulating an educated opinion regarding global warming
 * Understanding the debate surrounding global warming and being able to formulate and educated opinion about global warming is no easy task. Students must understand the nature of carbon and the carbon cycle, they must understand the nature of CO 2 as a greenhouse gas, and they must be able to find and analyze credible sources regarding the impact of the increase of CO 2 in the atmosphere. In their analysis of these sources students must be able to separate facts from inferences and then make their own opinions based on their best educated guess as informed by the evidence they have gathered and analyzed.


 * Student Population:** 9th Grade Earth Systems Students (High School Freshmen)

Tell us more about your school is it in a rural or suburban area?--Mike

=Luke Module 8=

I've changed tracks once again. This time I've decided to focus on a different part of the water cycle on an issue called "midnight dumping." I've got most of the tutorial figured out, but I still needed to spend another few hours to to add the voice audio, get the timing right, and finish up the last three or four slides (the notes contain what's going to happen in those slides, but it's not there yet). Anyways, I just wanted to get a product up even though it's lacking some of the pretty key elements. Take a look and let me know what you think. I'll have a more polished version by the end of the week. Oh - and it was designed in PowerPoint 2010, it requires the enabling of macros to view, and it doesn't work in kiosk mode yet (despite it saying that kiosk mode will work best). Enjoy!

Very ambitious project. Clever. I think that I have the idea and look forward to seeing how you flesh out the simulation. Fun! The nature of the problem is a bit unclear. The purpose of the game is to find the source of contamination so I suppose you hope that students will learn a number of things about midnight dumping including the spread of contamination, etc. I suppose that the ultimate purpose is to enable learners to make more educated discussion of water problems with a more realistic understanding about pollution. I look forward to seeing how you provide component skills necessary for learners to solve this problem.

dm (out of date, use link below)

Very Impressive Powerpoint. I was confused what I needed to do. But now looking at Dr. Merrill's comments, I understand now.--Mike I love the direction you decided to take and I think students will "get into it". -Michelle

=Luke Module 9=

I think I'm going to stick with the midnight dumping idea and I really fleshed the PowerPoint out a lot this past week. As Dr. Merrill mentioned above I think that the nature of the problem was a little vague. Although it's not very complicated, this is kind of what I'm thinking for a whole problem (and let me know if you have any suggestions):


 * 1) Gain a basic background understanding of midnight dumping (a one time step that can be accomplished through the introduction and the tutorials)
 * 2) Analyzing the starting drill samples (there will be four different modes, the easiest shows 3 samples to begin with and the hardest shows none)
 * 3) Choose where to drill next based on possible patterns. Continue to drill and analyze as you narrow down the possible sites of contamination.
 * 4) Once you feel like you have a good guess where the contamination is, make an educated guess. If you were wrong, go back to drilling or make another guess.
 * 5) Answer the analysis questions and submit the assignment

Also, I haven't put a ton of thought into yet but the gane will have some sort of ranking system where students climb the ranks based on how much money they have leftover, what mode they played on, and how well they were able to answer the analysis questions. Anyways, this might seem like too simple of a problem, so let me know what you think and if there's anything I should maybe do to adapt what I have. I've put a lot of work into what I have so far so I'm hoping my problem is workable for the purposes of the class. As for the extra examples / demonstrations I don't quite have them worked in yet, it's been a slow-going (but rewarding) process so far. Anyways, here's the up-to-date file. It is best viewed in PowerPoint 2010 with macros enabled and in kiosk mode. Thanks!

Very nice and advanced animation. Nice demonstration of the problem and nice form of application. However, the goal of this module was to identify a progression of problem portrayals. Then in the next assignment we can teach the component skills. You have identified one scenario or one portrayal. Did you take a look at Figure 15-2. Can you identify the conditions and steps (component skills required by your task? Can you identify a progression of scenarios where each is more complex than the previous based on the number and application of these component skills? You may have already done this but perhaps you can make the component skills more conspicuous. dm



=Luke Module 10=

Well, I've had a really hard time with the application aspects of the project so far, but that's mostly because the application aspects require VBA code which I'm still wrestling with. I've put several more hours into the PowerPoint this week and done some serious reorganizing based on last week's class discussion about component skills and a progression of problems. There are three major changes / additions from last week.

