technology with intention
7th Grade
Tech class happenings from the 7th grade, including iCLAST (integrated class of Language Arts, Science and Technology).
Secret Experiment: Pen Cap Subs
884 days
The 7th grade students have been working on a synthesis of this year’s learning from Science, Tech and Language Arts. The results – some amazing short films that explain scientific concepts. Below is a secret experiment by Augie, Aaron and Nicholas:
Q.O.D. – WolframAlpha to the rescue
889 days
by Jac de Haan
in 7th Grade
Question of the day: online research skills
Which of the current President’s daughters’ nicknames was more popular in the last public record of U.S. baby names?
Students quickly recognized that this was a “think and search” question…and there were multiple puzzles to solve:
- current President: Barack Obama
- daughters’ nicknames: Sasha & Malia
- last public record: 2008
So the question became, “Which name was more popular in 2008, Sasha or Malia?”
There were quite a few ways of finding this answer using search engines. Most students ended up at babynames.com or the Social Security Administration website. Some employed the Control+F keyboard shortcut to search for names in a list.
Once the dust settled, Halley, Elijah and Twig took top prize for cracking the code! We then took a few minutes to get familiar with WolframAlpha, a computational knowledge engine that is built specifically for mathematical and statistical analysis. Typing in “sasha, malia name 2008″ quickly netted a clear answer:
Tech in the News – Verizon v. AT&T
896 days
by Jac de Haan
in 7th Grade
7th grade has been using tech all year to support LA and Science…today was a day to kick back and talk about all the amazing things that happen in the world of technology.
Today we talked about the mighty battle between Verizon and AT&T. AT&T has the iPhone, and pays Apple money for the right to have this cool device on their network only. Verizon has the best customer satisfaction rating for service (according to Consumer Reports) as well as a much larger 3G network in the USA. AT&T is mad about Verizon ads that point this out, so they are suing Verizon and they also made some new tv commercials starring Luke Wilson that say “AT&T is better”.
We talked about tons of interesting marketing ploys, competitive negotiations, and operating system constraints. The most lively discussions focused on:
- Cell phone companies have claimed colors as their own – Sprint=Yellow, T-Mobile=Pink, Verizon=Red, AT&T=Blue&Orange
- Cell phone companies are really becoming data service companies – most people use their phones for way more than just making calls
- Verizon just introduced Droid, a new phone that is supposed to compete with the iPhone. It runs Google’s Android 2.0 operating system.
Verizon attacks AT&T’s 3G service coverage
AT&T fights back
Lab Report Films – iCLAST
898 days
All Billings Middle School 7th grade students are enrolled in a year long integrated class of language arts, science and technology (iCLAST).
In December, students will be working in groups of 3 to create a photo video that documents our favorite Science labs of the year so far. We’ll be using collaborative document editing to create the perfect lab report that covers the Scientific Method. We’ll use that report to write a narrative with a specific audience in mind, learn to use the digital cameras and tripods to photograph the experiment, introduce ourselves to PhotoStory so that we can stitch the photos together on the computer, and then record our voices over the photos.
- orange text – tech skills
- blue text – language arts skills
- green text – science skills
7th grade into the digital groove
947 days
by Jac de Haan
in 7th Grade
The 7th grade is starting to hit their stride in terms of technology integration. Students have demonstrated proficiency in the following areas:
- logging into school computers
- accessing school email via Outlook Web Access
- using the Student Homepage effectively
- accessing Google Apps for Edu accounts
- retrieving information from the iCLAST and American History websites
- use and care of the new laptop cart
These skills will allow students to manage their own learning: find out what happened when sick, contacting teachers and other students, accessing missing worksheets, checking assignment status for classes, taking advantage of extended learning opportunities, and more.
In tech class this week, we are solidifying our new skills through practice – we’ve taken an online iCLAST survey, will flex some math muscles while analyzing typing results in a spreadsheet, and posted LA manifestos to the computing cloud.
iCLAST – preparing to learn (& learning)
974 days
by Jac de Haan
in 7th Grade
First class was spent reading through the Acceptable Use Policy for computer and internet access. Along the way we came across some terms:
acronym – a word formed from the initials or other parts of several words
defame – to attack somebody or somebody’s reputation, character, or good name
We also talked about the 9/9/09 Apple event at Moscone Center in San Francisco. We monitored TUAW’s Twitter and blog to find out what was going on in near real-time. In the process, we got a chance to discuss the iCLAST Twitter account (used to help parents understand what we are doing at school) and the Tech Blog.
Hockey skate production
1107 days
Gavin and Isaac recently traced the stainless steel in hockey skates back to its production process. Their presentation included an embedded YouTube video from the Discovery Channel and a historical pictorial of hockey skates through the last century.
The truth about diamonds
1110 days
7th grade students Ella & Brandon just completed a presentation about the social, environmental & ecomonic impacts of diamond extraction. Below is the presentation they shared during iCLAST.
School Hurts
1113 days
Part of the iCLAST Paramedic Project, this film was created by Zach, Karsten, Kat & Deena.
Tie Your Shoes
1116 days
Part of the iCLAST Paramedic Project, this film was made by Augie, Alex, Mia, Torri & Wyatt.
