Presenting Skills

Presenting can be challenging for many individuals. As for others, it can come very naturally. For me, I used to dread presenting. My anxiety would sky rocket and I would get so numb. I disliked everything about presenting especially talking in front of a large class. No matter how comfortable I was with the class, I was still so nervous to present. During my Science Methods course, we completed many different activities that we would have to present. I feel as I had gone through different courses in college, I have presented more and more. I still get extremely nervous to present as it comes natural. After my science methods course, I have felt more confident in presenting and public speaking. Receiving various feedback whether positive or negative helps a tremendous amount. In this course, the professor has the students comment three pluses and a wish after the presenter is finished. This helped as well so I could see what I may be strong in and what may need work. To this day, I still get nervous presenting but I feel better and stronger after taking this course.

Trade Book Activity

Today in my Science Methods course, we had to present our Trade Book activity. I had chosen a trade book that had tied in with the science course and what we had learned. I had created a Book Trailer to present to my colleagues. The trailer I included was on an animoto. I created an animoto about the book and some essential facts that had occurred. This video included sound to keep the students engaged. After the video, I discussed the book and what I would do with it when I am a teacher. Some things I discusses included:

- What projects I may do with this book topic.
- How I would introduce it to the students.
- What students would find interesting in the book.
- What age group this book is best for.
- Important parts of the book.

For projects, I would allow students to create their own posters of a food chain and food web. Looking through the different examples in the trade book, the students would have to pick examples they would make on their poster project. I would introduce the book to students in a way that will keep them engaged and focused. I would show them different pictures and discuss the facts. The students might find the images in the book interesting as well as the facts about the different animals eating other plants or animals. This book would be best for a fourth or fifth grade class. 

Newsela and the various articles included.

After participating in the Science Methods course I have learned about multiple sources online in which I can make different presentation with. For my most recent presentation, I used an online timeline called "TimeToast". Here, I used different articles about my chosen topic and broken them down onto the timeline. My topic was the Spitzer Space Telescope. One of the most used sources I used throughout this course especially for this project was the website called "Newsela". On Newsela, we chose various essential articles that tied in with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Some of the articles included how the telescope found the smallest star as well as finding gas giants. This telescope was said to be one of the first infrared telescopes going into space and finding different objects.

The photo above is the actual Spitzer Telescope. It is in Space surrounded by various stars and seeing what is within a star and the different gas giants. This telescope had its first launch in the year of 2003.

Teaching Earth and Space Science.

WEATHER

Today, my group and I presented our project on weather to our colleagues. In our presentation, we included the different forms of weather such as; Rain, Snow, Freezing Rain, Clouds, Fog, Sun and more! Weather has a big impact on our Earth. Much of the climate and weather is detected by our Sun. The sun is seen as the biggest star in our solar system! As close as the sun gets to the Earth, the warmer Earth will be which is generally known as the season of Summer. While the Earth is pointed towards the Sun, that will then detect night and day. Pretty interesting! Rain forms in cloud as evaporation and condensation come into play. They form in the clouds and become heavy leading it to hit Earth making rain. When temperatures are at freezing, the rain then turns into freezing rain leaving everything to ice. That is why ice is also known as freezing rain. Snow is rain except snow occurs when temperatures are freezing and it forms little ice crystals that fall to Earth in different shapes.

SPACE

Along with Weather, we also focused on space and our solar system. I was assigned the planet called Uranus. Named after the father of the Roman God, Saturn. Uranus is the 3rd largest planet as well as the 7th planet of the Solar System. Named after the father of the Roman God, Saturn. Uranus is the 3rd largest planet as well as the 7th planet of the Solar System.  First discovered in 1781 by Sir William Herschel. Herschel had believed it was a comet but later discovered the planet. Turns on its axis once every 17 hours and 14 minutes and one trip around the sun every 84 years. Referred to as the “ice giant”. Uranus is one of the largest gas giants with mostly helium and hydrogen inside. Two sets of rings are included as well as one of the coldest temperatures going at -224 degrees Celsius. The two rings were formed when Uranus's moons were broken up. Only one spacecraft has flown to Uranus in 1986.

My Professional Portfolio

A professional portfolio is essential while studying Education. The portfolio holds all of the activities I had completed throughout the Science course. In a way, the portfolio keeps me organized and sorts my work to show my accomplishments. A professional portfolio contains many different parts that have to be filled. These parts consist of the unit plan and topic. Along with that comes the completed lessons I had created with the group evaluations. My scientific me project was also completed and attached to the portfolio along with my science fair project. These two projects show my knowledge about science and what I previously knew or studied to help me with my current knowledge on science. Also included in the portfolio are different parts that include resources I may have used along with pictures and videos of me while teaching. This is to show the reader and viewers exactly what was done so they can see for themselves. An essential part of the portfolio is my resume. This portfolio can be used for jobs I may be interested in as people can see what I have accomplished and have my resume right there to look at as well. A portfolio is a lot of work but also engaging at the same time. This is a learning experience!

Oceans and Coasts lesson

Today, my group and I presented our lesson on Oceans and Coasts. We had spent time reviewing the topic and adding different facts we have learned. We put together a simple powerpoint to share with the fellow teacher candidates. Included in the power point was simple important facts about Oceans and Coasts such as the different sea levels. Included in the powerpoint was the history of the topic like how seawater was stored in glaciers during the last ice age. My group and I each took turns on presenting different parts of the lesson to keep the candidates engaged and focused. At the end of the presentation, we had included an engaging game to complete. The game we completed was on kahoot.it. Each question included essential facts on the topic. I feel as if the candidates enjoyed the game as they were staying focused and enjoying while learning at the same time.

This topic was very enjoyable and exciting for me. I know quite a bit about the topic from previous science courses I had completed. I feel as if I broadened my knowledge on the topic and learned new facts that help me understand more.