Posted by David Wetzel
Science iPod Touch Apps
Science applications (Apps) for iPod Touch offer students and teachers excellent tools to help students spend more time learning science content in class and laboratory situations.
Although many Science Apps are loaded with ads and other distracting information, I have found several that are free of ads.
iPod Touch Science Apps
LabTimer - this is a count-up and count-down multi-timer with the following features:
- Four timers, individually configurable as count-up or alarming count-down
- Large display and buttons
- Display in Hours : Minutes : Seconds (limit above 1000 hours)
- Customizable text labels for each timer
- Small icons describing the state of all timers
- Disables iPod sleep, keeping your timer running and visible
ExoPlanet - a database of extrasolar planets. It contains details of all detected exo-planets as well as their host stars.
Students can easily search through the database and view pictures of the host star, visualizations of the planet’s orbits.
Correlation diagrams of various planet properties can be created on the fly.
Worlds Apart - a model of the solar system. Hand tuned for performance and realism, it uses hardware accelerated 3D graphics to give you a higher detailed, smoother and more accurate view of our planetary neighborhood. Prepare for a very different view of the planets than from any ordinary hand held planetarium.
USGS Seismic - this application parses an RSS feed from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) that provides data on recent earthquakes around the world.
It displays the location, date, and magnitude of each earthquake, along with a color-coded graphic that indicates the severity of the earthquake.
NASA - this an official NASA App that invites to discover to discover a wealth of NASA information. The NASA App collects, customizes and delivers an extensive selection of dynamically updated information, images
iFormulas - is a clean, simple, easy to use mathematical formula application. Provides basics to survive your Algebra, Calculus, Geometry or Trigonometry to support science investigations. It does not give you answers but provides an easy navigational guide.
Science Glossary - this is an extensive glossary of scientific terms and short biographies of key scientists. All definitions link to related terms and detailed science learning modules.
LabCal - this Laboratory Calculator is an utility to calculate the molarity, to convert gram and mole and to compute dilutions of stock solutions.
Promega - this App provides lots of great information for life science, including quick access to molecular biology calculators, technical tips, protocols, and multimedia presentations.
The calculators provide a range of functions essential to molecular biology experiments, including DNA and protein conversions, melting temperature, molarity and dilution calculations.
Topics include basic amplification techniques to real-time PCR, from simple cell-based assays to complex imaging techniques, and from protein expression to more involved protein interactions assays. Multimedia elements can also be easily accessed via a separate menu.
Features include:
- DNA, Protein, Tm, and Dilution Calculators
- Step-by-step protocols
- Illustrations and example data
- Extensive background information
- Animated movies demonstrating key techniques and cellular events
Mild EleMints - is an interactive Periodic Table. It offers a Periodic Table, a Plot Graph, Element listing, Electron Diagram, and a wealth of information on every element.
Features include:
- The Periodic Table can be shaded according to a particular property, and zoomed to get more information at a time.
- The table will rotate itself for both Portrait and Landscape orientations.
- Mild EleMints only supports the following properties: Classification, Electronegativity, and Physical State.
Resource
All of these Science Apps are available free from iTunes.
Related Information
Readers may aslo be interested in 10 Math Applications for the iPod Touch
Posted by David Wetzel
Nature of Science
Students need opportunities to experience the Nature of Science experiences that replicate the way scientists search for answers to scientific questions.
There is no one scientific method process used by every scientist.
The Scientific Method, as taught in schools, is a false process and a oversimplification of the way scientists actually work, along with missing the point of how to conduct scientific investigations.
A real understanding of the Nature of Science comes from student personal experience, using simple problem-solving processes that can be discussed and analyzed.
Using the Nature of Science as process for investigating problems helps eliminate many common misconceptions students have about science facts.
For example:
Students move away from the misconception that there is only one answer to any scientific investigation.
Which students internalize from working on “canned labs” found in textbooks that also perpetuate the myth of the Scientific Method as the only process for solving science problems.
Scientific Process Principle Concept
Scientific knowledge is fundamentally uncertain.
Related Concepts
- Science is uncertain because it is a human activity.
- Science explanations seem less certain when they are based on indirect information.
- Scientific uncertainty can be reduced through collaboration.
Scientific Investigation
Students use the Science Process Skills as they complete this investigation into the Nature of Science.
Mystery Boxes
Materials:
- Small Boxes – enough boxes to make four different sets and each box set should be the same shape, size, and color. (cardboard jewelry or gift boxes work well).
- Marbles
- Glue
- Scissors
- Cardstock or Cardboard for making partitions in each box
Preliminary Steps:
- Prepare 4 sets of sealed boxes – each set should have enough boxes so that each student group gets a one box from the set. (for example: 6 student groups = each set will have 6 boxes)
- For each box – glue 2 partitions exactly the same way and place a marble in the same location.
Procedures:
- Place students in groups.
- Give each group box from each set
- Tell the students that each box has a marble and they need to determine the location of the marble in each box.
- Give students time to investigate their boxes (about 5 minutes). Do not answer their questions; let them develop their own questions.
- Ask student groups to share their findings.
- Record each groups findings on the board or a piece of newsprint for each group.
- Ask each group to make a drawing or drawings of where they think the marble is in each box and share with the class.
- Ask the class to look a the findings for each group and see if there are nay patterns or similarities they can use to find the location of the marbles.
- Ask each group to write down the process they used to find the location of the marbles. Then have each group share their process with the class.
Student Actions:
They will probably:
- determine that all boxes of the same color will have the marbles in the same location and each colored box is different from the others.
- try to justify what they did, which enhances the discussion.
- ask about the correctness of their reports, in the form of ‘did we get it right?’
- admit to uncertainties about indirect information (something they couldn’t see).
- indicate that they expect confirmation of their answers from teachers.
- recognize a clear statement of the problem, hypotheses (possible inner configurations), experimental testing (tilting, wile listening, feeling for movements), reporting/publishing (showing diagram on board), etc.
The students have now experienced the Nature of Science, along with uncertainty of what they are observing, which can be reduced through collaboration. Also, that indirect information compounds the uncertainty.
Finally – if the students did not discover the right answer then share the location of the marble in each box with them.
Any comments, suggestions, or other examples of the Nature of Science scientific investigations?
You may find these helpful:
Science Case Studies and Problem Based Learning
20 Questions to Ask Students in Science Projects
Posted by David Wetzel
Science Fair Projects
Science fair projects are always popular in school. Science fairs are used to present science projects students have conducted to solve scientific problems.
These science fairs also give students a chance to share their findings about what they learned during their science investigation.
Using technology resources as a basis for a science fair project is one approach, which will draw wanted attention during science fairs.
So what are technology based resources and how can they help a science fair project?
Science Investigations
Using online information technology support leads to presentations using PowerPoint, spreadsheet(s), and word processing for sharing findings. Here are key attributes technology based research helps organize, conduct, and share findings in an investigation:
- Use of dedicated online real-time databases for research or supporting research.
- Demonstrates higher level thinking skills, not merely summarizing information.
Problem Based Learning
There are two main types of science fair projects that can use online resources, along with integrating science process skills. These two are:
- Project Based Learning – focusing on the development of or creating a new product.
- Problem Based Learning – focusing on solving a specific problem or gaining new information about a problem.
If students want to set themselves apart from the rest of the crowd with science projects, using the guidelines provided above will get them noticed by judges.
Read more…..