1. I've reorganized the tutorial into a menu with 8 key aspects rather than one long free-flowing mess. Of these tutorial areas many of the component skills are demonstrated and a progression for these component skills is outlined. For example, being able to determine what the different drill samples tell you is a component skill of the larger problem of "finding the source / sources of contamination in a midnight dumping scenario." The component skill itself can be very easy (many of the samples provided for you, one site to worry about, no subsurface flow) or it can get harder and harder (no initial samples to work off of, multiple contamination sources, varied subsurface flow). Other component skills of the whole problem include understanding what midnight dumping is (this understanding will be assessed in the still non-existent analysis portion of the game), understanding the significance of the budget (which can be adjusted in the options page), knowing where to drill next based on existing drill samples (I kind of already explained this), knowing where to guess based on budget restraints and interpretation of drill samples, understanding the scoring mechanics and how the various game options will impact user score (which I still haven't fleshed out yet), and understanding the object of the game (understanding is assessed in the analysis portion of the game).

2. I fleshed out my ideas for the options page. This will dictate the VBA coding that I will have to learn and implement in order to make the application phase workable,

3. I've decided on having two game modes, one is a free play mode where students are motivated (hopefully) to achieve higher rankings (which I haven't really fleshed out yet). The other is the level mode which will feature progressively harder levels until you "pass" the game. The budget, starting samples, number of contamination sites, presence of subsurface flow, etc. will always be the same for a given level, but the actual location of the contamination site or sites will be generated randomly each time you play through. While this will require more coding, it will also (hopefully) enhance the replay value of the game and the challenge of the levels.

I feel like I've mostly met the requirements for the week except when it comes to implementing the application portions. I've developed a lot of them (at least in my mind), but I still need to flesh a lot of it out. Anyways, enough rambling, it's late. Here's my work since last week. Any feedback is appreciated.



Very creative...programming skills way above and beyond my expectations ... Suggestions: Pacing ... it is always difficult for a learner to know when to wait and when a given animation is finished. You may want to give learners some control over pacing. A start animation button and a replay animation button and a finish sign with a button to start the next part of the demonstration. I found myself trying to find a way to control what was happening and was surprised to find that the animation was continuing. Perhaps a message like "Click the continue button to go on." Or an audio message to indicate the animation has ended "Click the back button to return to the main menu."

Directions: You may want to indicate more clearly when the learner is to take action and when the learner is to wait and watch. Extension of the suggestion above.... There is a lot of animation and it is difficult to know if it is finished, if I must do something, or if I should just wait for the next part of the demonstration.

Overall ... very clever and interesting. Good work.

Very good project. You did a good job with the animations. --Mike

=Luke Module 11=

I can't sleep without dreaming in code. I've spent many hours these past few weeks becoming familiar with VBA (the background code behind PowerPoint and other Office products) and I've finally attained some rudimentary functionality for my game. I've completed a sample level, and I'm afraid that's as far as PowerPoint will be able to take me for the kind of project that I envision. It has been a good learning experience, but I will need to find another program to finish up in - my end goal is beyond the capacity of PowerPoint :( Anyways, here's my most up-to-date version of the product. I may make a few more touchups tomorrow, but probably nothing serious. I haven't viewed this on anything other than the computer I designed it in - I sure hope it carries over...

I just finished looking at it on my other computer and it actually carried over pretty good, the only issues were 1) The demo level doesn't reset itself after you play it so if you're really keen on beating your highscore you'll need to download it again... which leads me to the second problem... 2) the score keeping isn't working so despite all of your hardwork, you will end up with a score of 0. (sigh). Other than that everything worked like it should. Just keep in mind that for the final product I will be hiring James Earl Jones to do the voice narration : )



Pretty incredible project. This was a bit beyond the requirements of the course :-) I really liked your very effective use of audio and integrating it with your animation. Very well done. Obviously you are pushing the limits of PowerPoint. I don't think that when they included Visual Basic for Applications they anticipated someone using this code to this extent. Thanks for your imagination and very challenging and interesting work. The thing I like is that you took the ideas from First Principles and used them to create a game environment or simulation that implements these principles. Great job. Thanks for challenging me. It worked great on my computer. I was able to run up a deficit of $18,000 before I could find the source of contamination. Do I send you the check? :-( dm

=Final Questionnaire=